Suicidal Wisdom: un taller dirigido por Kerry Stewart y Helen Wells

Suicidal Wisdom: A workshop Facilitated by Kerry Stewart and Helen Wells.

IAPOP Conference, Global and Community Health, Dia 2

Este proyecto de investigación-acción creativa explora el proceso de soñar con el afán de encontrar la sabiduría detrás de ella.

Culturally suicide is surrounded by silence, is seen as the individual’s problem, leaves behind many difficult and painful feelings in family members, friends and colleagues and is also seen as being very final. However starting from Kerri’s personal experience of her brother Simon’s death, we have found that suicide is a collective issue and an ongoing process.

standing at the edge of the beach, with his toe in the water, I began to be him

the sick and the shit and the mess, and not wanting to make a mess

We worked collaboratively, using image making, movement and shape shifting which enabled us to engage with a difficult subject in a way that was surprisingly enjoyable and deeply satisfying and we realised that this was connected to the support we felt from the spirits of the dead.

We showed a 15 minute video poem which is the result of our creative collaboration and arose out of and contributed to the research. It expresses both the essence of Simon’s personal story and the essential themes of the research.

The video introduces the roles of the killer and the killed in each of us, what needs to die and what is trying to live.

it”s the silence that killswhen there is no dialogue, that’s when suicide happens

After the video there were deep feelings and reactions in the room and a general appreciation of bringing this taboo subject out into the open. We spent time sharing our responses: Some people spoke about their own experience of bereavement by suicide. Others spoke about how the personal setting of the film in our homes made the theme easier to be with and relevant to all our everyday lives. Suicide is not just about someone else.

Another person felt that the film is about universal themes of life and death and how to live our lives as fully as possible.

We noticed the atmosphere in the room and it was named as love.

you did eat the poison and survive

This link will take you to a short trailer for the film. For an opportunity to see the full film please contact us. We are offering 1 or 2 day Suicidal Wisdom workshops which include the film, time for discussion and reflection and powerful and transformational exercises to explore suicidal processes. Copies of the DVD will be available to participants for their private use.

Contact heavenwells@mac.com or kerri@waking-up.com

Preliminary outcomes of this research project include:

• Relief of individual suffering
• Finding meaning in the experience of bereavement by suicide
• Tools for going beyond death and continuing the dreaming process
• Discovering the deepest essence of what was trying to live and the desire to live it
• Increased awareness of our collective responsibility in processes of social marginalisation, especially of the everyday ways in which we ‘kill’ ourselves and each other.
• An increasing sense of interconnectedness and the impact we have on each other, on our communities and on the world

Kerri Stewart: Expert by Experience

Helen Wells: Artist, Art Psychotherapist, Dip. POP