Workshop cancelled. Check out the Nelson Programme or contact us to discuss your training needs
15 – 18 August 2024 : Join us for four days of self-discovery and professional growth at the Residential Psychodrama Training Workshop at beautiful Kimi Ora Eco Resort.
Become more flexible and creative in your work and take steps to achieve the purpose of your life through engagement in professional and personal growth in this training.
Leaders
Cher Williscroft (TEP Sociodramatist) and Simon Gurnsey (Sociometrist) invite you to attend this residential psychodrama training workshop. The workshop is designed to build your abilities, and the courage to apply them while directing and participating in psychodrama, role training, sociometric, sociodramatic and other enactments.
Our vision: Co-creating an open learning environment
In this workshop, we envision an open learning environment that encourages you to step into unchartered territories and embrace new possibilities. Here, you’ll have the freedom to explore and experiment, guided by generous coaching and support.
What you’ll experience
- Professional Development: Receive supervision for your application of the method in your work, play and life. Or, if you are starting, you can put your toe in the water and experience yourself as a protagonist, group member or auxiliary in another person’s drama.
- Group Leadership: Develop your capacity for skilful group leadership, enabling you to facilitate meaningful interactions within diverse groups.
- Dramatic Enactments: Gain hands-on experience in producing compelling dramatic enactments.
- Creative Expression: Explore your creative potential through writing and other expressive mediums.
- Building Connections: Cultivate meaningful relationships with fellow participants, enriching your journey of self-discovery.
- Personal Growth: Dive into transformative personal work that fosters self-discovery and self-awareness.
Unlock your potential
By the end of this workshop, you can expect to:
- Apply your enhanced knowledge of group work, group leadership, psychodrama, role training, sociometry, and sociodrama in your personal and professional life.
- Build your spontaneity, compassion and the resilience you need to navigate life’s challenges.
- Experience fulfilment in your interactions with those you will encounter in the workshop, both personally and professionally.
You will breathe life into your work and life, making it vital and meaningful. We are committed to working closely with each of you to help you develop your abilities in the psychodrama method with clarity and creativity. We’re keen to advance your development as a trainee in accordance with your Training Plan.
This workshop is designed for people who work with people ie. in health, education, community and business organisations, social work, and other therapeutic fields. This workshop is designed for beginner, intermediate and advanced trainees. Practitioners of the psychodramatic method are invited to enrol and be a part of this training event as part of your currency and we encourage you to bring aspects of your work for supervision.
If you are new to psychodrama, have not trained with us before or are returning after a long break from training, please contact us for a training conversation prior to enrolling for this workshop to ensure you have the psychodrama experience needed to enter a training programme and this workshop is a good match for you. (See our enrolment policy)
PANZ Whakatū Nelson
Workshop Code: NSN24-C
Dates and times
Begins at 10.00 am Thursday, 15 August
Finishes at 4.00 pm Sunday, 18th August
Venue
Kimi Ora Eco Resort is a health spa resort, set at the gateway to the scenic wonderland of the Abel Tasman National Park, a 1 hour drive from Nelson City. The resort is 10 minutes’ walk from one of New Zealand’s most famous golden beaches, Kaiteriteri Beach, and close to a mountain bike park and walking tracks. The vegetarian cuisine is excellent and the chalets are very attractive.
Training hours
30 hours
Fee
$1600
includes food and shared accommodation at Kimi Ora Eco Resort
(Minimum 50% deposit required to secure a place with the balance payable 4 weeks before workshop starts.)
Trainers
and Simon Gurnsey, Sociometrist
Cher Williscroft
PANZ Whakatū Nelson Director of Training
Cher is a Sociodramatist and Trainer Educator Practitioner (TEP) with PANZ and is Director of Training for the Wakatu/Nelson campus. She currently sits on the Board of Examiners and holds the role of the Practical Assessment Registrar. She has served twice on the AANZPA Executive as Membership Secretary and Secretary.
Cher’s early career was in Community Arts, Community Education, Community Recreation and Community Development, working for Nelson City Council and Nelson Polytechnic.For 8 years she worked in leadership roles at the Sealord Group Ltd as Human Resources Manager and then Organisation Development Manager, where she applied herself as a sociodramatist in the leadership of Maori and Japanese owned commercial seafood organisation.
As Managing Director of her business, Conflict Management Ltd (since 1986), she developed her lifelong interest in conflict resolution working as a mediator, facilitating breakthrough communication in the workplace. In 2004 she developed a successful workshop called
Courageous Conversations running several times each year since 2004 and she continues to teach the conflict resolution methods that she has developed, today in Courageous Conversations Masterclasses. She currently supervises clients in leadership positions.
Cher holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Women’s Studies from Murdoch University in WA
Living in Nelson, by the sea with her partner John, she kayaks, hangs out in nature, and cooks from the garden. She performs in a singing duo, keeps fit, and drafts and constructs her own clothes. Her daughter Maddy and her partner with two mokopuna are the joy of her life.
Simon Gurnsey
PANZ Ōtautahi Christchurch Campus
Simon Gurnsey is a Sociometrist and Trainer Educator Practitioner in training (TEPit). He provides training in the PANZ Ōtautahi Christchurch and Ōtepoti Dunedin Campuses. He has held various leadership roles within the Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Psychodrama Association (AANZPA), including Treasurer on the Executive committee and was the AANZPA Membership Administrator for many years. Since 2017, when he began working as a trainer, Simon has led training workshops and programs that empower individuals and groups to tap into their spontaneity, creativity and relational potential.
Simon's current focus lies in exploring how psychodrama can be used to foster inclusion and equity in professional settings. He has worked for many years in NGO organisations Including post-earthquake with Ōtautahi organisation's Gap Filler and Greening the Rubble. His systemic orientation integrates a focus on the community, the developmental and the political spheres in enabling effective organisation and action. Simon is particularly interested in how psychodrama can support individuals to develop greater self-awareness, authenticity and spontaneity within the context of their communities. He has been published in AANZPA's journal, where he writes about mythical stories, organisational culture, and the application of sociometry.
Simon holds qualifications in Not for Profit management. The skills developed through this complement his psychodrama experience, enabling him to integrate broader theories of human development, organisational dynamics and interpersonal communication into his practice. His leadership training has made him particularly effective working with teams and individuals in community organisations, helping them to navigate complexity with greater clarity and spontaneity.
Outside of his professional life, Simon keeps his creativity flowing through his passion for building things out of wood and earth. He enjoys spending time at the home he shares with Sara Crane and a large number of domestic animals. Simon's dedication to personal growth and community connection drives both his work and personal endeavours, allowing him to bring authenticity, curiosity and warmth to all aspects of his life.