featured presenters
Michael Mirdad, Ph.D. Exploring Spiritual Tantra
Dr. Mirdad will teach healing through energetic bodywork, intuition, emotional release, and spiritual refilling. He will also offer insights and methods for enhancing love and intimacy, awakening vitality and passion, as well as how to find and release trauma and/or inhibition stored in the body.
Mary Sise is a specialist in treating Trauma: When the Terror of the Past Hijacks the Ecstasy of the Present. When the body experiences a sexual trauma, consciousness fragments and the body, once it is triggered, prevents the person from being fully present in sexual encounters.
Gina Ogden offers guidance on combining crucial elements of sex therapy and sha- manic practice through her multidimensional “iSiS†model, a contemporary medi- cine wheel.
Lee Holden will teach how sexual Energy, physical vitality, and spiritual connection all are part of the same life force energy manifest in different ways.
Dr. Bonheim will show how the sexual priestess is not only a historical figure, but also an immensely powerful archetype that is presently resurfacing full force in the lives of contemporary women.
Rich Borofsky, ed.D. & Antra Kalnins Borofsky
Rich Borofsky, ed.D. & Antra Kalnins Borofsky, ed.M. Being Together: Love & Sexuality, as a Spiritual Path Rich and Antra Borofsky will present their work on intimacy, which means “what is inner- most“, as a spiritual path. What is innermost in us is an aware, spacious, eternal presence that is none other than Love itself.
Andrew Harvey will present his vision of the Cosmos as a sacred marriage of tran- scendence and immanence, light and dark, masculine and feminine. From this he will explore what he calls the Tantra of Tenderness, the natural human eros that flows from the inner fusion of opposites and explain 3 mystical practices.
Why this national congress?
At this time of economic, political and ecological turmoil in the world, why a national congress on spiritual sexuality and sexual healing? What is most need- ed now in the world is a deeper sense of connection with who we really are, and a deeper sense of bonding with our partners, families, friends and colleagues. For thou- sands of years many of the great spiritual traditions of our planet have pointed us in a particular direction— the realm of sacred sexuality.
But in our present culture sexuality is not an easy realm to explore. Sexuality is deeply misunderstood. It is either laden with guilt and shame, the focus of wounding and abuse, commercialized and trivialized, or seen as an easy path to so-called enlightenment.
The goal of enhanced pleasure in our lives is something we all can applaud. But the great spiritual traditions point to something deeper—the possibility that sexuality can be the gateway to our most effective healing and spiritual maturation.
It is in this spirit that the Association for Spirituality and Psychotherapy is bringing together the nation’s experts in the exploration and teaching of spiritual sexuality and sexual healing. Join us for this transformative weekend. The National Congress will in- clude exciting talks, gentle experiential work, and movement and artistic performance. Additionally, an optional third day of post-conference workshops will afford the op- portunity to collaborate in smaller groups with some of our presenters. Together we will embark on a sacred adventure capable of facilitating genuine maturation and healing.
How this Conference is Unique
- Provides an interactive, spiritual, scientific and clinical forum in the areas of spirituality, sexuality, psychotherapy, and healing for psychotherapists, health care pro- fessionals, healers, religious professionals, and others interested in the convergence of these areas.
- Creates a bridge between old systems of knowledge and emerging creative paradigms.
- Provides a community in which attendees can openly discuss sexual and spiritual issues in their clinical practice and in their lives.
Benefits of Attending
- Learn cutting edge applications of age-old truths and practices in spiritual sexuality
- Learn practices from many diverse areas of knowledge: Tantra, Taoism, Jewish
mysticism, Christian thought, Buddhism, and shamanism.
- Learn from leading experienced clinicians how they integrate spiritual principles with sexuality in their personal lives as well as their clinical practice
- Meet, network, and contribute your ideas, beliefs, values and practices to this large gathering of like-minded people.
- Learn effective ways to heal sexual trauma.
