Renee
Levi Interviews Dr. Natalie Rogers
On
the Presence of Collective Resonance in Group Process
Natalie
Rogers, Ph.D. REAT, is a pioneer in expressive arts therapy taking
her training to Europe, Russia, Japan and Latin America. She is
author of The Creative Connection: Expressive Arts as Healing
(Science & Behavior Books 1993) and Emerging Woman: A Decade
of Midlife Transitions.(1980) and many articles and chapters.
As Distinguished Consulting Faculty at Saybrook Graduate School
she is offering a Certificate Program in "Expressive Arts for
Healing and Social Change: A Person-Centered Approach". She
received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Expressive
Arts Therapy Association. (IEATA) www.IEATA.org
RL: Please describe to me an experience of collective
resonance. It’s probably useful to choose one that sticks out
in your mind. What happens so that I can enter into it with you?
.
NR: I’d like to talk about some experiences we are having
during the new certificate program in expressive arts at Saybrook
Graduate School. In April of 2004 I began teaching a course called
Expressive Arts for Social Change: A Person-Centered Approach. It
meets for 6 separate weeks of intensive experiential training over
a two-year period. These are adult students with jobs and careers
who are looking to use the expressive arts in their mental health
profession, or are looking to change careers and using this as a
time and place to search their inner truth for guidance. Let me
explain a little about the expressive arts process that I teach
and facilitate.
The Creative Connection is the title of my book, and a process that
I have evolved over time. It is a transformative process in itself
and it has to do with combining or integrating movement, art, sound,
journal writing and person-centered type sharing. This does, indeed,
connect us to our body, mind, soul, spirit, because it uses all
aspects of ourselves. We’re not just talking about our process,
we are embodying a process of getting acquainted with our feelings
and thoughts – mostly our feelings – through movement,
which helps us be in touch with our feelings. The movement, of course,
is non-verbal, and helps us become aware of our feelings. Then we
use these feelings to express ourselves through visual art, either
through clay or collage or paint. And while doing all of this we
may be using our voices making sounds. Not necessarily words but
just sound to express our feelings.
All of this helps us come alive. Our bodies become really
resonant to our own self and to others. So that’s part of the
process I’m talking about.
In one of the introductory courses something happened
that was quite astounding to most of us. This was in January during
the time when there was a huge wave of national energy and dissent
regarding a pre-emptive war on Iraq. This group had already met
for several days and we were well bonded. It was January 18th and
that was the day a lot of my colleagues were at the San Francisco
anti-war rally. I decided to try to bring the anti-war rally into
the classroom here in my studio. The students met in my beautiful,
big studio for 4 days of movement and art and sound. First we just
talked about what was going on, the facts as we knew them, and then
our feelings about them. There was definitely anxiety and tension
in the air regarding going to war and bombing innocent civilians
as well as military targets. Many feelings came up about despair
and anguish and hopelessness, fear, grief, and injustice -- terrible
injustice and powerlessness. One woman said she felt hopeful. She
thought that all this debate about peace and war worldwide would
indeed change the consciousness of the world about the lack justification
of war and the total devastation that war causes. So there was one
hopeful person and she made a good point. But the rest of us were
feeling angry and upset about a possible pre-emptive first strike
against a country that had not attacked us. We had all these feelings
rising up in us against what our Administration was about to do.
After we talked about it for awhile, I said, "rather than just
talk about it more, I want us to move it. Let’s move our bodies
to express it." I asked people to get up. I put some colored
scarves in the middle of the floor so they could use them in dance.
I asked them to move with their eyes closed. Then I told them to
let out any sounds that they wanted or to enact what they were feeling
in any way that they wanted. I put on music -- Marvin Gaye’s
piece called "What’s Goin' On? The words are, "Mother,
mother, mother, there’s too many of us dying. Brother, brother,
brother, there’s too many of us cryin’. War is not the
answer." And then it goes into a lot of really painful
words about children and people dying even though the music is very
upbeat. (to top of next column)
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Interview
with Dr. Natalie Rogers©, page 1 of 3
RL: Mmm. I know the song well.
NR: While the music was on I suggested they listen to the
words as well as move. We had all this input about pain and suffering.
The movements were incredible! One woman had a black scarf over
her head and was just sitting there. Her movement was really non-movement
as she just sat and almost nonverbally wailed. Other people were
dancing their rage or letting their arms flail. Their bodies were
really speaking. This is where a collective consciousness seemed
to happen. These people were moving with their eyes closed. That
was the instruction. The reason we have people close their eyes
is so that they are more aware of the feelings in their bodies.
Also, they are not worried about what they look like or what other
people are doing. From there the collective spirit emerges. It’s
what I call going through the deep, dark tunnel of experiencing,
or re-experiencing, the shadow aspect of ourselves, the parts that
we want to repress or put a lid on, hold back, because they’re
too painful.
We go into the pain in order to go through the tunnel to experience
some light, hope, or the ability to act. And out of that experience
that day, after we’d done movement for just ten or fifteen
minutes really, I said, "Without talking, just find a media
that you would like to use to express what you’re feeling visually.
It doesn’t have to be an image -- it can be abstract -- it
can be just color and line and form." There’s a place
in my studio where people can hang big pieces of paper on the wall
and paint large pictures or they can choose collage materials or
clay. One man made an angel of death out of clay and wrote a poem
about it. Other people created collages of war and peace and then
they wrote. This sequence is what I call the Creative Connection
® process. Often we use movement and sounding first and then
go to visual art and journal writing. All of that takes an hour
or two during which time there are no words. People are not talking
to each other.
RL: No words. Ahhh…
NR: This is the collective consciousness of the group --
or the collective unconscious, I don’t know which! It could
be called the resonance, as you would say. It is as though you can
cut this sacred space with a knife, you can hold it in your embrace.
I’m a witness to all of this, holding the container. Holding
the space for people to feel safe, to be authentic, to be their
real selves.
RL: So your role is as a witness, you said? As a holder,
a container. You’re actually consciously holding that space
for them.
NR: Oh yes! I’m witnessing what they’re doing.
I’m taking it in like a sponge (chuckle). I say things just
gently once in awhile such as, "It’s okay. Any feelings
you have are okay. Any sounds you make are okay." I try to
softly convey, "I’m here. You can do what you need to
do to first be aware of your feelings" because that is the
first step, to be aware of your feelings. The second step is to
express them through movement, then through visual art, then through
writing. Finally, we share our experience.
RL: Oh, so there’s another step there…
NR: Yes.
RL: …which is talking about it, pairing up and talking
about it to another person?
NR: Yes. And I’ve already given instructions, but this
particular group is very well trained because they’re already
non-analytic therapists. They are person-centered which, as you
know, is my philosophy and that of my father.
RL: Yes.
NR: But if this is a group that doesn’t understand
person-centered philosophy and methods I first give them practice
in empathic listening so they know how to hear someone deeply. As
we listen to a person very carefully and empathically, that person
can then open to their next inner step and go deeper to discover
their real inner truth.
By then we have fifteen or eighteen people who’ve all been
through an hour and a half or two hours of deep inner journey, separately
but together. And that’s what seems to create the sacred space
where people really find a deep spiritual sense of who they are
and sometimes, which was true with this group, what the collective
is. The collective spirit.
RL: Do they talk about it as the collective spirit?
NR: Yes, particularly in a group like this. Of course, you
do need a facilitator. I don’t deny the importance of my role,
which is to say, "Anything’s okay, I will hold it. If
you need to shout or scream, I’ll be here." Or, "If
you need to cry, I’m here." You know, they need to believe
that’s true. But when they say thank you to me I say, "
Let’s talk about how we did this for each other. We’re
all here. We can do this for each other." The important thing
is not to judge people, and not to analyze people or interpret their
art. I have guidelines that I set which make it safe. (continued)
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