photo by Gareth Griffiths
BEING OUR BEST
Bridging Storytelling and Positive Psychology
Dates: Thurs 23rd to Sun 26th September 2010
Cost: £240. Some concessions available at £190.
(includes accommodation & food)
There’s a lot of wisdom in ancient tales. Stories highlighting such virtues as courage, honesty, compassion, generosity, curiosity and creativity abound in the world’s myth and folktale traditions. Such stories are like the self-help books of our ancestors. They are time capsules of wise advice, the educational curricula from an oral world before books were born. They provide insight and example on how to navigate the road of trials, deal with challenge and adversity, find a fitting purpose and live a worthy life. In short, they teach us how to be at our best.
Science has now joined forces with this timeless tradition in the form of the newish study of well-being and happiness, generally known as Positive Psychology. Building on the Humanistic Psychology movement of the 1960s, Positive Psychology looks at what we can learn from people who live life to the full, who are happy, healthy and creatively fulfilled. It then looks at how these lessons can be applied to the rest of us.
On this workshop we will seek to make a bridge between the ancient wisdom of story and the modern science of well-being. We will explore what it means to be at our best. Through telling stories, trying out exercises, reflecting on experience, being creative, applying scientific findings to ourselves, undertaking the hero/heroine’s journey and immersing ourselves in the healing and inspiring environment of Cae Mabon, we will get a glimpse of - maybe even greater purchase on - how we can live our lives even better than we already do.
This workshop should appeal to anyone interested in storytelling and/or positive psychology, but also to those of us who know there’s still room for improvement, still a little way to go before we are being our best!
Facilitators
Steve Killick
Steve is a Clinical Child Psychologist, both in the NHS and independently. He specialises in emotional literacy, positive psychology and creative approaches to therapy. He has a background in the performing arts and uses storytelling in his work as a psychologist. His recent publications include, with Taffy Thomas, ‘Telling Tales: Storytelling as Emotional Literacy’; and 'Emotional Literacy at the Heart of the School Ethos. He’s also produced several training video films on child development and mental health. He is currently working on a collection of Indian folk tales.
Eric Maddern
Eric is an ex-psychologist who’s always had a penchant for humanistic psychology. He’s been a storyteller now for twenty years and is also a singer-songwriter and the author of a dozen children’s books. He has been performing a show entitled ‘What the Bees Know’ which attempts, through song, poetry and story, to promote some of the afore-mentioned virtues with an eye to sustainability. And he was the one who gently coaxed Cae Mabon into being.
To book or for more information email Steve at
The Beautiful Cae Mabon- click on picture to go to the Cae Mabon website to learn about this elemental place
Click below to return to Steve's storytelling page
