rockland institute for mind body education rimbe
About RIMBE
Programs for Public Education
Programs for Organizations
About Jeanne Denney
Therapeutic
Practice
To register call 845-598-1727 or email: jdenney@email.com
Registration required for full-day classes, workshops and for groups.
"Jeanne Denney is a passionate and caring teacher. Safety and support are constantly available and exchange of thoughts and ideas are encouraged. I can highly recommend study with Jeanne. One is in good hands."
-Marcus Daniels
Director
Lungta Institute
"I learned to take back control and face some very old lifelong fears. Each step I took changed the next one for me. And it has been a journey I would with Jeanne take again anytime."
"Jeanne's process group continues to help me know and live more fully into myself..... At the end of each group, I leave feeling I've been truly seen, and, as a result, feeling more authentic and whole. I have always felt safe with Jeanne, as well as inspired by her to take risks and grow." K. U.
"I have found the group to be a highly effective way to resolve current and long standing personal issues and dilemmas." S. P.
"I found that listening to others in the group helped me grow as an individual" S. T.
Programs for Public Education
Rimbe regularly provides public education on mind/body topics in Rockland County, New York. These courses are designed for people who are completely new to the subjects, but may also be of interest to people who are familiar with mind/body topics. Public education classes usually include some didactic teaching, but focus mainly on experiential learning.
Embracing the Mother's Dark Heart: Neuroscience and
Shadowgrace in the Service of Soulcraft
I will co-present this 6 session weekly teleseminar with by my good friend, author and parenting expert, Mark Brady beginning April 6. It should be a lively exploration of how darkness comes to play in our parenting and how to skillfully work with it. It will include weekly online presentations and discussions as well as opportunity for supportive online interaction between sessions with other participants, Mark and I. Check out The Committed Parent Blog to see a sample of Mark's neuroscience writing for parents. Of course this course is open to both men and women.
One central aim of this offering is to change your brain, expand your heart, provide food for thought, and to do it in ways that are interesting and memorable. There are many things we need to know about our own brain and our own heart while our kids are growing up. There are a lot of things we would do differently. The good news is that with new knowledge we actually can do things differently, not only as parents, but as people. Doing so now can make a profound difference in the family while it contributes to the collective treasury of consciousness.
In order to insure that sufficient personal attention can be given to all participants, this offering will be limited to 22 people. The cost is $195. If you’d like to enroll or receive additional information, simply send an email to: mothersdarkheart@gmail.com
Current Projects
The Kairos Network
The Kairos Network Blog was dormant for a few months but is functioning again. It has some new posts. Check out "The Moment of Death: Timing is everything...or at least something" by Noell Goldberg, "Death is not Contagious" and "Grief is contagious: Try to catch some".
The Kairos Network is an online networking, support and referral group in the Greater New York area for people who work with death, dying, or the care of the elderly. It is a nonprofit organization sponsored by the Rockland Institute for Mind/Body Education (RIMBE). Though Kairos is based in Rockland County, New York, it is not intended to be regional in its scope or influence.
Besides providing networking, programming, support and referral to its membership, Kairos also seeks to promote public awareness about death and dying, and to advocate for the emotional and spiritual well-being of the dying, their families and their caregivers.
Fees for membership are requested but can be waived in the case of need. Fees cover cost of advertising, web presence, initiatives and projects, including the Kairos Project.
Individual Membership Fee: $25 per year
Organizational Membership Fee: $150 per year - This allows for membership of up to 8 individual staff members in Kairos.
Volunteers are welcome and Contributions are graciously accepted for the promotion of the work or Kairos and the care of its members.
To join the Kairos Network call 845-598-1727 or email jdenney@email.com or click here for online registration.
The Kairos Project
The Kairos project is an ongoing support and inquiry group for heart-centered helping professionals. In any of the myriad forms of helping and service work there is risk of burnout, loss of spirit or loss of excitement in growth through service.
The Kairos project works from the idea that special care, awareness and support networking is necessary for individuals who work to support human development and evolution. Though the need for this care and support are sometimes acknowledged, it is most commonly neglected in our workplaces and communities. As a result, many caregivers are prone to burnout and disenchantment with their professional lives, while often still longing to follow their life’s intention to do their professional work. This is particularly true in birth and death care, or in teaching and healing roles, though not exclusive to these.
The Kairos Project takes up this issue for examination and experimentation, and explores how and whether support groups and processes external to the workplace can help sustain and reignite passion for human service work, while supporting the a sense of meaning of the worker.
This group is experimental and is currently free. It meets periodically in Rockland County and is open to all inspired, heart-centered human helpers after interview with commitment to participate for at least four inquiry meetings or activities.
Call Jeanne at 845- 598-1727 or email jdenney@email.com if you are interested in being a part of the Kairos project.
Other Programs Recently Offered
Living the Life Pulse
How often do we take the time to sense and appreciate the life force that sustains us? How do we come to sense it in the body, in nature, in our lives, cultivate and work with it? Can we flow with it more gracefully from moment to moment? I will take up this day long, didactic and experiential exploration with people who want to learn more about life’s working energetic principles as they operate from day to day and moment to moment. For those of you waiting for me to stop talking about death alone, here is a chance to spend a day exploring the experience of our "aliveness" with others.
Death Education
Ok, ok....I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea. But I have a committment to bring death education, mindfulness and planning for death (and life) to the community because it enriches people's lives. If you are a hardy soul of any age up for starting the conversation, here are some offerings to check out.
I will offer an informal Monthly Meetup Group On Death, Dying and Bereavement starting March 5 on the first Saturday morning of the month for 6 months. This will be a facilitated open discussion on death fears, concerns, questions and sharing of experiences. I will lead exercises, answer questions, or just facilitate group sharing as we explore this human passage from different points of view, one conversation at a time.
$25 fee is suggested. The first meeting is free to people who are struggling with money.
Planning on Dying: A Life Exploration
(Soon to be an online program!)
Many people in our culture feel that considering your own dying process and death rites is a morbid or depressing topic and avoid it at all costs until perhaps the final days. Most often we leave this task for others to do without us. Even though we know we will die, seldom do we actually plan on dying. But could you imagine an exploration of planning for your own dying being one of the most life enriching contemplations you have ever taken on and a great gift to your loved ones? That is what hospice worker Jeanne Denney and others have found in their explorations. Jeanne is now taking others of all ages through this exploration to see what they find for themselves.
Far from popular superstition, she promises that the conversation will not kill you. Indeed it is most likely to help you connect to life purpose, increase inner peace and, of course, someday when you die may greatly help you and those you leave behind with your passing. Whatever it brings is likely to be surprising. You are challenged to join the inquiry and make your own discovery as you make provisional plans for support of your own dying.
What People Have said:
The "Planning on Dying Class" was awesome. Not only did it help me process my grandmother's death, it also help me focus on priorities in my life. Thinking about my "ideal death" brought issues out into the open for me to start dealing with them. I am happier for taking (this)class. I got a panoramic vision of death that I hadn't had before. I am much less afraid of it and feel like the presence of "possible death" hanging over situations or life in general is more a friend reminding me of what is important rather than a foe to be feared." - J.
"The experience of your group has been extraordinarily meaningful for me. Your workshop helped open up long over-due grieving for my friends. My increased comfort with death and dying enabled me in turn to be with a friend in (other's grief). My capacity to be present has been strengthened in a way I know shall benefit me and others. In short, you and the other members of the group... provided a life-changing and lasting experience." - M.
"Jeanne's process group continues to help me know and live more fully into myself..... At the end of each group, I leave feeling I've been truly seen, and, as a result, feeling more authentic and whole. I have always felt safe with Jeanne, as well as inspired by her to take risks and grow." K. U.
"I have found the group to be a highly effective way to resolve current and long standing personal issues and dilemmas." S. P.
Finding the Self in Group Process
While personal therapy can be irreplaceable in personal growth and healing, there comes a time when it is essential to find the support of a safe group and gently experiment with revealing ourselves to others. Through guided group experiences our self-knoweldge and capacity for meaningful relationship grows. These powerful small groups led by Jeanne use Body Psychotherapy methods to help members learn about themselves and heal in relation to others. In this process, members discover how they limit themselves in intimacy, how they can move beyond these limits and participate more fully and truthfully in life.
Keeping the Heart Alive in the Work of Helping Others
Helping professionals, such as teachers, nurses, social worker, clergy and caregivers at home, work deeply to support others every day. Human service work can be personally fulfilling or leave us feeling isolated, exhausted, disillusioned and physically ill. This heart-centered work can be difficult to sustain without a network of support, yet effective support often appears to be unavailable. At other times we may find ourselves resisting the very things that we need. In this workshop, we will begin to unravel the mysteries of self-care, listening to our own wisdom while identifying resources and connecting to supports that make a difference. It will help us understand the nature of burnout and compassion fatigue, reflect on personal experience with heart-centered work, identifying recurring patterns and exploring effective care that can be brought into the daily life of a caregiver.
Presented by Jeanne Denney
Please contact Jeanne Denney if you are interested in this. Call 845-598-1727 or email jdenney@gmail.com.
The Core of Dying
An exploration of death is at the heart of all spiritual work and yet is strongly resisted in our culture. Most westerners have little experience with this exploration before the reality of dying is upon them, often inducing shock and trauma as a result. Even those of us who are Body Psychotherapists, focusing strongly on helping clients be "in the body," may neglect the natural and opposite flow of the lifeforce, perhaps unwittingly exacerbating resistance to death and spiritual experience as well.
What is this letting go we call dying, and how can we observe it energetically? Are there ways we can learn to work with the natural pulsation and tension between coming into bodily life and surrendering to possible life out of the body and to spirit? And can this work help us be more skillful and present during our own transformations, our bodily death and with th e deaths of others?
In this free introductory talk, Body Psychotherapists and Core Energetics practitioners Jeanne Denney and Sally Schwager will take up this exploration with an aim of bringing more life into our bodily life and also into our large and small deaths. Topics covered will include the pulsation of the life force, transformation of body energy in birth and death, and the probable role of the heart in all
of it.
Please contact Jeanne Denney if you are interested in this Call 845-598-1727 or email jdenney@gmail.com.
Your Client Has a Body (and so do You)
This coming Fall (2010) a Somatic therapy Introductory Series will be offered in Rockland County to helping professionals and practitioners. The series will include education and experiential techniques on how to incorporate awareness of the body, mind, emotions and spirit in yourself and in your work as a caregiver. Neal Levy, LCSW, Harvey Siegel, LCSW, Jeanne Denney, MA and Elizabeth S. Carl, LCSW, CASAC, all Core Energetic practitioners will present:
-Energy and Body Concepts
-Neuroscience: The Body as the next frontier in Psychoanalysis
-Characterological Study
-Higher Self, Lower Self and Mask Concepts
-Energizing and Expressing Emotions as Curative: The Core Energetic Model
-Experiential Techniques to move Emotional Blocks
-Spirituality and our Body/Mind Connection
- Caring for the Caregiver
Following the Lecture Series, a monthly Study Group will be formed that will combine supervision and experiential process.
To be contacted on dates, times and location please write or call: Jeanne Denney 845-369-7506 jdenney@gmail.com or Neal Levy 845-353-2482 neallevy@hotmail.com
Finding the Self in Group Process
This ongoing process group is offered to compliment the Body, Energy, Healing and Consciousness class as well as allow other interested individuals to experience group process. While personal therapy can be irreplaceable in personal growth and healing, there often comes a time when finding and revealing oneself in a safe group is essential. Through these experiences our self-knoweldge and capacity for meaningful relationship grows. Led by Jeanne Denney, it will use Core Energetics Techniques (a body psychotherapy method) to allow people to deepen their personal explorations, as well as find emotional support in a safe group setting.
Presented by Jeanne Denney
Dates: Group meets bi-monthly on Sunday evenings 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in Rockland County. (A phone interview is required for participation.)
Cost: $35 per evening.
Call Jeanne at 845-598-1727 or email jdenney@email.com for information about this program and for interview if you are interested in attending.
Parenting Perfectionism:
Overcoming "Toxic Parent Brain"
As a conscientious mother, you want the best for your children and hold high standards for yourself in your work as a parent. You perhaps go through each day with long inner lists of concerns to maximize their nurturance, health and education. However, you may have experienced that this very sense of responsibility and idealism can itself have unintended consequences for our own mental health and for our children.
When do our ideal images of parenting themselves become a hazard to ourselves and our children? Join therapist, mother and writer Jeanne Denney for a discussion of this phenomenon she has jokingly nicknamed Toxic Parent Brain " – "that sudden state of revulsion – of myself as a parent and my children as children.... a jumbled state of fear, panic, shame, self-recrimination, over-analysis, anger, projection and worry, shaken and stirred into a toxic cocktail that occasionally overshadows much of my happiness and joy in being a parent." Jeanne will discuss things that may trigger this condition and lead an exploration into what can help us keep humor and perspective.
Jeanne Denney speaks at the Holistic Mom’s Network
Body, Energy and Character
Healers, parents, therapists, helpers of all kinds and curious others can benefit greatly from this basic exploration of character and how it forms in body. This series of five classes will offer teaching on the relationship of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual development. It will teach the five character types developed and used by many body psychologists as we study how they manifest daily in each one of us. We will learn to assess bodies, energy and character issues, as well as look at energetic and therapeutic interventions that are useful when working with with each child, client, family member and self.
Presented by Jeanne Denney
Dates: Not currently offered
Cost: $150 per Day.
Call Jeanne at 598-1727 if you are interested in this program.
Introduction to Energetic Healing
Many people who have experienced Healing techniques or Energetic Bodywork are curious about the theory behind it and want to know how they can learn these skills themselves. This class is offered as an introduction to Energetic Healing for people who would like to understand more, experience more, and have their first experiences with basic healing. It will cover theories about human energy and energetic structures (such as charkas, auras and meridians), sensing and reading energy, grounding, containment, connecting to spirit, basic chelation skills and more. Class will include recommended homework and practice between classes. Reiki practitioners who would like more grounding in energetic theory are welcome.
Stress, Emotions and Health for Parents
What do stress, emotions and health have to do with each other? Well, as you may expect, a lot! As busy parents we may often find that we run short of mental, emotional, spiritual and physical resources for dealing with our children as well as the needs our partners and ourselves. What are some ways that we can recharge and regain balance when the going gets rough? Jeanne Denney will present a short program on the basics of the problem of stress and a few principles of how we can support ourselves through the most difficult times.
Your Body Speaks its Mind – Learning to Listen to and Communicate with your Body
Are your thoughts and emotions really all in your head? We know that neurology has a great deal to do with experience, but our bodies also seem to hold much of our emotional life and feeling states. Scientific research of the last decade has confirmed this connection and how deeply mind and body are intertwined. How do our emotions interface with our physical bodies? How does the state of our body give us clear messages about our history and about what our minds and bodies both need to move forward in our lives toward fulfillment and joy? How can we listen more deeply to our bodies needs and bring more loving care to ourselves in our healing processes? These questions will be explored in this five-week class. It will give some theoretical background, but will mainly make use of experiential exercises, dreams, imagery, writing, movement, body reading and group process to help each of us come to our own understanding of how to work with the mind-body connection.
Writing to Save your Life
When our voices and emotions have been withheld a long time a strange thing happens: we become estranged from our very self. We suddenly notice that we don’t remember what we actually want or need, or what we really want to say. Our voices become blocked and we may find ourselves saying things like “I can’t write” or “I can’t sing”. We may develop great fears of expressing ourselves in writing, even if we are the only ones who see it.
Finding an authentic voice to express our deepest truth and a way to do it is an important part of many, if not all, healing processes. Working through these fears in a safe group through writing is a powerful way of finding our way home. This program will begin to open participants up to writing process work. It is especially designed for people who think that they can’t write or that they don’t do it well, but is equally useful for the professional writer. No experience is necessary. It may include some movement and singing (no, you don’t have to do it well either), but will mainly focus on writing together in group. Bring pen and paper. We will write together.
What is Core Energetics Therapy?…an introduction to using the Body in Psychotherapy
In recent years there has been loads of research establishing the relationship between the body, neurology and psychology. The importance of working with the body is gaining attention and momentum in psychotherapy. Core Energetics is body-based therapy for growth, healing and evolution developed in the 60’s and 70’s by psychiatrist John Pierokos (student of Wilheim Reich). Like many “body-psychotherapies” it works with the idea that our mind, body, emotions and spirit are not separate. Whether we are in crisis or are finally prepared to change life patterns, Core Energetics accelerates the healing process for individuals, couples or groups.
In this evening four Rockland County Core Energetics Therapists will give an overview of this exciting body of study and demonstrate how it works to support greater truth, empowerment, health and positive change. This introduction will be suitable for professionals and non-professionals alike.
Exploring the Mysteries of End of Life
Many of us hold deep questions and fears about what may happen to us at our life’s end and may fear exposure to the experience with others in their dying. Hospice workers and medical workers confront the realities of other people’s deaths daily. However, even if you have never been with someone in the last stages of life, you may have a feeling that there is something to be learned from being with this process.
Are there ways that we can peek into this experience, expanding our ability to be present with dying, receiving the gifts of death for the enrichment of our current lives and future death? Jeanne Denney will present her research and experience on consciousness at end of life and lead participants through exercises to help us become more familiar and comfortable with the terrain.
This program is suitable for the General Public or for people with experience as caregivers to the dying.
Dancing the Pulsations of Life, Death, Grief and Joy
Often we think of life and death as opposites, and death as the enemy of life. We feel bereft when we loose what we love and do not know how to move between attachment and loss. In a word, we resist claiming our life’s pulsation. In fact, exploring death enriches life greatly, a well-lived life enriches dying, and true joy holds grief and loss within it.
In this workshop we will explore these contradictions and the energetic pulsations of the apparent opposites. We will learn about the energies of death and birth, attachment and bereavement, and the role the human heart appears to play in it all. This workshop will include movement and experiential work as we explore what it may mean to more fully claim life in the largest sense.
Suitable for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of life, death and bereavement.
