Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/408403
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 NOVEMBER 2014 42 THIS WEEK EMBODYING Selves and the Department of Theatre Studies (School of Performing Arts, University of Malta), is inviting the general public to a lecture entitled 'An Introduction to Dramatherapy in its Application with Clients with Eating Disorders'. The lecture will be de- livered by Kate McCormack, Senior Dramath- erapist at The Bethlem Royal Hospital, UK. It will take place in Lecture Theatre 1, Univer- sity of Malta, Msida Campus on November 7 between 18:00 and 19:30. Kate McCormack will also be facilitating a focused experiential workshop on the applica- tion of dramatherapy with clients with eating disorders. Professionals and trainees from the disciplines of the arts therapies, psychother- apy, occupational therapy, psychiatry, coun- selling, social work, psychology, the arts and related fields are welcome to participate. This will take place on the mornings of November 8 and 9 at the Waterfront Hotel, Sliema. The event is an initiative of Embodying Selves – a practice-as-research arts project that aims to increase awareness of the intri- cate link between the way people view their bodies, self-concept, emotional well-being, and the way they eat. As part of the project it is also working towards increasing awareness of the potential of dramatherapy in the heal- ing process of people with eating disorders. Dramatherapist Lou Ghirlando designed the project Embodying Selves on inspiration from psychotherapists and dramatherapists who speak about the connection between emo- tional wellbeing and eating patterns, as well as the way in which people play out their psy- chological patterns in the way they eat. This is of heightened relevance when working with clients with eating disorders. Dramatherapy can work towards the healing of people's rela- tionship with their body by working symboli- cally with creative media. It also supports in the development of respect and integration of one's own body as well as nurturing self- esteem. The experiential workshops on November 8 and 9 will offer interested professionals the opportunity for focused reflection and the- matic engagement. On the Saturday morn- ing, participants will explore symbol and metaphor as used in dramatherapy and on the Sunday the focus will be on the use of body and movement in dramatherapy. On both mornings, participants will be able to engage fully in an example of a Sesame dramatherapy session as may be facilitated with clients with eating disorders. |Sesame is a form of drama and movement therapy which began fifty years ago. The name originates from the Ali Baba story. 'Open ses- ame' are the magic words uttered to open the cave to reveal the wonderful treasure within – a metaphor for the access that dramatherapy hopes to provide to a person's unconscious to reveal not only what needs to be worked through, but the treasure of the often hidden creativity, which can become the medicine. Workshop participants will be issued with a certificate that can be kept as a record for con- tinuous professional development. For further details and application you may contact Lou Ghirlando on loughirlando@gmail.com; by calling 9999 9562; or through the Facebook page 'Embodying Selves' After a ban of five years (a ban that was supposed to be permanent), finch trapping is back and with legal backing (though not with EU legal backing), a scandalous backtracking that will cause irreparable harm to our countryside, birds and reputation. A 4500-strong army of men are once again and with impunity despoiling oblongs of steppe and garrigue to lay their clapnets to trap a few hundred thousand finches and confine them to misery for the rest of their life. Linnet, chaffinch, serin, siskin, greenfinch, goldfinch and – the heavyweight of the lot – hawfinch (M: Taz-Zebbug). The hawfinch is one of the less common finches, for which reason it commands a hefty price on the market. No wonder thousands are smuggled into the country. The bird is unmistakable, with that large head and massive bill that can crush even cherry seeds into pulp – one field guide aptly describes the hawfinch as a flying pair of nutcrackers! It's a bird of mixed deciduous woodland with plenty of oak, beech, etc. Nowhere does it mention aviaries and poky cages with pathetic men ogling through the wire mesh. But that's precisely the lot that attends many hawfinches that choose to rest in Malta this autumn. Way to go, Ornis Committee. Shame on you. 428. HAWFINCH GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 330: CHOOSE YOUR PINOCCHIOS – Visit http://www.prix-pinocchio.org/ for more information and for voting for your favourite Pinocchio. The Sustainable Development Pinocchio Awards, organized by Friends of the Earth France, in partnership with Peuples Solidaires - Action Aid France and CRID, aims at denouncing some multinational companies on the social or environmental impacts of their activities, in complete contradiction with the sustainable development concept they claim to respect. Since the emergence on the international scale of the concept of Companies' Social and Environmental Accountability, and especially since the Earth Summit of Johannesburg in 2002, the principle of voluntary adherence has predominated: the UN Global Compact, the Equator Principles for the banks, the OECD guidelines for multinational companies, and ethical charts as examples. Those commitments are legally non-binding, thus inefficient - while companies benefit from the positive image they project to their shareholders, clients and citizens, they only undertake some broad principles sparsely operational, and are not accountable for their actions if they do not respect their non-binding commitments. Although supported on a high level by some governments (which usually privilege multinationals' competitiveness more than the protection of human rights and environment), those voluntary- based approaches have today largely proved their inefficiency. On the international scale, multinationals take advantage of legal loopholes to conduct their activities by jeopardizing social, societal and environmental rights in Southern countries. Some politicians and many actors from the civil society including Friends of the Earth, now require the setting up of a binding legal framework on the international scale that would constrain companies to take their responsibilities and to be accountable. This demand of a stricter legal framework on the European level. Pinocchio Awards Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us www.foemalta.org. You can also support us by sending a blank SMS donation on 50618070 (€4.66) or 50619223 (€11.65). Text and photo Victor Falzon Dramatherapy applied to eating disorders