A workshop for gay men
28-29 October 2006, 10 am - 4.30 pm
“I’ll never be happy the way I am.” “No-one will ever want me.” “My friends tell me I look fine, but they’re just being nice.” “I hate what I see in the mirror.” “I’m just too fat/skinny/bald.” “There’s a right way to look and I just ain’t got it.” “Who could love someone like me?”
Do these statements sound familiar?
This workshop explores the issues that underlie such self-defeating beliefs: shame; the over-emphasis on appearance; the myth of perfection; the messages we have absorbed and taken on board - from our family, from the gay scene and from the wider culture.
We will look at how we objectify ourselves and others, what we lose from that and perhaps what we gain. We will consider:
• Is this how gay men are meant to feel or behave?
• What is really wrong with our bodies?
• What is ‘normal’?
• How can we treat ourselves with loving-kindness and have fulfilling relationships with others?
• What are specific strategies for living a more satisfying life?
If you want to discuss participating in the workshop and/or to reserve a place, please call 020 7243 6752 or email marcusgottlieb@gmail.com. The fee will be £160, of which £60 is due in advance. The venue is The Coach House, 14a St Luke’s Road, Notting Hill, London W11 1DP. The fee includes lunch on Sunday.
Marcus Gottlieb is a graduate of an 8 year training in humanistic and existential psychotherapy at Spectrum, a long established institute accredited to the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). He is committed to challenging the many myths and prejudices that surround gayness and to exploring with compassion the experience of detachment, separation and isolation which is still so much a part of many gay men’s inner life.