Francois Wessels | Coram Deo Pastoral Counselling and Narrative Therapy Training
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Geleentheid uit Stilte Verbeeld
My naam is François Wessels en ek is bevoorreg om deel van die Coram Deo-gemeenskap te kan wees as ‘n nagraads gekwalifiseerde berader en direkteur. My verhaal het ankers in die koue van Molteno, die droogte van die Karoo, die winderigheid van Port Elizabeth, die ewigheid van die Drakensberge en ’n tuiskoms in Pretoria.
Waar ek my nou in die non-dualiteit van Stilte én van Storie bevind, is die resultaat van die palimpse van twee radikale epistemologieskuiwe [dit is maniere van weet oor ons wêreld] wat ook met twee loopbaanskuiwe geassosieer is. Opgelei as ’n statistikus, is die eerste aantal jaar van my lewe daaraan gewy om ander te help om sin te maak van hul data. Toe ek my M en D in Narratiewe Terapie gedoen het, het hierdie rol dalk geskuif daarna om mede-sinmaker van lewensverhale te word. Brené Brown sê nie verniet dat storie “data met siel” is nie.
‘n Storie is data met siel.
En toe, dalk saam met die sensitisering vir Stilte, die mistieke “not knowing” van spiritualiteit, het daar ook ’n ander kreatiwiteit ontwaak en het ek die afgelope 3 jaar my spiritualiteit ook in 3-D begin verbeeld. As aspirerende beeldhouer, vind ego en siel gestalte en ruimte in die positiewe en negatiewe ruimtes van my beelde.
Tans bied ek ’n kursus in Verhoudingsterapie vir Tweedejaars en ’n module oor die terapeutiese ervaring en subjektiewe integriteit aan. My werk is geborge in mistiek-narratiewe epistemologie. Verder is ek bevoorreg om een van Coram Deo se beradingspan te wees en koördineer ek die Stildienste by Coram Deo.
Possibility Sculpted from Silence
My name is François Wessels and I am privileged to be part of the Coram Deo community. My story is anchored in the cold crispness of Molteno, the arid beauty of the Karroo, the inspirational windiness of Port Elizabeth, the eternity sculpted in the mountainscapes of the Drakensberg, and a homecoming in Pretoria.
My groundedness in the non-duality of Silence and Story results from a palimsest of two radical shifts in epistemology, paralleled by two career shifts. I was trained as a statistician and dedicated the first years of my professional life to helping clients make sense of their data. When I completed my Masters and Doctorate in Narrative Therapy, it enabled me to become a co-meaning maker of life narratives. Perhaps Brené Brown was right when she said that story is “data with soul”!
With this sensitising to Silence, the mystical “not knowing” of spirituality, another creativity was awakened: over the last 3 years I have become an aspiring sculptor, imaging my spirituality in 3-D. Thus, ego and soul find form and space in the positive and negative spaces of my sculptures.
Currently I facilitate a course in Relationship Therapy for the Second Year class at Coram Deo, as well as a module for First Years on the Therapeutic Experience and Subjective Integrity. My work is grounded in a mystical-narrative epistemology. I am also privileged to be part of the Coram Deo therapist team, and I am the coordinator of the Silent Sermon project at Coram Deo.
On January 30, 2019 / Custom 01, Helping team / Leave a comment