Course descriptions follow:

SoulSalon: A Creative Blockbusting Workshop
Continuing Education Units Offered:for MFT and LCSW.
PRESENTED TWICE: general public welcome.
1) AT ESALEN INSTITUTE FOR 10 CEU UNITS Weekend of October 23-25th, 2009.
2) AT TOPANGA FOR 6 CEU UNITS ON SATURDAY 10am-5pm May 16TH 2009.
Workshop Leaders: Leah Matson Ph.D. and Basho Fujmoto When the voice of the soul is blocked we may struggle mightily to free ourselves. In our imaginations we can create inspired homelands, but then we hide them in journals, mask them with social roles, speak in code. Much remains secret, lost before translation, unsaid, unheard even by ourselves. How do we break through that silence, that hiding? This workshop is designed to provide teachable tools and breakthrough experiences of collective and individual authenticity for those who seek a true voice with authority and agency. It is for individuals who are irresistibly attracted to expanding their creative authentic voice, building courage, seeking magic, community, and mentorship. The workshop will takes place in Esalen¹s natural resources, baths, and meditation house, as well as in the inner landscapes, minds, and hearts of the participants. The focus will be a practice inspired by new sciences and ancient arts. Participants will engage in:
€ Developing their response and relationship muscles 
€ Fine-tuning skills in truthful interaction and unashamed creative expression 
€ Awakening and activating improvisational perception 
€ Practices of theater, drumming, storytelling, body awareness 
€ Cultivating a unique audio fingerprint, a personal tone and timbre
Leah and Basho write: "Join us in the heat of transformation and inspiration. Walk the edge of your current identity, dare expansion, and make magic from the mystery.
Guides and fellow travelers: 
Leah Matson Ph.D.: LA Psychotherapist, artist, actress, surfer, award-winning teacher in creativity and psychology; Antioch University LA. 
Basho Fujimoto BFA: Performing artist and musician, Fine Arts BA, from UC Davis. Apprenticed with internationally performing Kodo, the heartbeat drummers of Japan.
Workshop Package Options for Topanga only

Workshop Package Options

Blockbusting $145.00 Blockbusting + Heart Construction $230.00

Comments from the Esalen catalog interview:
"Creative blockbusting is a workshop that introduces a new process of awareness for the adventure of emergent discovery. What does this mean? “out with the old, in with the new”. Its not about the block, it’s the flow that we are seeking to engage in. Rather than obsess about why and when we are blocked, we will focus on what we really want by activating a new creative reality. We are seeking a perceptual shift, examining the power of our values that either free us or hold us in old patterns. Our workshop will provoke the deepest creative growth we can, providing inspiration, opening the doors to our new intended work.  Activating the ability to recognize how the emergence of self awareness can lead to manifesting creativity in our daily lives. From the chaos of trauma to recovery and renewal, we are led to discover a new process to practice. Whether or not its artistic blocks, healing from old wounds, or trauma and addiction recovery, Creative Blockbusting can activate a motivated response, rather than a habitual response pattern. It’s the habitual patterns that hold us frozen in an old identity. As teachers, this class is an artistic destination, provoking our deepest creative growth. We can wholeheartedly admit that we are teaching the class we would most want to take. Leah is a psychotherapist from LA whose work includes people in the entertainment industry who have creative blocks. Basho is a performing musician who will present the creative and performance pieces of the workshop. Leah’s group and individual process expertise will round out the workshop so that together, their combined artistic talents will offer a creative sanctuary for all those involved. " 

SPRING-SUMMER 2009 Topanga Courses:

1) SOULSALON: A CREATIVE BLOCKBUSTING WORKSHOP

COURSE DESCRIPTION ABOVE
SATURDAY MAY 16TH 10-5pm 6 CEUS FOR MFT AND LCSW

Leaders:
Leah Matson Ph.D.: LA Psychotherapist, artist, actress, surfer, award-winning teacher in creativity and psychology at Antioch University LA.
Basho Fujimoto BFA: Performing artist and musician, Esalen certified massage therapist, Fine Arts BA, from UC Davis. Apprenticed with internationally performing Kodo, the heartbeat drummers of Japan.

Workshop Package Options

Blockbusting $145.00 Blockbusting + Heart Construction $230.00

This workshop was designed to be an activating experience of manifesting and putting into motion and action your relationship to creative work and freedom. I intend on creating a catalytic environment to support the beginnings of new visions. It’s the flow that we are seeking to engage in. Rather than obsess about why and when we are blocked, we will focus on what we really want by activating a new creative reality. We are seeking to sustain the perceptual shift, provoke the deepest creative growth we can, providing inspiration, and opening the doors to our new intended work. Art, writing, movement, music, communication and all creative activities are the mediums of this day where you are guided to surrender to your creative vision and join the dance.

Often in life we make choices out of fear and the desire to avoid pain. We create half-hearted relationships with people, work, and life, guided by conformity and a need for safety. We become dissatisfied, losing our sense of faith in our personal guidance. When we allow ourselves to be led by our intuitive hearts, we make choices that express our authentic self. Then we are able to construct new realities, create more joy and freedom in our life and offer our talents to the world. Why don’t we just follow our heart? At critical junctions, we often let ourselves be guided by fears, by ego, and by projected ideas of how life should be. The courage to approach these crossroads with an intuitive sense of faith, requires a practice of radical surrender, trusting in the heart’s path of least resistance. We will:

*Experience what it is like to be heart-centered, connected to a deeper sense of love and authenticity.
* Identify the difference between the voice of the heart versus ego or fear.
* Discover the triggers that signal a retreat from the heart into artificial modes of “problem solving”.
* Learn to develop trust and faith in the heart’s guidance, strengthening courage in times of fear.
Our toolbox for this journey will include:
* Guided meditation and gentle movement.
* Focused intuitive awareness exercises.
* Creation of a daily practice of documenting intuitive heart guidance.
* Development of personal strategies for recognizing and overcoming resistance.
* Manifestation and intention setting practices to create clarity in choices.

Leah Matson Ph.D. an award-winning teacher specializing in creative process and psychology at Antioch University LA, is a psychotherapist, artist, actress, lifelong performer, and surfer.

Workshop Package Options

Heart Construction $145.00 Heart Construction + Blockbusting $230.00

CEU COURSE POLICIES
1) CEU provider’s name; Leah Matson Ph.D. MFT Provider #PCE 4221 Courses meet the qualifications for individually specified hours of continuing education as specified by the BBS of California.
2) Certificate of attendance will be provided.
3) Refunds in cases of non-attendance:
For Esalen course policies see their website, www.esalen.org.
For Topanga based courses, there is a $50 non-refundable deposit to hold space in the workshop. If cancellation is within 5 full days, the balance will be refunded, if after 5 days the balance will be credited towards future workshops.
CONTACT US:
For ESALEN COURSE, contact them directly at www.esalen.org.
For TOPANGA-BASED COURSES: REGISTER DIRECTLY ON THIS WEBSITE or email or call Leah at 310-455-4305.

ROOT METAPHOR CARD DECK
27 CARDS PLUS GUIDE BOOK

Here are the tools mentioned in the workshops that help shift perception and guide you to a new vision. Root Metaphors are word pictures of the central organizing ideas of our beliefs and theories. Often to open our minds to new perceptions asks for a new language, a new vantage point. Using the book that comes with this and simple card spreads can help open your insight and provide a new lens. When our habitual concerns are reframed, we often feel a surge of possibility. The energy rushes past the blocked doors to our hearts because it uses a different set of keys. Cost $20 plus $5 shipping and handling.