Last week the manual was officially presented see to protect. Keys to understanding violence against children, girls and adolescents and to develop effective protection measures, that we have elaborated my partner Pepa Horno and I from Spiral Consulting Children for UNICEF Spain. As usual with My publications, sector la manual entry see to protect on that blog and expand on some relevant aspects here.

The manual has three elements that are significant to share here.

First, broadly systematizes the fundamental concepts to understand violence. Many people going through therapy need to understand what has happened to them and how, and although normally the accompaniment process is enough, sometimes they ask me for a reference to continue expanding. It's manual, although it is technical and is aimed at professionals who work with children, and adolescents, can also serve people with sufficient therapeutic work.

On the other hand, and expanding on that line, the manual is also useful for psychotherapists who want to update their knowledge and skills. With the activities that are proposed throughout each of the chapters we can expand our sensitivity and our ability to accompany processes that have to do with violence and trauma and with their healing.. The practical part is designed to cultivate awareness of our interventions.

By last, it is essential to remember the importance of the bodily dimension both in violence and its consequences (especially in trauma and dissociation) as in recovery. The entire manual has body aspects, and especially works on the feeling of well-being that it tries to build in the spaces that are Safe and Protective Environments.

The manual see to protect can be downloaded free of charge from the UNICEF Spain website.

I hope that is of interest, and I will love to know how you receive it.

F. Javier Romeo

[November Archives. November Archives.]
Focusing November Archives, November Archives. November Archives, November Archives. November Archives, November Archives, November Archives, November Archives.

November Archives “Is this violence? Naming violence as a form of political advocacy?” (November Archives “Is this violence? Naming violence as advocacy”) at the Third Conference on the Felt Sense (Third Felt Sense Conference), organized by the International Focusing Institute online this year 2021 with the focus on “An embodied release: the felt sense and Social Justice” (English “Embodied Liberation: the Felt Sense & Social Justice”). In my workshop I plan to make a cross between the Child Protection work that I develop from my consultancy, Spiral Consulting Children, and the inner dimension of Focusing. At the same time, I hope to offer elements of inner awareness that will be useful to anyone committed to Social Justice, not only with Child Protection.

Date: viernes, 3 December 2021, of 11:00 a 13:00 new york time (17:00-19:00 Madrid time, see other time slots here).

Place: online.

Language: English.

More information and registration: página web de Third Felt Sense Conference (2021).

[Original entry 24 November 2021, actualizada a 3 December 2021, date of the event].

Focusing has always had at its core the improvement of society, not just of individuals. Gendlin wrote extensively about the social and political dimension of Focusing, as the felt sense provides a better understanding of our inner life –and of external circumstances. Starting from deep personal work, Focusing invites us to step into interpersonal relationships and social structures with strength, flexibility and awareness and to start the changes we want to see in the world.

I am therefore very honoured to present my workshop “Is this violence? Naming violence as advocacy” at the Third Felt Sense Conference, organised by The International Focusing Institute online this year 2021 with the focus in “Embodied Liberation: the Felt Sense & Social Justice”. In my workshop I am planning to cross the work in Child Protection that I develop from my consultancy firm, Spiral Consulting Children, with the inner dimension of Focusing. However, I hope to offer inner awareness for every person that is committed with Social Justice, not just in Child Protection.

Date: Friday, December 3rd 2021, 11:00-13:00 New York time (17:00-19:00 Madrid time, check your time here).

Place: online.

Language: English.

More information and registration: website of the Third Felt Sense Conference (2021).

[Original post of November 24th 2021, updated December 3rd 2021, day of the event].

as usual, In this blog I share elements that cross my work in Spiral Consulting Children with other personal and professional interests. In this case I have the satisfaction of sharing the guide Voices for change. Methodological guide for consulting children, girls and adolescents in residential care, what we make Pepa Horno and I stop UNICEF Spain.

It was a satisfaction to receive the commission to systematize this methodology in writing in an affordable way.. Part of our work when accompanying public and private entities of protection systems here in Spain and in other countries in their improvement processes consists of having the eyes of their protagonists: children, girls and adolescents living in protection centers. And they are specialists in their own lives, and often the institutions forget to ask them, unfortunately.

That is why it is a great joy that UNICEF Spain, within its work in promoting child and youth participation, has invited us to present a simple methodology to consult these children, and adolescents. We talk more about it in the blog of Spiral Consulting for Children.

Inside it is a technical and practical guide, For me, the aspect of the interpersonal communication: how can we adults talk, how we can create the right space and how we can listen to children, and adolescents. The words we use can open communication or close it, That is why the formulas that we present are very clear.: respect, inclusion and protagonism of the children themselves, and adolescents.

And we have also insisted on flexibility and adaptation to all children, and adolescents, providing guidelines to accommodate the intervention to functional diversity, cultural diversity (especially the unaccompanied migrant boys and girls) and those with mental health issues and trauma. Their voices, as we say in the title, well heard, can make a change for the better in their lives.

I hope you like it and that you find it interesting.

F. Javier Romeo

Part of my work as a psychologist and companion in personal and organizational processes consists of finding ways to communicate complex messages through metaphors and analogies.. In the initiative “Renewing from within”, that I already presented in this other post, we set out several challenges and proposals to improve the child protection system, girls and adolescents in Spain (And in the rest of the world).

This month I have collaborated with the article “We accompany with the person that we are”, that uses analogies between the measures we are taking in the face of the pandemic and the aspects we need to take care of when accompanying children, girls and adolescents who have suffered a lot. It is a way of bringing awareness to our way of being and doing, both personally and professionally.

And you will see that, as usual, I insist on the importance of training in trauma and remember the value of Focusing, I find it a very useful tool on a day-to-day basis..

I would love to know what you think and how you live it.

F. Javier Romeo

This summer I needed to disconnect, and i got it. on a mental level, but also electronically. And it has been largely thanks to reading Digital Minimalism, of Cal Newport, an author whose line of thought I admire, I try to put into practice and I recommend.

through this book, which has the suggestive subtitle “In defense of care in a noisy world”, I have shaped the kind of relationship I want to have with social media: use them consciously, taking advantage of the possibilities of connection and contact with other people and with interesting organizations, but without losing control of my time, of my care or my emotional well-being. It is written in prose that combines rigorous research exposition with entertaining anecdotes that make key points concrete..

And the best thing is that it is not about leaving all social networks, but to limit its use to adequate levels for our brain. The book begins with a proposal 30 days without social networks and then gradually introduce them, in a manner appropriate to our interests. I have been all August without opening my accounts Twitter and of LinkedIn and, Although it was hard at first, I have arrived renewed to September. Now I open them two or three times a week, with intention, seeing the topics that really interest me, and I have already discovered several interesting initiatives without suffering from the tense messages of the “trending topics”.

And the best thing is that Cal Newport does not stay in “stop the inappropriate use of social networks”, but it also advances four guidelines to take advantage of the time that is freed up for us:

• Take the opportunity to be alone, at internal connection time.
• leave the “likes” as a form of relationship and replace them with direct conversations (in person, by phone or video call), in real interactions more adapted to our emotional capacities.
• Cultivate healthy leisure, that gives us energy instead of taking it away.
• Paying conscious care to our attention, which is limited. Instead of wasting it on activities that do not bring us much, concentrate it on what makes us grow and take care of each other.

So if you see that I use social networks less, you will know that I am taking care of my attention. And if you want us to discuss something, Better by phone or in person than by social networks, do you seem to?

Good start to the school year,

F. Javier Romeo

Online life has helped us create new virtual communities.

More than a year ago I received the invitation to be part of a reflection group on children in the protection system in Spain, coordinated by Alberto Rodriguez and Javier Múgica and in which we participate Antonio Ferrandis, mi partner of CI Spirals Pepa Horno, Marta Llauradó and my almost double namesake F. Javier Romeu Soriano. After these months of online meetings and multiple emails and drafts, last week we jointly published the founding document, Renewing from within. Seven challenges and proposals to improve the child protection system in Spain. The text speaks for itself, and can be downloaded from web page of “Renewing from within”.

Here I want to talk about something a little different: of the process itself. And I'll sum it up in three words: community, growth and awareness.

Community is what we have been creating. It has a part of chance, having met for child protection issues in different spaces. But it also has a part of intention. Make room for online meetings. Write each one their part of the document and revise the texts of the rest. share views, concerns and possible responses. Little by little we have been deepening our relationships, developing a common language that incorporates our different personalities and sensitivities. And we believe that part of the improvements in the protection system go precisely through creating community in many other spaces, with the kids, girls and adolescents and their families, within professional teams and intervention networks.

Further, we have advanced with a perspective of growth. Each person in our group has been collaborating and accompanying processes of the protection system for many years. That's why we can talk about the shortcomings, of the weak points that harm children, girls and adolescents and the families whom it is intended to protect. But we also remember the progress, the changes, sometimes very small, that make some aspects improve. That is why the document wants to collect both the challenges that we see in Spain and some proposals that we know, by personal or professional experience, that have worked before. And this process also makes us who reflect in a group grow.

Why, in the end, It is about developing the consciousness. when we have a “conscious gaze”, as my good friend says and partner at CI Spirals Pepa Horno, we see reality in a deeper way. We identify what happens in children, girls and adolescents and their families, but also in the professional teams and in the systems that would have to provide them with protection and support. And we also recognize what happens inside us, to channel intuitions and sensations towards concrete proposals that improve the lives of many people. We can't do this alone, we need a safe environment, community, help us move forward, to ask ourselves new questions and discover new answers.

From here I send my thanks to this magnificent team, and to life for making it possible.

And I invite you to read the document and pay attention to the following steps (we will be publishing monthly blog entries to continue delving into the different proposals). I see you on the website “Renewing from within”.

in celebration,

F. Javier Romeo

[Read this post in English]

It is a joy for me to be able to facilitate a workshop on “Finding the felt sense with objects: a way to interact with the inner parts” in the International Online Conference on Focusing Guided Therapy (International Focusing-Oriented Therapy Conference) that is planned to take place between the 21 and 25 October 2020 (between 22 and 26 in Asia and Oceania).

It will be an experiential workshop on Focusing Guided Psychotherapy (Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy/Therapy, FOT / FOP), one of the lines of work that I follow when I accompany in psychotherapy both in person and by videoconference.

“Working with the inner parts in therapy can be challenging in many ways. We can facilitate a better understanding of the interior parts by using objects (figures, pencils, clay). The process of choosing one or more objects can help generate the felt sense without the need to explain excessively. In this way, we can help each client (from childhood to adulthood) listen to every part inside, so that you can see the movement of life forward in them and to establish a better relationship with them. This is going to be a practical workshop, so it is advisable to bring a few small objects that can be used in the consultation (a dozen colored pencils will do).

Key contents:

1) Five key ideas for working with interior parts with children, girls, adolescents and adults.

2) An example of a process of seeking felt sense with objects.

3) A little experience of working with objects so that everyone can develop their personal style.”

Date: viernes 23 October 2020, 09:00-11:00 on New York time (15:00-17:00 in Madrid time) (find the schedule here).

Place: online.

Language: the workshop will be in English with simultaneous translation into Spanish.

More information and registration: website of the International Conference on Focusing Guided Therapy (the International Focusing-Oriented Therapy Conference).

[Original entry 7 October 2020, actualizada a 20 October 2020, date of the event].

[Read this entry in Spanish].

I am very happy about being able to facilitate a workshop about “Felt-sensing with objects: a way to interacting with inner parts” at the online International Focusing-Oriented Therapy Conference that will take place online from October 21st. till the 25th. 2020 (October 22nd.-26th. in Asia and Australasia).

It will be an experiential workshop about Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy.

“Working with inner parts in therapy can be challenging in many ways. Using objects (figurines, pencils, Plasticine) can allow for a better understanding of inner parts. The process of choosing one or more objects can foster felt-sensing without explaining in excess. In this way, we can help clients –children but also adults– to listen to each part, to see the life-forward drive in them and to establish a better relationship with them. This will be a practical workshop, so please bring some small objects that you can use in your therapy room (a dozen of colored pencils will be enough).

Takeaways:

1) Five key ideas for working with inner parts in therapy with children, adolescents and adults.

2) An example of a process of felt-sensing with objects.

3) A short experience of working with objects, to develop your personalized style.”

Date: Friday October 23rd 2020, 09:00-11:00 New York time (15:00-17:00 Madrid time) (your time here).

Place: online.

Language: the workshop will be in English with simultaneous translation into Spanish.

More information and registration: website of the International Focusing-Oriented Therapy Conference.

[Original post from October 7th 2020, updated on October 23rd 2020, day of the event].

[Click here to read this post in English.]

The document Beyond survival. How to improve intervention with unaccompanied and separated migrant children who are left outside the protection system, what Pepa Horno, my partner in Childhood Consulting Spirals, and I have written for UNICEF Spain and UNICEF France, just posted, and is available in two versions:

• Download the original English version of Beyond Survival. Improving intervention in Europe with Unaccompanied and Separated Migrant Children who fall through the protection system.
• Download the Spanish translation, Beyond survival. How to improve intervention with unaccompanied and separated migrant children who are left outside the protection system.

This is a technical publication that has to do with Child Protection, social intervention and human rights. In fact, We have the ideas and conscience of about a hundred professionals in the International Workshop in December 2019 en Madrid, that I helped facilitate (we explain more in our CI Spirals blog post). However, it is also a very personal document for me.

On the one hand, children, Unaccompanied and separated migrant girls and adolescents have a very special place in my heart. I worked in Morocco for several years with children, girls and adolescents living on the streets and I know the difficulties they have there, and what makes them risk their lives for the possibility of having a better future. I have also worked for several years in Madrid with adolescents at social risk, and many of them were migrant boys and girls with no family references, so I have accompanied their steps in the difficulties they encountered to build a good future in Spain. And to this day I still enjoy being able to speak with them in Moroccan Arabic, a language that I really like. I hope that this document helps professionals and also the general public to have a compassionate look towards these children., and adolescents, and to worry about their welfare. (You can read more about my career path on my LinkedIn profile).

On the other hand, currently this is a very sensitive issue, due to multiple factors. As lead editor, I have repeatedly used do Focusing as a process for structuring ideas and finding the right formulations. The keys to more protective narratives need to come from a consciousness firmly rooted in the body. Hope this brings clarity and also a deeper perspective to this whole topic, especially if the more intricate parts manage to be a little more explicit.

In conclusion, it has not only been a professional challenge, but also a very personal process. I hope you enjoy it.

F. Javier Romeo