CCAOM

"For me there are no answers, only questions, and I am grateful that the questions go on and on.  I don't look for an answer, because I don't think there is one.  I'm very glad to be the bearer of a question."  ~ P. L. Travers

Alchemy is a system of inquiry and understanding that informed the worldview of human beings from roughly 500 B.C.E. until the rise of modern Western science at the beginning of the 17th century. Alchemy supports a perception of the world that includes physical as well as psychic and spiritual levels of experience. It equips the investigator with the capacity for wonder, ambiguity and emotional subjectivity as well as precision, accountability and intellectual objectivity.

This two-day seminar will introduce students to the theoretical, clinical as well as transformational and spiritual aspects of alchemy – focusing on the Taoist Chinese tradition but also touching on Vedic and European versions where there are overlaps.

The class is rooted in the premise that alchemical principles and attitudes form the basis of much of TCM and that understanding the alchemical world view allows us to be better practitioners and to make optimal use of the tools of Chinese Medicine on a physical, psychological and spiritual level.

The primary goal of the class is to support participants in learning to work from an alchemical perspective and to become a “whole person healer,” someone who pays close attention to what cannot be seen, touched or measured with our ordinary senses as well as what can be; who is committed to mending the rift that has developed between matter and spirit, between our physical bodies and the non-physical, emotional, psychological aspects of our being; who recognizes that we and the planet we live on are one, our illnesses and our healing are intertwined.

While the seminar will introduce key theories drawn from Taoist and European alchemy, Zen Buddhist practice, Western depth psychology and contemporary studies of consciousness, the work will also be hands-on and practical so that you can take the information presented here with you into your life and your work with patients. Exercises, meditations and case studies will support the development of both specific diagnostic and therapeutic skills as well as the states of consciousness and expanded vision necessary for soul and spirit level healing work.

This two day seminar will include:

• An overview of the principles and terms that underlie the diagnostic and treatment strategies of Lorie Dechar’s method of Alchemical Acupuncture, including an introduction to Jean Gebser’s concept of the Integral, the Taoist concept of the Heart, Eastern and Western views of the self and the soul as well as an overview of related theories concerning change, entropy and negentropy, transformation and healing.                                          
• An introduction to key concepts crucial to the understanding of spirit-level acupuncture, alchemy and archetypal psychology including the Five Elements and the Five Spirits.
• An introduction to practices that support the development of the capacity to see, hear, touch, taste and smell with both “ordinary” and “extraordinary” senses.
• An introduction to Western and Taoist understanding of psychological and psychosomatic trauma and healing.
• An introduction to whole person treatment strategies that not only alleviate symptoms but support patients in discovering more of who they really are. Needling techniques, treatment protocols and point selection that support spirit level work will be explored as well as the question of how to create the conditions that make space for this kind of healing.
• Coaching on how to introduce this kind of work into your existing practice.
• Empty space for unexpected mystery and spontaneous surprise.

Lorie Dechar’s intuitive work as an alchemical acupuncturist is supported by a strong foundation in practical experience and theoretical understanding, including:

• Twenty years practicing acupuncture; seventeen in private clinical practice in Manhattan and Nyack, New York
• Status of master practitioner, senior faculty member, and senior clinical supervisor at the Tri-State College of Acupuncture in New York City, one of the oldest and most highly respected programs in the United States
• B.A. in English and French Literature, Bennington College, 1973
• Master’s Degree in Acupuncture from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute in Columbia, Maryland, 1985
• Completion of a two-year program in Traditional Chinese Pharmacology with Dr. Ted Kaptchuck at Tri-State College of Acupuncture, 1993
• Training as a psychotherapist at the New York Gestalt Center for Psychotherapy and Training
• Ten years in analysis and supervision with Jungian training analyst and expert on European alchemy, Dr. Nathan Schwartz-Salant
• Completion of a two-year psychotherapist certification program at the Focusing Institute in New York City
• Nationwide lecturing and workshop leadership
• Ordination as a Zen student of Zen Peacemaker Priest Claude AnShin Thomas and Board Member of the Zaltho Foundation