Interest Groups for 2025

Interest Group 1 - Parsing the Plenary with Riley Robinson As FCRP was beginning in the 1940s, a staid Quaker asked one of the founders, “Psychology – isn’t that dangerous? Answer: “Yes, and so is religion.” Still true. And it's still helpful to consciously reckon with these. Facilitator Kenneth Kovacs brings a range of experience in the worlds of Jungianism and Protestant religion. Let’s talk about what comes up for us during the plenaries. We might consider:

• What is new for you in hearing these written “conversations?”

• Carl Jung was raised as the son of a Swiss Reformed Church minister, but in time his consciousness of world religions grew exponentially, affecting him deeply. How does your belief background, religious, spiritual, or not, inform your experience of this weekend? What stands out now from your journey?

• What are a few key ways that religion/spirituality most affect your life today, be it through meditation, participation, media, or other? How do these affect your actions and practices?

• Are you finding some new focus in your inner religious/spiritual/psychological landscape as you participate in the sessions? Is there some new feeling of integration of mind, body, spirit? How does it feel? What change might you undertake as a result?

Riley Robinson is a longtime Quaker FCRP attender who meets himself coming and going here.

Interest Group 2 - Zuihitsu for Journaling with Stephen McDonnell In this interest group, we’ll use the Japanese literary genre of zuihitsu as a journaling technique. Zuihitsu is a casual, offhand literary recording of things that delight or impress you. There are no strict rules about its form, and it can take many shapes, including essay, reportage, observation, poem, journal, lists, anecdote, even email, gossip, scholarly annotation, or scraps. Techniques include fragmentation, juxtaposition, varying lengths, or a hybrid of any of these. The earliest zuihitsu dates back to 1002 AD when the poet and court lady to Empress Teishi, Sei Shōnagon, privately wrote The Pillow Book, a book of personal essays and fragments of her thoughts and observations. One contemporary poet who has used the form is Kimiko Hahn. We’ll read and appreciate some samples from The Pillow Book and Kimiko Hahn, spend some personal time writing, and then come together and share our jotted observations.

Stephen McDonnell is a Quaker (Morningside Monthly Meeting) and has worked as a social work psychotherapist for the last thirty years, mostly in private practice and New York City. Steve has been on the Planning Committee of both conferences. Steve is a poet who practices figure drawing and belongs to a movement choir at Trinity Wall Street performing Butoh-style dances.

Interest Group #3. Seeing What’s Not Said with Barb Siegel All language has echos of meaning even when we don’t take the time to hear them resonating. Let’s see beyond the words. I’ve been thinking about thinking for a while and have developed tools to help people understand themselves and where communication can break down. We will use visual tools and create images to understand how language limits understanding. You will begin to see the gap between what is said and what is heard. Yes we will draw. I promise to take all your fears away. No drawing experience necessary, really! I have lots of experience getting non-drawers to relax and expand their communication skills. Required material: At least 10 sheets of blank paper, 8.5” x 11” or so. Markers: One black marker about the width of a standard sharpie. Colored markers are nice to have, all of them should be at least as wide as a standard sharpie. This is to help everyone see your work. Thin markers and ball point pens and pencils don’t show up well on zoom. A hard drawing surface is necessary (desk, piece of cardboard) so please make sure that is available where you will be working.

Barb Siegel knows a thing or two about art, visual facilitation, and complexity science; she’s also a registered architect. Her current work is focused on getting people to experience the complexity of who they are and helping them find a path forward. If you are curious about my work in complexity science you can begin with 15 essential terms for complexity thinking .https://awarefulsystems.com/index.php/language/glossary-for-complexity-thinking/ She raised two special needs children who arenow amazing adults.

Interest Group #4, Active Imagination with Jane Byerley In “A Guide to Active Imagination,” analyst Lewis Connoly says, “Active Imagination is a technique that was developed by Carl Jung to access the unconscious in waking life. When we consider engaging the unconscious, most of us think exclusively of dream analysis - the process of taking our dreams and uncovering what they’re trying to teach us, ideally with the assistance of a trained analyst. Jung believed our dreams consisted of the stuff of our unconscious. You can think of it like this. Your unconscious is like a separate autonomous person who resides within you, who is always listening and observing everything you do and say. Understandably on occasion this silent witness may recognize problems or opportunities that you (which is to say your ego) have missed. This silent witness then, seeks every night to communicate with you through your dreams, the language of dreams being one of associations, symbols, emotional charge, etc. Although dream interpretation is the main way of engaging with the unconscious, Jung also believed the unconscious could be engaged with directly through what he called active imagination.” Come examine the process, contact your unconscious, and try active imagination.

Jane Byerley became Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington in July 2019. Since then, she has been writing weekly to our membership. She is a Candidate to become a Jungian analyst with the Philadelphia Association of Jungian Analysts of the Inter-regional Society of Jungian Analysts. For 20 years, she was a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton. She has a BA from Colorado College, an MSW from Catholic University, an MBA from Southern Methodist University, and ayear of Masters work at the University of Warwick (UK) in English Lit. Jane is in private practice as a psychotherapist in the D.C. area.

Interest Group #5 On Your Own No leader. Take a break and spend the time as you like.