Personal Development for Young Adults- Group Sessions

I will be facilitating Personal Development Group Sessions for young adults.
Please see the information below:


Step Up Your Life! : starting on 5 April

Personal Development for Young Adults

Target Group : 18 – 25 years

During early adulthood, individuals may find themselves feeling confused about the vast choices that is available to them. This is the time where many values which were instilled in them when they were younger are put to test and is questioned. It is also the time where a major shift of perception and forming of values and believes based on new personal experiences will take place.

For many, this is the time of self exploration. Many are away from home, away from their families for the first time. Either attending college/university or working away from their hometown and away from other family members. Many will also be or become involved in romantic relationships which can be exciting and sometimes confusing.

The challenges they face just because of the changes in the environment and the higher expectations placed on them as they have entered the beginning stages of adulthood, may take a toll in their mental and emotional health and thereby making them feel unbalanced which contributes to their inability to make the best decisions for that time, regarding their lives.

Objective:
Self Empowerment through addressing and working through these important questions
1. Who am I?
2. What do I really, really, really want?
3. What are my passions and how can I incorporate them into my life and/or my work/studies?
4. How can I find a way of expressing my uniqueness without being isolated by others/society?
5. What is my true path? What am I here to do?
6. How to become in touch with my inner voice/true self
7. How do I realign my thoughts, emotions and body to achieve my highest potential?
8. What is sabotaging my efforts to progress in life and how to overcome it?

- To provide a safe space for self exploration and self awareness
- To enhance the process of decision making and goal setting
- To equip the individual with methods which will help to elevate when feeling down or stressed?
- To provide a safe space to express their feelings through words and other creative methods
- To understand and know the personal power each person has within themselves and to learn how to bring it forth especially in challenging times.
- To tap into each person’s passion and to incorporate them into the individuals lives.

Expected Outcome:
-Have more clarity in the direction of your chosen path
-Be able to tap into your personal resources
-Be able to consciously create the life that you want
-Be able to consciously make desired choices instead of constantly just reacting to external events
-Be in control of your thoughts and emotions

Time: Mondays, 7pm - 8.20 pm

Venue: The Violet Flame, 67-2, Jalan Bangkung,
Bukit Bandaraya,Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia

No. of sessions recommended: 10
Fees: RM 80 per session

Facilitator: Vanitha Chandrasegaram

MA Dramatherapy (University of Hertfordshire, UK) ; MSc Psychology (Pittsburg State University, USA)

Vanitha chose to be trained as a dramatherapist to combine her passion and background in the performing arts and Psychology. As a dancer, she has always felt that creative expression contributes to the wellness of an individual. In the last five years as a dramatherapist, she is now able to use creativity in the therapeutic context and to empower others.

Her experience as a dramatherapist includes working in the UK and Malaysia in various settings from a private colleges to mental hospitals. She has worked with clients ranging with those undergoing various life challenges to clients with mental health issues, from ages three to ninety.

Vanitha is a member of the National Association of Drama Therapy (USA) and was registered with the Health Professions Council (HPC) in UK (2004). Her work has been published in a book and professional journals in the UK and in Malaysia.

Please call us at 03-20959868 or email info@thevioletflame.com.my to register!

Talk on Happiness

An interesting talk on TED TV on Happiness...

Daniel Kahneman: The riddle of experience vs. memory

http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experience_vs_memory.html

Asia Dance Channel Magazine

Check out Asia Dance Channel Magazine, December 2009-May 2010 issue, Volume 1, No.1, on page 25.

Anxiety and How to Survive it

As a trainee dramatherapist doing my practical training in a mental hospital in London, one of the clients I had worked with is an elderly client man who used to be a pilot at the RMAF and was based in India. It was interesting to think about how courageous he must have been to be in such a position and decades later was diagnosed as having anxiety disorder. (I do not believe in labeling my clients for various reasons which I will discuss in my future blog entries ). He was afraid to even step out of his own home to take a bus to come to the hospital psychiatric day care a couple of times a week.

Although he had initially agreed to attend the group dramatherapy sessions, I always had to convince him to come for the session for at least 10 minutes before the sessions began. At the end of the sessions he always informed the group about how glad he attended the session that day and the benefits that he had gained. But before the session every week, he always needed to be persuaded to attend the session.

As the therapist of the group, I always began with a two minute breathing meditation. Mainly because of this particular client, and then went on with the rest of the group session. The meditation at the beginning of the session always helped him calm down before the sessions. He usually is able to participate in the session without feeling anxious after the meditation.

Symptoms of anxiety

Some of the physical symptoms include: pounding heart, dizziness, stomach upset, shortness of breath, headaches, muscle tension, insomnia, frequent urination or diarrhea.
The emotional symptoms of anxiety include: feeling tense and jumpy, feelings of apprehension or dread, irritability, trouble concentrating, expecting the worst situations, restlessness, always looking out for signs of danger.

What is the cause of anxiety?

There may be several causes to anxiety. It may be a symptom of other mental health issues such as substance dependency, depression and withdrawal of long term substance abuse.
It can also be a symptom of a physical disorder or changes in hormonal levels. This is why it is always important to have a physical check up with your physician before reaching any other conclusions.
It also may be caused by the repression of traumatic experience/s or grief from the past. Each individual has a different story.

What to do if you experience anxiety?

First consult your physician. If there is no physical illness that could be the cause of your anxiety, consult a counselor, therapist or psychologist.
These are some self help techniques you may try if the anxiety is perhaps due to a stressful event that had just occurred in your life and the feeling of anxiousness has not lasted more than a few days. I will still strongly suggest consulting your physician if there is any other physical illness that may be contributing to the feeling of anxiousness. It is important to always remember that the mind, body and emotions, all work as one.

Self-help options that may help reduce anxiety:

1. Meditation- breathing techniques, creative(positive) visualization techniques

2. Exercise - such as walking, swimming or yoga, which are low impact, calming exercises

3. Reduce caffeine intake. Caffeine is a stimulant and it for an individual experiencing anxiety, it may aggravate the situation.

4. Reduce or eliminate alcohol intake

5. Maintain a healthy diet. There is a certain truth about the adage of ‘ we are what we eat’.

6. Have sufficient sleep. Some individuals require more sleep than others.

7. Positive affirmations. Affirmations reinforces our believes. Positive affirmations help in redirecting ones fears into hopes.

8. Do not get attached to mental health labels such as ‘anxiety disorder’, ‘depression’, etc. I remember a client who had joined internet support groups to help him with his disorder. Although this can help initially, his strong identification the label and sense of belongingness with that group had contributed to the to delay the process of recovery.

9. Focus on the present – Anxiety is based on fear. Fear is mostly related to associations of negative past experiences or the imagined future negative experiences. The present is usually quite safe in most cases. This is why meditation helps. Its main focus is in the present.

10. Write a list of joyful thoughts. As human beings, it is often difficult not to focus on the past or the future. Especially since we have been trained since we were children to do so. Therefore focusing on joyful moments from the past and possible joyful events in the future is a better option than the negative thoughts. Like everything else, this comes with practice.

11. Keep a journal. Writing in a journal may help because it gives a space for the individual to express his/her fears , what he/she is anxious about. It gives the individual a space to express themselves. It is important to do that, as repression of ones fears only make them more anxious in the long run. This is useful especially if, for whatever reason/s, he/she does not have anyone he/she can speak to about this matter.

12. Be around nature- generally being around nature, whether is under a tree or sitting by the beach or looking at trees and flowers, or just looking up at the sky and noticing the formation of clouds has the calming effect to our general well being.

Each individual operate differently. Therefore some suggestions may work better than others for each person. I would propose to try them out and see what works best for you.
I would highly recommend therapy or counseling if the symptoms persists more than a few days, and if there is no physical reason for the anxiety.

New York ...

The theme of the conference, 'Finding Home: Pathways to belonging' kept manifesting in my experience for the rest of my stay in New York.


After the conference, I visited with my friend, Mohan Kulasingam, who used to be my dance partner during dance performances, a very long time ago. He is my first male dance partner and is a wonderful dancer and yoga teacher. It was great to see him after such a long time. Although many years went by, reconnecting with him felt so natural and in a way, I felt 'at home'.



He took me to watch Ms Mary Anthony's dance class. It was one of the many highlights of my trip. Ms. Mary Anthony is one of the pioneers of modern dance and is now 93 years old.




















She was conducting the dance class and even did the the class warm ups with her students. I felt honoured, by just being in her presence and watching her in action! T

he dancer in me was in complete admiration and awe with her! She exuded radiance and had a quiet, gentle and yet, powerful command over the class. I could see and feel the high level of respect the dancers has of Ms Mary Anthony. She has a brilliant radiance about her. It was the most inpiring moments of my trip!

New York : Drama Therapy Conference

National Association for Drama Therapy (NADT) Conference in New York

A few weeks ago, I attended the Drama Therapy conference held in White Plains, New York. As the previous Drama therapy conferences which I had attended both in the USA and UK, it was an amazing experience. It exceeded my expectations. As there are only two drama therapist in Malaysia, it is always wonderful to be surrounded by other colleagues in the same field and share ideas and insights about our work.

I felt that I had gained a lot in from this conference, not only in expanding the skills and knowledge which I had acquired in the various wonderful workshops which I had attended but also connecting with people both working in the USA and in the other parts of the world.

The title of the conference is ‘Finding Home: Pathways to Belonging’…

I have to say, that my whole trip to New York was an amazingly, wonderful experience. When I first arrived at the immigration, the immigration officer started by asking what I was doing in the USA… the usual question.. Then when I said that I was going to attend and present for a drama therapy conference, he began to share that he does acting part-time, and how he enjoys the process. He also shared that he has a degree in psychology and that he used to be a police officer previously and had to sometime deal with law offenders who had mental health challenges. I then realized that our conversation was taking up time and keeping the others in line waiting and said goodbye. I felt at home at that time… It is quite unexpected, because I suppose, whenever I am in immigration, the thought which is dominant is ‘Have all your documents, answer all their questions and do not irritate them because they have the say whether you get to stay or leave in the next flight’.

The next time I felt at home was when I met the two people whom I was sharing my hotel room with. We have been in touch via email for several months. It was lovely to finally meet them in person.

It was easy from then on to feel very much at home amongst other drama therapists and artists, throughout the conference. One of the evenings, I presented a performance titled ‘The Home Within’ which was a combination of dance and monologue about my journey as a pioneer of Drama therapy in Malaysia. It was about the triumphs and the challenges of working as a drama therapist in Malaysia and realizing at the end, that I may never find a place which I can call home, especially as a drama therapist, but at the end if I feel that I am home within myself, as who I am as a person, and in my work, I will always be home, wherever I am, both in my career and in my Self.

I felt honored with the audience I had for my performance. As a performer, I felt such encouragement and closeness to the audience during my performance. After which many of them had graciously stayed back to speak to me and congratulate me on my performance.

I also presented among other drama therapists who work internationally in a panel discussion about Drama Therapy abroad, where we shared with our audience, our experience working in the field of drama therapy in different parts of the world where it may be still a new field.
I found all of the workshops very helpful and enlightening. With the permission of the participants and the facilitator, I have included a few pictures of a workshop on Playback Theatre, which was one of my favourite workshops during the conference.


To be continued…(more pictures will be added in the next few days)

Newspaper Article on Dramatherapy

A few months ago, there was an article about Dramatherapy on the local newspapers , The Star, which featured my work. I was approached by a journalist to sit in for one of my lecture demonstration about Dramatherapy as she found the idea interesting and she wanted to write it for the newspapers.
Please read with descretion as the journalist did dramatize the article to appeal to the readers. It did however, create some awareness to the Malaysian readers, of the existence of the field of Dramatherapy and that is a positive thing.

This is the link if you would like to check it out:
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/7/4/lifefocus/4197244&sec=lifefocus