Báyò Akómoláfé, Ph.D., presenting
Where Do We Go When Healing Becomes Ill?
Dear human-helper-of-humans,
Many of us in the healing professions have shared a growing sense of needing to go beyond our traditional training to meet the unique challenges of our times.
There's a feeling of being confined by current therapeutic practices.
You might have even found yourself thinking:
- "Am I truly addressing the root causes of my clients' struggles?" Traditional methods sometimes feel like they only scratch the surface.
- "Why do I feel limited by the tools and techniques I've learned?" The issues we face today are more complex than ever.
- "Is there a deeper way to connect with and support my clients?" Current practices can feel restrictive, leaving little room for deeper exploration.
While this is anecdotal, it suggests that we are in a period of significant change and questioning.
During these times, it can be helpful to explore new perspectives and ways of thinking. This is an opportunity to ask a few important questions:
What does healing look like post-pandemic?
How do we address healing when our very understanding of humanity is influenced by racial and environmental factors?
How do we support clients when they are deeply connected to broader ecological and ancestral contexts?
As one-who-cares, it could be that these questions feel irrelevant to you in such a time of crises. But the hospital itself is ill, my friend. Only you can truly assess the real impact of your care on those you help.
I am here to facilitate a mutual co-inquiry into the factors affecting care and well-being, and what this means for your practice and the traditional therapeutic relationship.
This course explores the concepts of healing and challenges current clinical practices. It's not about providing new tools or techniques, but about addressing the underlying tensions present in modern healing practices that often go unacknowledged.
Over five weeks, you will be provided a series of video modules I recorded, which explore themes that I have titled:
- The "Death" of the Client
- When the Hospital Becomes Ill
- Trauma and the Citizen
- Schizoanalysis and the History of Desire
- Abtherapy and Becoming-Black
And in five additional, 2-hour recorded conversations, you and I will go much deeper together into the material presented.
This course does not provide specific solutions. Instead, in an era where quick fixes are often inadequate, we focus on the healing process itself. I invite you to join a global exploration of the challenges we face as healers today, so we can collectively redefine our roles and approaches.
Warmly,
Báyò Akómoláfé &
Academy of Therapy Wisdom
Experience a Preview of Bayo's Transformative Teachings:
"We are at a point in our work together as a species where we have to notice how entangled these concepts are. So our approach here is to think through a web of mattering, to connect myth, poetry, politics, spirituality, theology, psychology, epistemology and philosophy together to create confusion-so that we might travel through that and embrace new ways of knowing the world."
- Bayo Akomolafe
About Your Facilitator, Presenter, Co-Conspirator and Provocateur:
Báyò Akómoláfé, Ph.D.
Báyò Akómoláfé is a widely celebrated international speaker, posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, public intellectual, essayist, and author of two books, These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity's Search for Home, and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak.
Báyò is the Founder of The Emergence Network and host of the online postactivist course, 'We Will Dance with Mountains'. He currently lectures at Pacifica Graduate Institute, California, and University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont. He sits on the Board of many organizations including Science and Non-Duality (US) and Local Futures (Australia).
What You Get from "Where Do We Go When Healing Becomes Ill?"
This is not a typical course.
Each module will challenge you. You will emerge on the other side with a different sense of yourself and your profession.
If you are ready to sit in inquiry, this opportunity is one you need to register for. Join us for a five-week exploration where you will revisit your basic assumptions about the practice of therapy
You'll receive instant access to all of Báyò's video modules and recorded teaching sessions.
Here's What You'll Receive As a Participant…
5 Video Training Modules
Join Bayo on a journey through the Empire of Trauma, its keepers, demons, cracks and alternatives.
Each module is designed to challenge your current understanding and provide new insights, helping you develop a more nuanced and effective therapeutic practice.
5 On-Demand Training Calls
Join a global community across time and space in these five pre-recorded sessions where you will:
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- Learn and Wrestle Together: Engage in deep discussions and explorations, wrestling with complex ideas and concepts.
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- Sit and Be Lost: Embrace the unknown and allow yourself to get lost in the process of discovery, opening up to new perspectives and insights.
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- Ask Aloud: Have the opportunity to voice your questions and concerns, no matter how profound or trivial they may seem.
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- Hear Unasked Questions: Gain valuable insights from answers to questions you may not have thought to ask, expanding your understanding and knowledge.
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- Beyond the Cognitive: Experience a holistic approach to learning that moves beyond intellectual understanding, allowing your body and emotions to be deeply engaged and transformed.
These on-demand calls are designed to deepen your engagement with the course material, fostering a sense of community and collective inquiry that enriches your learning experience.
Downloadable Course Materials
Audio recordings, transcripts, handouts and more allow you to revisit the material on your schedule. Our dedicated support team is here to help with any questions.
Private Member Dashboard
Get all your course content organized in one easily accessible place to reinforce consistent learning.
Plus, Bonus Dialogues with Bayo:
The Emergent Role of the Therapist - A Conversation With Thomas Hübl
Thomas Hübl, PhD, is a renowned teacher, author, and international facilitator who works within the complexity of systems and cultural change by integrating the core insights of the great wisdom traditions and mysticism with the discoveries of science. Since 2004, he has taught and facilitated programs with more than 100,000 people worldwide, including online courses which he began offering in 2013. He is the author of Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma-and Our World (2023) and Healing Collective Trauma: A Process for Integrating Our Intergenerational and Cultural Wounds (2020), which was featured in Oprah Daily as one of "10 Books to Help with Old, Painful Traumas". He has published articles in Harvard Health and the Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change.
What Does A Politics Of Restoration Miss? A Conversation With Sanah Ahsan
Sanah Ahsan is an award-winning poet, writer, clinical psychologist and educator. Sanah works in the cracks, revering our messy emotional landscapes, and the wild edges of falling apart. Their psychological practice is rooted in liberation and community psychology, drawing on embodiment, therapeutics and poetics as life-affirming practices, to support racialised and marginalised people. Their published research is on the deconstruction of whiteness within UK clinical psychology. Sanah is the lead psychologist at several healing justice-led organisations, such as Art Against Knives and Beyond Equality.
The Client Is An Ecology - A Conversation With Tyson Yunkaporta
Tyson Yunkaporta is an academic, an art critic, and a researcher who is a member of the Apalech Clan in far north Queensland. He is an Aboriginal scholar, founder of the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab at Deakin University in Melbourne, and author of Sand Talk. His work focuses on applying Indigenous methods of inquiry to resolve complex issues and explore global crises. He carves traditional tools and weapons and also works as a senior lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University in Melbourne. His first book, Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Change the World, was awarded the Ansari Institute's Nasr Book Prize on Religion & the World awarded to an author who explores global issues using Indigenous perspectives. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.
The Plantation of Wellbeing - A Conversation With Akilah Riley-Richardson
Akilah Riley-Richardson, MSW, CCTP is a published researcher, Relational Healing Facilitator, STAIR Method Certified clinician, couples therapist and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. She has been a helping professional for seventeen years and has experience working with couples and persons practicing consensual non monogamy, both in the Caribbean and internationally. Akilah also specialises in work with sexual minorities and racial minorities. As an educator and facilitator, she has provided consultancy services to organizations such as NASTAD (National Alliance for State and Territorial AIDS directors), I-TECH (International Training and Education Center for Health) and CVC (Caribbean Vulnerable Communities). She has presented in various spaces including the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, the Academy of Therapy Wisdom and the Black Mental health Symposium. She has been a Social Work Educator at the University of the Southern Caribbean since 2012. She is the founder of the Relational Healing Institute and creator of the P.R.I.D.E model.
Leadership As A Modality Of Care - A Conversation With Amy Elizabeth Fox
Since 2005 Amy Elizabeth Fox has served as one of the founders and Chief Executive Officer of Mobius Executive Leadership, a global transformational leadership firm. For the last twenty years she has served as a leadership and culture change advisor to eminent professional services firms and Fortune 500 companies and facilitated immersive executive development programs for senior leaders.
Mobius offers top team intervention, business mediation, executive coaching and transformational leadership programs all aimed at unlocking potential and building deeper trust, intimacy and connection within a company's top tier. Mobius also sponsors a professional development arm for maturing transformational practitioners called the Next Practice Institute.
Since 2013 Mobius has had the privilege of partnering with the premier leadership advisory firm, Egon Zehnder, together offering sessions for leaders from around the world. Amy serves as the lead faculty for the quarterly Executive Discovery program offered jointly to C-suite leaders. Amy is also guest faculty for African Leadership Institute's Desmond Tutu Fellows program at Oxford. Amy has a Masters in Counseling from Lesley College and a BA in Psychology from Wesleyan University.
our courses are
At The Intersection of Psychotherapy, Spirituality, and Social Change
WE BELIEVE LEARNING SHOULD CHALLENGE YOU AND CHANGE YOU.
Themes for our co-inquiry
Below is an outline of the key themes and topics covered in each video module. Each module is complemented by a 2-hour recorded inquiry session to deepen your understanding.
Module 1
The "death" of the client
In this foundational module, Bayo Akomolafe challenges you to radically rethink the traditional therapeutic relationship. By exploring the dynamic and interconnected nature of care, you will gain new perspectives on how to navigate the complexities of well-being in our crisis-ridden world. This module sets the stage for a transformative journey, equipping you with innovative approaches to therapy that respond to the urgent needs of our times.
module1
Key Topics Include:
1 - The Anthropocene and Afroscene:
- Explore how global crises, from climate change to racial upheavals, are reshaping our understanding of humanity and care.
- Understand the interconnected nature of these crises and their impact on mental health.
2 - The Loss of White Stability:
- Examine how traditional notions of selfhood and well-being are being disrupted.
- Discuss the implications of these disruptions for contemporary therapeutic practices.
3 - Enter the Posthuman:
- Delve into emerging philosophies that decenter the human, opening new possibilities for conceptualizing health and therapy.
- Investigate how posthumanist perspectives can transform therapeutic approaches.
4 - The Client is Ecological and Therefore Postponed:
- Consider how the client is no longer confined to the individual in the room, but extends to broader societal and environmental contexts.
- Learn about the ecological dimensions of mental health and their therapeutic implications.
5 - Psychology as the Policeman of Capitalism:
- Critically examine the role of psychology in maintaining or challenging societal structures.
- Reflect on how psychological practices can either reinforce or resist capitalist dynamics.
module2
Module 2
When the hospital becomes ill
In this provocative second module, Bayo challenges us to critically examine the inherent limitations and potential harm within conventional healing practices. By exploring the intersections of diagnosis, therapy, and societal norms, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how current therapeutic frameworks might perpetuate the very issues they aim to resolve. This module challenges practitioners to rethink and innovate their approaches to care in order to cultivate a more nuanced and effective practice.
Key Topics Include:
1 - Therapy Today: Stories of Dissent:
- Hear the stories of professionals who question the adequacy of conventional therapeutic methods so you can build a new foundation from which to explore how the current frameworks may not meet the evolving needs of society.
2 - Prometheus and Procrustes:
- Examine these Greek mythical figures to understand how healing and trauma can become entangled.
3 - The Iatropolis: When Therapy Becomes Iatrogenic:
- Understand the concept of the Iatropolis, where healing practices may perpetuate the crises they aim to solve.
4 - Diagnosis: Normopathy, Safety, and the Quest for Categoricity:
- Investigate how diagnostic practices can be a means of societal control and capture so you can reflect on the implications of categorizing and stabilizing bodies within clinical settings.
5 - The Limitations of Healing and Solidarity:
- Discuss how efforts in healing and solidarity can sometimes reinforce existing tensions and suffering so you can start to consider the political and cultural dimensions of your practice and its broader impact.
Module 3
Trauma and the citizen
In this module, Bayo Akomolafe invites you to deeply examine and challenge the conventional understandings of trauma. Through rich historical context, cross-cultural insights, and philosophical interrogations, this module aims to expand your toolkit by including broader, relational perspectives on trauma and harm. This journey will equip you with a nuanced comprehension of trauma's political, cultural, and ecological dimensions, encouraging innovative therapeutic approaches.
module3
Key Topics Include:
1 - Where is the Body? The Local and the Virtual:
- Explore the complex nature of the body beyond its physical form, considering its virtual and diasporic aspects so you can understand how technologies, environments, and legislation impact our embodied experiences and therapeutic practices.
2 - A Strange History of Trauma:
- Dive into the historical evolution of trauma, from "railway spine" to modern interpretations so you can see how trauma has become a dominant framework in understanding harm and development, and what this means for contemporary therapy.
3 - A Transversal, Transjective Theory of Trauma:
- Learn about Bayo's innovative theory that views trauma through a political and cross-cultural lens so you can treat trauma as a relational phenomenon that transcends individual experiences, affecting communities and environments.
4 - Interrogating the Notion of Harm:
- Critically analyze the concept of harm, exploring how it delineates proper and improper bodies and behaviors in order to discover the political implications of trauma and harm, including how these concepts support or challenge existing power structures.
5 - Yoruba Indigenous Explorations of Trauma:
- Gain insights from Yoruba traditions that view trauma and healing through ecological and communal lenses so you can see some alternative therapeutic practices that emphasize relationality and the broader moral fields influencing individual well-being.
module4
Module 4
Schizoanalysis and the history of desire
In this module, Bayo takes you on an enlightening journey through schizoanalysis and the complex landscape of human desire. This exploration will challenge conventional frameworks and open new avenues for understanding therapy and well-being. By delving into the works of notable philosophers and examining critical historical and cultural contexts, you will gain fresh perspectives on the interplay between individual and collective psyches.
Key Topics Include:
1 - The Problem with the Individual:
- Unpack the Cartesian notion of the individual and its limitations in modern therapeutic practices so you can explore alternative perspectives that emphasize relationality and interconnectedness over isolated selfhood.
2 - Institutional Psychotherapy:
- Learn about the French movement that challenged traditional psychotherapeutic practices by integrating patients into the governance of their own care, in order to understand the implications of these historical experiments for contemporary therapy.
3 - Desire as Lack, Desire as Flow:
- Examine contrasting theories of desire from Lacan to Deleuze and Guattari so you can see how viewing desire as a dynamic flow rather than a lack can transform therapeutic approaches and societal structures.
4 - Schizoanalysis:
- Dive into the philosophy of schizoanalysis, which critiques both psychoanalysis and capitalism, so you can reveal deeper insights into societal and individual behaviors.
5 - Fernand Deligny: A Departure:
- Explore the pioneering work of Fernand Deligny with autistic children and his innovative, non-verbal approach to therapy so you can gain inspiration from Deligny's experimental methods that emphasize play, silence, and the intelligence of the more-than-human world.
Module 5
Abtherapy and becoming-black
In this final module, Bayo encourages you to explore innovative and transformative approaches to care. By engaging with new materialities and practices, you will learn to embrace uncertainty and foster sanctuary in therapeutic spaces. This module invites a deep reconsideration of how care is structured and delivered, offering fresh perspectives that challenge conventional frameworks.
module5
Key Topics Include:
1 - Deligny: The Slightest Gesture:
- Learn from the work of Fernand Deligny, who saw potential in the smallest gestures and maladaptive behaviors of autistic children so you understand how these gestures can be seen as creative ruptures that invite new ways of thinking about therapy and care.
2 - Autistic Lines of Flight:
- Explore the concept of "lines of flight" and how autistic behaviors challenge and expand traditional notions of normalcy and therapy so you can investigate the potential of neurodivergent experiences to offer new insights into therapeutic practices.
3 - Abtherapy: A Politics within Cracks:
- Discover abtherapy, which emphasizes moving away from traditional therapy and embracing the cracks and ruptures within established systems, so you can discover how these cracks can become sites of experimentation and new possibilities for care.
4 - What Might New Materialities of Care Look Like?:
- Engage with the question of how care can evolve in response to technological, ecological, and societal changes so you can consider how new practices and understandings might emerge in times of uncertainty and disruption.
5 - Making Sanctuary and Embracing Uncertainty:
- Delve into the concept of making sanctuary as a space for radical hospitality and experimentation so you can learn how to hold space for new and emerging forms of care by embracing uncertainty and fostering communal practices.
Join us today for
Where Do We Go When Healing Becomes Ill?
Navigating the Empire of Trauma
5-Module course with 5 on-demand calls and 5 bonus interviews,
valued over:
$997
Get Lifetime Access Now for:
$497
If you are a BIPOC or queer helping professional,
please accept our discounted enrollment price for this course by clicking here.
We are glad to have you with us!
What's at Stake for the Profession?
Imagine a future where our therapeutic practices remain unchanged, untouched by critical inquiry. What might happen if we don't challenge our current frameworks?
- Could we find our methods increasingly ineffective in addressing the complex, interconnected issues of our time?
- Might we unintentionally perpetuate harm, reinforcing systemic problems rather than alleviating them?
- How would our relationship with clients evolve if we fail to adapt to their changing needs and contexts?
- What innovative approaches could we be missing out on by not engaging in this transformative inquiry?
- Are we fulfilling our ethical responsibilities if we don't continuously reflect on and improve our practices?.
These questions invite us to consider the profound impact of our work and the potential consequences of remaining static.
This course offers a unique opportunity to explore these vital questions and ensure our profession continues to evolve and thrive.
Join us in this transformative journey and be part of the change.
Get Access Now for:
$497
If Not You, Then Who?
Who will take on the challenge of sitting in discomfort and evaluating the system if not you? Who will step forward to question, reflect, and innovate for the betterment of our profession and the people we serve?
- Who else is willing to explore the unknown and push the boundaries of therapeutic practice?
- Who will take responsibility for ensuring that our methods evolve to meet the pressing needs of our times?
- Who will be accountable if the profession fails to adapt and ultimately loses its ability to heal and support effectively?
The responsibility lies with each of us. If not you, then who?
100% Risk-Free Guarantee
We are confident you will learn new skills in this online training. However, if 7 days after the first live call (or 7 days after purchase, whichever is later), you don't believe you will learn anything to apply with your clients, please contact our support team at support@therapywisdom.com and we will give you a full refund, no questions asked.