In his book, therapist Francis Weller reclaims grief as an act of belonging and renewal, showing that it is not a personal failure but a soulful response to what has been wounded within and between us. I was especially impressed by his reminder that, while we can learn from Indigenous traditions, we must craft our own rituals – rooted in our own lineage, landscape, and wounds. This book is a poetic, tender, and radically honest invitation to transform pain into connection, imagination, and care.
This classic work gave me an embodied insight into how shame turns the gaze inward, trapping the self in isolation. Gershen’s idea of consciously redirecting our attention outward – seeing, hearing, touching the world – feels both practical and transformative. I’m particularly drawn to his emphasis on moving from self-consciousness to relational presence, where perception itself becomes an act of healing and reconnection, and his belief that making mistakes is essential for learning and growth.
Gestalt therapist Gordon Wheeler and Robert Lee’s book offers a deeply relational and field-oriented view of shame, echoing Wheeler’s vision in Beyond Individualism. I find their framing of shame as a boundary regulator and a field variable—rather than a personal defect—both liberating and thought-provoking. As someone who both experiences shame and explores it in artistic and therapeutic contexts, I’m moved by their invitation to “live shame differently—connection rather than in isolation.”
In this book Lise Lavelle explores Suprapto Suryodarmo’s movement practice »Amerta Movement«, in which movement becomes a path of perception, transformation, and relational presence. Rooted in Javanese spirituality, it invites deep listening to the body in dialogue with space, time, nature and others—beyond performance or fixed roles. Practicing Amerta myself, I find it resonates with my own
#relationalflow practice while offering inspiring perspectives on embodied awareness and interconnection.
I love this book. The described practices resonate deeply with my own artistic and somatic work. Arawana Hayashi offers a thoughtful exploration of how embodied awareness practices can support processes of social change. Rather than treating obstacles as problems she invites us to stay with discomfort and uncertainty as sources of insight. Through simple yet precise individual and group practices the book reveals subtle dynamics of presence and offers a grounded way to engage with social fields.
Council is a ritualised form of communication in which participants sit in a circle, speaking one at a time–often using a “talking piece”–to support honest, attentive dialogue. It emphasises slow, grounded, non-hierarchical interaction and is used in communities, teams, families to build connection, understanding, and shared vision. The book by Jack Zimmerman and Virginia Coyle is a key introduction. Council is an inspiring embodied relational practice, I‘ll join a workshop soon.
#relationalflowAuthentic Relating coach Ryel Kestano’s book offers practical tools for deeper, more authentic connection. I found the Witness and Curiosity practices valuable. They encourage presence, empathy, and Deep Listening: attending fully to another without interruption. Though not named explicitly, the book is deeply informed by Focusing and explores a relational approach to communication. Concepts like “own your experience” and “assume nothing” support more honest, embodied dialogue.
#relationalflowDavid Bedrick is a Process Work psychotherapist. In The Unshaming Way he explores how internalised shame can be transformed through witnessing, body expression, and emotional intelligence. Rather than seeing so-called negative traits or feelings as problems to fix he encourages engaging with them creatively and somatically—via voice, tone, movement, and sound—so their deeper meaning and intelligence can unfold. I like the exercises in the book. It’s one of the best books on PW.
#relationalflowA helpful book on Focusing for therapists. Cornell worked with Gendlin for a long time, then developed her own approach. She presents formulations, typical situations and tips, such as there's no need to explain Focusing to your clients.
“The Focusing process is a way to shift levels, step outside the box of preset categories, and experience one’s own change emerging from within, so that one is already living new possibilities that were exactly what the problem was missing.” #relationalflow
Here Arnold Mindell deals with conflict facilitation of large groups, to expand democracy to "deep democracy". What he calls a "psychosocial activist" is first and foremost an awareness coach who deals with both a community’s material and psychological essence.
"Democracy is based on power. Without awareness, democracy adds to, but does not resolve, world problems. Deep democracy is a new awareness procedure that respects all individuals, parts, and states of consciousness."
#relationalflow
