Editor's note.

Welcome to this issue of the Journal of Heart-Centered Therapies. We are pleased to present the article on "corrective emotional experience," which extrapolates the concept from that proposed by Franz Alexander in 1946, beyond the level of ego experience (emotion, memory, and cognition) to that of Self or Soul experience (the transpersonal realms of collective unconscious, subtle energy, and the spirit world).

The authors identify more than twenty types of corrective experiences, and suggest that they all fit into one of three categories: (1) building ego strength through release of shame and reclaiming worthiness; (2) building agency through release of helplessness and reclaiming personal power; and (3) building authenticity through release of dissociation and identification and reclaiming self-reflective identity.

These three themes follow those suggested by the authors in their previous article published in this Journal, Four Primary Existential Themes in Heart-Centered Therapies (Autumn, 2001, volume 4, issue 2), documenting the vital importance for an individual's healing to reclaim worthiness, personal power, and identity.

The information presented here is very comprehensive, and certainly practical for the therapist in clinical practice.

This Year's Conference: November 18-21, 2004 Issaquah (Seattle)

The Conference this year will be co-sponsored with the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology & Health (APPPAH), a wonderful group of people dedicated to making the birth process healthy in every way for everybody involved, especially the baby.

The theme of the Conference is "Birth and Attachment: Psychological and Spiritual Perspectives." There will be many fascinating presentations by leaders in the growing field of birth and attachment.

Pre-Conference Workshops offered:

"Attachment, Developmental Continuity, and the New Neurology"

--Michael Trout

"Giving Birth with Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy"

--Diane Zimberoff MFT 

"Effects of Shock on Attachment"

--William Emerson, Ph.D. and Franklyn Sills

"Pre- and Perinatal Experiences and Attachment"

--Barbara Findeisen, MFT

Presentations:

Franklyn Sills--"Being Here: Conception, Presence, and the Nature of Being"

Carol Lampman--"Birth Trauma: Water Therapy for Infants"

Marti Glenn--"From the Beginning: Healing the Caregiver's Own Attachment"

Diane Zimberoff--"Longing for Belonging: Attachment, Chakras, Development"

Connie Dawson--"Abandonment In Infancy and Childhood"

Yvonne Christman--"Cleansing the Womb (Miscarriage and Abortion)"

Elaine Childs-Gowell--"Corrective Parenting and Deep Regressive Work"

Arrow De Groot--"Impact of Shock on Attachment: Loss of Spirit as Center"

We are very excited that Jennifer Berezan will be providing her captivating music for the Conference.

Consider submitting a manuscript for the March, 2005 issue of the Journal, and share your clinical experiences with other readers.

David Hartman, LCSW 

Editor-in-Chief

Heart-Centered Therapies Association, Issaquah, WA USA