JPAA

I think it’s time to acknowledge all who have supported the idea of the association in the past, and specifically those who have joined with a full commitment in the present.

For me the idea of an association began right after I finished the Practitioner Program in 2004. Being a counsellor and therefore a member of counselling associations, I was aware of the meaning and importance of being part of an association and the acknowledgement and support practitioners receive through their membership. After a while I started talking to Laurie about the fact that it would be important for Journey practitioners to be part of a professional association and specifically the need for ongoing professional development, insurance, supervision (or mentoring) and recognizing practitioners who are currently practicing in alignment with the Journey organisation.

During the last practitioner week in August 2008 Jan Henderson (VIC) got up during Satsang and started talking about the need for an association and Laurie Collins immediately got the two of us talking. The consciousness had already been present for a while and now it was brought out into the open.

In all the steps we always have been supported by The Journey organisation, at the beginning through Laurie Collins (NSW) and Gaby Burt (UK), and currently through Phill Camp (NSW) and Megan Bardsley (ex UK, now NSW). The association also had Brandon Bays and Kevin Billett’s blessings and follows the example of sister organizations in North America and Holland.

Jan Henderson (VIC) and I started having regular conversations and were joined by Marian Van Daalan (NSW) and Linda O’Leary (NSW) for a while. Other commitments took Marian and Linda’s attention and Carolyn Dean (NSW) and Jacqueline Musgrave (VIC) joined the steering committee instead. We started having regular fortnightly calls and started planning the next steps in forming the association.

During the last practitioner meeting in January 2009 in Sydney I spoke about the idea and the progress of building the association and it was brought to the attention of the practitioners that we would be sending out a survey soon. Gaby Burt spoke about The Journey organisation’s support for this project and gave us their blessings.

Recently, we became aware that we needed more continuous support, a larger steering committee team and also different skills in setting up the association. We had Christine Karl (NZ), Alan Dawe (NZ) and Jill Beattie (VIC) join and commit to the regular calls. In addition to that, we also have the support of many practitioners who take part in focus groups on different topics. The list of names of people involved could go on… with all the practitioners who filled out the survey, those who offered financial support (as a benefactor) etc, so we would like to THANK YOU ALL in this way.

Each one of us knows that we’re contributing to this as a group with the intent of making this association work. Everyone contributes with their skills, knowledge, personality and energy. None of us could do this alone.

Personally, I also think that setting up an association is a valuable exercise to stay out of ‘ego identification’ with ‘who we are and what we do as part of the association’ as well as for the practitioners joining and who they are as part of the association.

So everyone please put your hands together *drum roll* for everyone who helped, who is currently helping and who will help in future, bringing this association to life and fruition and making it thrive! Woo-hoo!!!

Namaste,

Nathalie for JPAA