Mystery, Beauty and Community; Spoon Ceremony and the traditions of welcoming.
Workshop Title: Mystery, Beauty and Community; Spoon Ceremony and the traditions of welcoming.

Description of Presentation:
At Legacy we use a spoon ceremony to welcome each new client into the program (Community). We recognize that a meaningful Community is essential for young men to restore balance in their lives. Beauty, that dynamic force, capable of pulling clients out of "stuck places". Mystery, a sense of connection to something "bigger than me”. What Gary Ferguson has referrers to these as inherent benefits of being in the wild. We will use spoon carving as a instrument to draw metaphor; Participants will come away from this presentation with a spoon carved from the wood of a Utah Juniper tree.
Why this presentation/workshop is of value to residential and wilderness therapy professionals?

The physical and emotional connection of carving a piece of nature into something of beauty, with the intention of giving that beauty away, to client/community can be a powerful experience. Using the experiential activity of spoon carving and connecting it to discussions pertaining to the various and importance processes of welcoming, including, & helping clients feel apart of the community or program. The metaphoric connections provide by the experiential learning activity, will assist participants of all backgrounds and ability in the use of “spoon carving” or other related mechanisms with their own particular client populations.





