The Mythic Aspects of the Birth Journey

Birth is an archetypal journey that each of us has made. Crossing the threshold between the amniotic world of the womb and the world in which we take our first breath is a powerful transition.
Along the way we encounter obstacles that often feel overwhelming and even life-threatening.
The experience of birth could well be the primary template for the hero’s’ journey. Drawing from many decades of research in the field of pre and perinatal psychology, this talk explores how the mythic themes of birth show up in popular culture and in the therapy room.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE SPEAKER
NAME: MATTHEW APPLETON, MA UCKP RCST
AFFILIATION: CONSCIOUS EMBODIMENT TRAININGS, UK
Matthew Appleton MA UCKP RCST is a registered Body Psychotherapist and Craniosacral Therapist living and working in Bristol, England. He a member of the International Society of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Medicine and has more than 20 years experience of lecturing, facilitating workshops and training practitioners in working therapeutically with babies, children, and their parents.
For ten years he worked as a houseparent at A.S. Neill’s famous democratic school Summerhill. He is the author of more than a hundred published articles, on subjects ranging from democratic education, sexuality, psychotherapy, craniosacral therapy and the effects of pre and perinatal stress on babies and children. He has also written two books; A Free-Range Childhood. Self-Regulation at Summerhill School (2000) and Transitions to Wholeness. Integrating Prenatal, Transpersonal and Somatic Psychology (2020). The former has been published in German as Kindern ihre Kindheitzurückgeben. Selbsregulation in der Erziehung – das Beispiel Summerhill (2nd Edition 2021).