Workshop in Hydra, Greece 2008
Thursday-Sunday 18-21 September
Myths, Memories and Magic
Exploring only-child experience and adulthood.

This workshop offers an opportunity to explore your only-child heritage and how it may have affected the way you see yourself and others see you. The objective of the four days is to see how only-childness can be used to advantage in adulthood maximising on the benefits there might be growing up without siblings.

The four days will be facilitated by Paul and Bernice, two experienced therapeutic life-coaches who are both only-children and who have researched the psychological challenges of being brought up an only child.

Venue: Hydra
The workshop will take place on the beautiful Greek island of Hydra, 2.5 hours away from Athens airport. Accommodation will be provided in a local guesthouse and the workshop will be held in a traditional island ‘spiti’ or home. This lies in the tranquil neighbourhood of ‘Four Corners’, mid way between the picturesque port of Hydra and the romantic fishing harbour of Kamini. The ‘spiti’ like many of the houses on Hydra was built in the C18th in typical Hydriot style with an open courtyard and verandah. The Island has long been a magnet for artists and writers and the ‘spiti’ is close to where the singer song writer, Leonard Cohen, wrote some of his early songs and is a fantastic starting point to explore the island. Click here for more information about the house and Hydra.

Time: Thursday 18 September - Sunday 21 September 2008
We will work in the morning from 10.00 to 1.00 followed by lunch
Siesta and time to enjoy the island is from 2.00 - 5.00
We will meet again at 5.00 and work until 7.00
Each evening we will visit a Taverna for our evening meal and on the final evening we will have a BBQ at the spiti.

Cost: €650 or Sterling equivalent
This includes:
•Four days workshop: 5 hours per day
•Five nights single accommodation in a local guest house.
•Breakfast and lunch at the ‘spiti’ and an evening meal at a Taverna.
•Other refreshments throughout the day.

Travel
As people will be coming from a variety of places we do not arrange travel. However if you book in advance and on line you can get a good price with either BA or Easy Jet (from £150 return). You can either get a bus or taxi from the airport to Piraeus and from there a hydrafoil (flying dolphin) to Hydra which takes 1.5 hours. We will pre-arrange to meet you in Hydra harbour where the hydrafoil docks.

Deposit
We ask for a non-refundable deposit of €150 to secure you a place.

If you are interested in attending Myths, Memories and Magic or you have any questions please email. Numbers are limited to ten people. If you wish to extend your stay either side we can arrange this for you.

BeingAnOnly™ Workshops

An only child, by definition, does not grow up with other children in the immediate family, with whom s/he can compare, compete or share. With no peer witness inside the family, s/he can remain invisible to her/himself.

And as an adult, the likelihood is you may still not have had the chance to meet with others who grew up as an only child. Workshops offer a new and unique opportunity to swap notes with those most likely to understand - other onlies.

'I just wanted to thank you again for the workshop on relationships. It was a great weekend and one I shall remember for a long time. I found it very valuable and it was a revelation to be able to talk and share about only issues.

In the last few weeks following the workshop, I have felt a greater level of self-acceptance.  

Strange, when we know what is at the root of our pain we cannot erase it completely, but we can take steps to learn how to live with it and move forward.'

Margaret

Adult Workshop

The Only Child and Relationships
Do you long for a deep, intense, close relationship with a partner and at the same time fear losing your independence?

Relationships. We want them. We don't want them. We have them anyway. For the only child, the power dynamic between a child and one parent or two is always intense and inevitably unequal. With the absence of siblings to offer a more varied and general experience of relating to others of the same generation, the only child is at a disadvantage when it comes to creating realistic expectations for adult relationships. Long distance love, getting caught up in triangles and staying in bad relationships for too long are all familiar stories as is unrequited longing - that elusive partnership that doesn't happen.

In this weekend workshop, we offer an unusual opportunity to explore many of the things that happen in relationship in the company of other onlies - it may feel like a mini experience of having surrogate siblings. In the safety of a small group, we can tell our stories and see how it is that we as onlies prefer to relate and where we feel challenged. How do we deal with fidelity, intimacy and the need for space, sharing and expression?

Facilitators
Tania Hosburn is co-director of time2relate, which offers workshops, CPD trainings and supervision for couples in West Sussex. She is a UKCP registered Psychotherapist and works with individuals, couples,and families, in a variety of NHS settings, as well as private practice.

Ann Richardson is a UKCP registered Counsellor and Psychotherapist and has been working in private practice in London since 1994. She has specialised in working with only children and is Founder and Director of BeingAnOnly.

If you are interested in participating or hosting this workshop, do please email us.


Adult Bereavement

Fortnightly Group
Losing parents is a huge experience for most onlies, irrespective of whether the relationship was harmonious or not. With their death, is the death also of anyone with whom we can share our immediate family history. We are alone again. If you are an adult only who has lost one or both parents, these facilitated sessions are a chance to grieve, support and be supported by others in a similar situation.

The last group has now come to an end, but if you would like to take part in a similar group in the future, do please email us.

Play Workshop

Half day workshop for only children aged 6-8
with mums and dads
School Holidays
Facilitated games and talk, by experienced facilitators

Starting school may be your child's first experience of entering a social and competitive arena.

It's not easy for an only child to suddenly be in a big group, learning new things, having to share, compete and muck in. Many teachers remark on the only children in their classes being clingy and afraid to try something new for fear of ‘getting it wrong'.

These Play Groups are intended specifically for onlies. Through play, painting, modelling and facilitated activities, they will be supported as they interact and get to know each other. For once, they will be in the majority. Being one will be the norm.

As the parent of an only you are probably facing anxieties of your own. Do you feel you just have one chance to get it right? Do you worry that the stereotype might be true - that your child might end up spoilt and selfish? Will they miss out by not having siblings? For you, there will be coffee and facilitated discussion - a chance to explore the reality of raising one child.

Facilitator: Ann Richardson & Colleague

Ann Richardson is a UKCP registered Counsellor and Psychotherapist and has been working in private practice in London since 1994. She has specialised in working with only children and is Founder and Director of BeingAnOnly.

She will be working with a colleague from Terapia, Training in Integrative Child Pyschotherapy and Counselling, who specialise in training counsellors to work therapeutically with children.

Venue: Terapia, Hendon, NW4
Dates: please email us.