The workshop “Story writing as a tool in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy” belongs to the past. The participants’ stories make the workshop alive in my memory right now. I feel grateful for the members of the group who accepted my challenge and wrote their experience after the workshop.

“We communicated, we expressed ourselves. I broke my boundaries, in order to accept new things. I change and I learn. All these happen through the process of acceptance. I learned that love can be expressed through creativity. I saw how love can change people, groups and societies. I wish we all find the courage inside us, in order to follow our heart and our mission in life.”

“The trainer asked to enter our heart. And we allowed her to do so. We were seven people who met each other at the workshop. Seven psychologists who were attracted by story writing. We let Stavroula, our trainer, to see our thoughts, our emotions, our images. We got relaxed, we focused on our breath, on our body, on the here-and-now and we stepped outside our comfort zone. We opened up. We felt. We cried. We laughed. We remembered. We imagined. We got inspired. We shared. We trusted each other. In that room during the workshop we found meaning about ourselves, our loved ones, our clients. It was a beautiful and meaningful experience. We felt free and alive. I thank from my heart Stavroula and the other participants who touched me.”

“It was the last day of the congress. I was thinking of not going to the workshop at all. Although I was looking forward to participating at the congress, I arrived in Athens so stressed and tired that I didn’t enjoy it. Returning home was the only thought in my mind. However, I don’t want to miss the workshop about story writing. For me, the story started with the river and ended with the cards. I don’t remember so well the other parts of the workshop. The river and the cards were the most powerful tools. I lose the sense of time and feel like traveling with the rest of the group in a train. We found each other by accident in the same coach. Co travelers. We had a different starting point. We travel towards the same direction and we shall arrive to different destinations. In this short journey, while everything is moving, the time stops. Sounds, people, images come and go. I feel so connected that time and space do not exist. They are somehow beyond me. A short, disclosing and moving journey.”

“Either by chance or by choice 8 women were found together. Like streams which were met in the same point. The coolness invaded the hot room. The ink on the paper quenched the need for expression. The urge for learning let butterflies fly in the air. The courage of self disclosure pushed to new balances. With or without shoes. The power of inspiration gave an uplift. There were trials with or without question marks. With short pauses for self awareness, for a little chocolate, for details. An anniversary, a cardiogram, some question marks, a bare foot, a full stop, an airplane and a password were the ingredients of the women’s story. They may never meet again. But they will have a written experience inside them.”