Aromatherapy & Medicine of the Soul: The Wounded Healer, The Alchemical Journey and the Sacred Union

Aromatherapy & Medicine of the Soul: “The Wounded Healer, The Alchemical Journey and the Sacred Union”

Cathy Skipper and Florian Birkmayer MD

April 29 & 30 Sat-Sun

A practical workshop experimenting with essential oils and ways they can guide and assist the alchemical process of soul transformation. The group journey through the seven alchemical stages will include: Looking at how each alchemical stage relates to a different part of the healing cycle. Identifying the different emotional/energetic states that arise in each stage and the essential oils that may help work through them. Exercises and experiential work to deepen the understanding of each stage and the action of certain essential oils. Looking at ways this work can be used with clients in an aromatherapy or psychotherapy practice. This workshop is intended to: Help develop a deeper and more personal relationship to essential oils. Offer a model that can be used to assist healers on their own journeys and those of their clients. Highlight the importance of soul healing in achieving a state of ‘vitality’ and optimum health. Dr. Florian will be bringing his views on the Jungian view of Alchemy as a model for soul transformation, his experience of using essential oils to treat people with PTSD and other issues in his psychiatry practice in New Mexico as well as his deep sensitivity and knowledge of aromatic molecules and olfactory receptors to this work. Cathy will bring her experience of French clinical aromatherapy and kinesiology. Both Cathy and Florian have a personal and professional background in ‘healing the healer’, which will be a central theme of this workshop. This class is for aromatherapists, psychotherapists, herbalists, bodyworkers and anyone in the healing arts who wants to deepen their relationship with aromatic molecules, is committing to their own healing journeys and is interesting in deep soul healing and personal growth. BIOS Cathy Skipper Cathy, is English by birth and spent her adult life in rural France, where she farmed, trained and worked as a herbalist and aromatherapist and taught practical herbalism, botany and aromatherapy at the L’Ecole Lyonnaise de Plantes Medicinales’ in Lyon. She also participated for four years in an experimental approach to energetic healing called 'Life cell' under French Kinesiologist, Caroline Gupta. Her plant training in France included a two year course with Claude Lefebvre on Plant Communication. She left France last year to live and work in New Mexico with her partner Florian Birkmayer. Cathy’s own work involves building bridges between aromatic medicine and herbalism as well as recognizing the importance of healing the healer and reconnecting with nature. In her teaching she marries, theory, practical work and energetics with an underlying intention of helping students develop an intuitive relationship between themselves, the plant/essential oil and the patient as an impetus for healing. Her work with Florian is centralized around the work of Carl Jung and the psyche, aromatic molecules and the mind. Florian Birkmayer Florian Birkmayer, MD is a Wounded Healer and the co-developer with Cathy Skipper of AromaGnosis, which synthesizes Jungian Depth Psychology and aromatherapy. A holistic psychiatrist, he has an extensive background in trauma and addiction as well as Equine Assisted Therapy. He views himself as a bridge-builder between different medical worlds and works closely and respectfully with a wide range of healers. He received his B.A. from Princeton University and his M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. He completed his psychiatry residency at the University of New Mexico. He has previously served as the director of the Dual Diagnosis Clinic at University of New Mexico Psychiatric Center and as the director of the Substance Use Disorders program at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albuquerque, NM.