Soul Care Events

Fall 2023  Online Workshop Open for Registration on River Heron Review

Join us in the safe and supportive presence of writing companions who gather to write, listen, and support each other. This workshop, one of our originals, allows for the discovery of voice and creation of first draft work. It is a generative workshop offering guided prompts and positive feedback, not critique. Writers of all skill levels and genres will learn more about their own writing practice. A fun and structured small group workshop, each session is run by an experienced AWA affiliate who adheres to the philosophies and practices of Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA). Facilitated by Patrice Ficken.

click here for more information: https://www.riverheronreview.com/awa-creative-writing-01

Join Patrice Ficken, M.Div. at The Watertown Center for Healing Arts, for Follow Your Muse - A Writing Workshop using the Amherst Writers and Artists Method (AWA).

Please join us on Friday mornings in the safe and supportive presence of writing companions who gather to write, listen and support each other in the creative process.  We will use the Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) method developed by Pat Schneider and described in her book, Writing Alone and with Others (Oxford University Press). The AWA method supports practiced and emerging voices through a proven method that encourages creative risks in writing from memory, imagination, and dream.

Patrice is a spiritual director, writer and founder of Soul Care Connections. She is a certified Healing from the Core presenter/practitioner and certified AWA writing workshop leader.

Writers of all Skill Levels and Genres Welcome.

Follow Your Muse - An AWA Creative Writing Workshop

Seven Fridays, starting April 26, 2019

Watertown Center for Healing Arts, 22 Mount Auburn Street, Watertown, MA 02473

Dates: April 26; May 3, 10, 24; June 7, 14, 21
Time: 10 a.m. to Noon
Cost:  $200 for series or $30 per session

For more information, contact Patrice at patrice@soulcareconnections.com

"I believe that as the Muse gives to me, so does she deserve from me:  faith, mindfulness and enduring commitment."  Jan Phillips

Full Body Presence Overview with Rev. Patrice Ficken, M.Div.
Saturday, November 2, 2019, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. $70 includes lunch

St. Irenaeus, a second-century theologian once said, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.” Yet, how do we claim this sense of aliveness and well-being in the face of the stress and challenges we face personally and globally? This introductory day-program to Healing from the Core, will provide you with skills for learning how to listen to the sacred text of your body’s wisdom and grow toward a greater sense of well-being and ease in your body.

Our bodies are our point of reference – our sensory awareness, our energy level, and our sense of aliveness all depend on being able to access, awaken, and in many cases, return to our bodies. This deepened connection to our body-soul gives us the energy, clarity and courage to create the life we intended.

During this program, you will learn the foundational core-embodiment practice for developing more conscious awareness of your body’s wisdom. There will be time throughout the day for silence, self-reflection, and journaling, as well as sharing in pairs and group discussion. By the end of the session, you will be better able to:

 Understand general body-energy awareness
 Integrate the core-embodiment practice into your spiritual life and practice
 Implement a grounded presence that helps you maximize outcomes in your life and work
 Describe the Five Principles of Full Body Presence and how they are relevant to your life, work, spiritual practice and sense of well-being.

Required Reading: We will be using Suzanne Scurlock-Durana’s book, Full Body Presence: Learning to Listen to Your Body’s Wisdom, as our study guide. Please read the book prior to the program and bring your copy with you. It is available for purchase in the Mercy by the Sea bookstore and on Amazon Smile.

Recommended Reading and Listening: Reclaiming Your Body: Healing from Trauma and Awakening to Your Body’s Wisdom (book), also by Scurlock-Durana.

Rev. Patrice Ficken, M.Div., is a certified Presenter and Practitioner in Healing from the Core and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She is the founder of Soul Care Connections and currently works in private practice as a Spiritual Director, integrating Healing from the Core in her companioning work. Patrice also leads creative writing workshops at the Watertown Center for Healing Arts. She has shared her poetry at the New England School for Celtic Consciousness with John Philip Newell in which she has been a participant since the School’s 2016 launch at Mercy by the Sea. 

To register visit website: www.mercybythesea.org or call Guest Services at 203.245.0401. A sponsored ministry of the Sisters of Mercy 167 Neck Road, Madison, CT 06443

Join Patrice Ficken, M.Div. at The Watertown Center for Healing Arts, for From the Inside-Out: Writing as Spiritual Practice - A Writing Workshop using the Amherst Writers and Artists Method (AWA).  

The winter season invites us to embrace the stillness and quiet beauty within and around.  This workshop will offer practices as well as prompts to support writing from a deeper listening to our inner landscape.  We will use the Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) method developed by Pat Schneider and described in the book, Writing Alone and with Others (Oxford University Press). The AWA method supports practiced and emerging voices through a proven method that encourages creative risks in writing from memory, imagination, and dream.

Patrice is a spiritual director, writer and founder of Soul Care Connections.  She is a certified Healing from the Core presenter/practitioner and certified AWA writing workshop leader.  

Writers of all Skill Levels and Genres Welcome. 

From the Inside-Out:  Writing as Spiritual Practice

Seven Fridays, starting January 18, 2019

Watertown Center for Healing Arts, 22 Mount Auburn Street, Watertown, MA 02473

Dates: January 18, 25; February 1, 8, 15, 22; March 1,8, 29 2019
Time: 10 a.m. to Noon

For more information, contact Patrice at patrice@soulcareconnections.com

"To me writing is life, it is my way of being, most fully alive."  Ursula Le Guin

Join Patrice Ficken, M.Div. at The Watertown Center for Healing Arts, for Nurture Your Creative Genius -A Writing Workshop using the Amherst Writers and Artists Method (AWA).  Patrice is a spiritual director, writer and founder of Soul Care Connections.  She is certified in the AWA method developed by Pat Schneider and described in the book, Writing with Ourselves and with Others (Oxford University Press).  The AWA method supports practiced and emerging voices through a proven method that encourages creative risks in writing from memory, imagination, and dream. 

Writers of all Skill Levels and Genres Welcome.  Limited to 8 Participants.

Nurture Your Creative Genius - A Writing Workshop
Six Fridays, starting September 28, 2018

Watertown Center for Healing Arts, 22 Mount Auburn Street, Watertown, MA  02473

Dates:  September 28; October 5, 12, 26; November 9, 16, 2018
Time:    10 a.m. to Noon

For more information, contact Patrice at patrice@soulcareconnections.com

"Everyone is born with creative genius"  Amherst Writers & Artists

This half-to-one day workshop teaches practical, immediately usable skills, based on material from the longer, 4-day Healing from the Core Grounding & Healthy Boundaries training. As stated on the Healing from the Core Website:

1. Learn how holding a strong, grounded presence can positively influence your life, prevent burnout and help you enjoy your personal and work life more.
2. Discover how to assess your energy reservoir throughout the day to combat exhaustion.
3. Explore the Five Principles, and why they’re vital for creating the life you want.
4. Reconnect to natural energy habits to rejuvenate yourself and stay energetically full.
5. Find out how to establish and maintain healthy boundaries at work and at home.
6. Improve concentration levels and replenish yourself by practicing simple movements to rejuvenate your nervous system.
7. Practice a simple breathing technique that can reduce anxiety and tension.

If you seek spiritual and emotional support in the aftermath of surgery or a health crisis, “Happy Healthy You”/A Spiritual Journey to Wellness can help. This program will help you to:

• Share and process your experiences on the road to recovery in a safe, neutral, non-judgmental environment;
• Receive spiritual nurture and practice the art of healing presence in a facilitated small group setting;
• Join with spiritual companions to build inner resources, resiliency and strength which can assist the healing process.
• Learn spiritual practices to support a happy, healthy life including grounding and healthy boundaries, compassionate listening, and meditation skills;
• Discover the power of creative expression to allow you to process difficult feelings, let go and move on.

Patrice Ficken, M. Div. integrates music, movement, writing, with spiritual and energetic practices in her work with individuals and groups.

What is your deepest prayer for your loved ones, your community, nation and world? How do you live out your prayer? How is God/Spirit praying through you? What does your prayer look like and feel like? What is the purpose of prayer? Does prayer make a difference? This workshop will explore different ways to pray and deepen our connection to All that Is through the body, breath, movement, stillness and silence. Please wear comfortable clothing to allow your prayers to move you to a deeper place.

This workshop is facilitated by The Rev. Patrice Ficken, M.Div. Patrice is a spiritual director and Hospice Spiritual Care Counselor with the Concord Regional Visiting Nurse Association. She is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and has ten years of pastoral leadership experience with UCC congregations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Patrice has extensive experience and training in embodiment practices including Reiki, JourneyDance™, Full Body Presence, InterPlay and meditation. She is also a therapeutic music intern at Concord Hospital and recently completed the Music for Healing and Transition Program.