Recent History of the AAP Trainer Development Program

The mission and conception of the TDP was developed by an ad hoc training task force (TTF) composed of about a dozen psychosynthesis trainers, all members of AAP. In 2002 the TTF completed a detailed survey of North American Psychosynthesis Training Centers. The very process of doing the survey helped to strengthen and renew friendships in the psychosynthesis trainer community.

The survey showed a great need for overall community building among psychosynthesis trainers and their training centers. Many training centers had discontinued training. Centers still doing training have only one trainer who is oftentimes overworked and too isolated from his/her psychosynthesis peers. Such trainers, while all the time working to assure that his/her students' personality and spiritual growth needs being met, are realizing that they are "burnt out" and have important growth needs of their own that are not being met.

Students completing three years of training, uncertain how to continue the growth process begun in the training center and unable to rally community support to start a new psychosynthesis training center, leave the psychosynthesis community in favor of another community that seems to better suit their needs. Older trainers retire, leaving younger trainers in charge, who are not given sufficient community support to guarantee a continuing creative training program.

The TTF survey provided the fertile soil from in which the TDP took root. In order to meet the need for trainer community building the TDP has planned and accomplished two trainer conferences: a four day conference held in Nazareth, KY in July 2003, and a three day trainer conference held in conjunction with the Annual AAP Regional Conference in Amherst, MA in April, 2004. Forty-three trainers attended the TDP in 2003 and thirty five trainers as well as fifty or more AAP guests attended the TDP in 2004.

First TDP - July, 2003.

Third Annual Psychosynthesis Trainer Development Program (TDP)
St Paul, MN June 20 & 21, 2005

Forty psychosynthesis trainers met for a day and a half following the annual AAP Conference. The first morning, Mary Greene gave a theoretical workshop to all the trainers on The "I", the Self, and the Soul. The second morning Didi Firman and Ted Slawski presented a workshop on Creating and Sustaining a Psychosynthesis Center. Shorter workshops were given by Vincent Dummer on Research and Ron Morris on The Enneagram. Edwin Miller, Carla Ann Lucia, and Jan Kuniholm gave specially prepared workshops on Will Body and Inspiration respectively. These three presentations followed the mentor-mentee model of the training process (see B below).

At a final plenary session or the TDP participants spent some time discussing two forms of the trainer development process utilized by the TTF in planning the first three TDP’s. A motion that the TTF be advised that both these forms continue to be used by the TTF in designing future TDP's.

1. Spontaneous /Extemporaneous Process (Kentucky Model).
   This spontaneous process, designed by the TTF, was followed in the first TDP held in Nazareth, Kentucky. A small group of trainers met and discussed a basic concept of psychosynthesis. Then one or two (or more) less experienced trainers stepped forward and agreed to design a presentation suitable for a psychosynthesis training seminar. After coming up with a design, this trainer(s) made a complete presentation to a group of trainers. A full hour or more was allotted to participant feedback by the trainer-participants after the completion of the presentation.
2. Mentor - Mentee Process
   This process was used by the TTF at the second and third TDP’s, whereby a more experienced trainer is matched with a less experienced trainer. The more experienced trainer then "mentors" his colleague over a period of several months, in planning a presentation which focuses on a basic concept of psychosynthesis. The “mentee” then makes his presentation to a group of trainer-participants at the TD. To conclude the training module the trainer-participants lead a feedback-discussion lasting at least a full hour. The focus of this discussion is on improving the skill and style of the "mentee" trainer.

A highly popular general statement was made by one of the younger trainers to the effect that watching skillful trainers model skilled presentation at AAP conference or elsewhere provided a rich model of trainer functioning for all younger developing trainers. In a larger sense the annual conference and the TDP together make up one whole event which is a most important learning event for all trainers of all levels of experience. Other suggestions to future formats for the future TDP’s were:

• Have a panel of senior trainers talk about the principles of the PS training process. Each member of the panel might give concrete examples as to how these principles have been put into practice in the past.
• Groups of both long experienced trainers and less experienced trainers could be formed .These two groups could have an in-depth conversations on theory building and theory development.
• A Day of Conversation, such as took place at the 2004 TDP, could be repeated. Many formats could be used at a TDP; letting participants know what to expect is essential to a successful experience.

In September 2005 the training task force (TTF) was renamed the Professional Development Committee (PDC), a standing committee of AAP. The purpose of Professional Development Committee --

1. To foster the professional development of all PS trainers
2. To foster quality curricula standards at North American training centers
3. To plan and oversee programs (i.e. TDP) in line with the above two purposes.

NEXT - Fourth TDP - June 15, 2006.