THE MOTTO under which all our personal development courses are held is: ’Knowledge deepens and enhances the mystery’ – Simona Ciobanu, PhD

The President of our Association, Simona Ciobanu, PhD, has placed the whole activity of researching, creating and teaching the personal development courses under this motto, since holding the first course on self-knowledge, starting 2018.

THE GUIDING PATRISTIC PRINCIPLE which underlies the development of courses and the self-working method is this: ’Good is not good unless done right.’

METHOD

The course has been carried out within our Association by Simona Ciobanu, PhD, and Alexandru Nechifor, PhDc, starting 2018.

The stages of the course design:

1. The interdisciplinary research of each topic;
2. The selection of the intervention lines with direct impact on the level of personal development;
3. The design of applied exercises aimed at: self-sight, identifying and solving various blockages, activating the mechanism of inner change, etc. The exercises are applied to oneself and can be: individual, in pairs, in a sub-group or in a group;
4. Elaborating the conceptual clarifications intended to endorse the correct meanings of the realities the person is put in touch with.

OBJECTIVES

1. Individual training according to the principles of patristic psychology;
2. Creating a community as support-environment for individual inner growth.

CONTENT

By way of example, you can find below some of the topics addressed within the course:

• Self-esteem vs. self-hate;
• Mindfulness or the watchfulness at the Holy Fathers – what is it and how to practice it;
• Self-love vs. self-renunciation;
• The anatomy of choice – who/what is choosing in/for me;
• Image dependency – what is it, how to cure it;
• Self-sight and fellow-sight;
• Exercises of discernment and attention – what do we innerly feed on;
• Cognitive errors – what are they, what causes them, how to cure them;
• The false guilt and the shame of being – how to get out of these blockages;
• The lack of inner boundaries and the associated pathologies – how to cure them;
• The compulsion to do ‘good’ vs. the unification with The Good;
• Loneliness – suffering or blessing?

ORGANIZATION

• The course is structured in nine modules;
• It usually follows the academic calendar structure (October – June);
• For additional information please visit: When will other courses be organized and how can I apply?
• They can be organized in physical and/ or online format;
• Taking part in the course requires attending all modules, signing a Course Regulation and Nondisclosure Agreement;
• The course is deeply formative and transformative. In order to achieve its goal, respecting The Inner Work Protection Rules and committing towards the personal praxis is needed. Therefore, a conscious and responsible choice of the course is required.
• Course completion does NOT involve obtaining a certificate of attendance or any other form of certification.

COURSE ACCESS

• The course can be accessed by persons who already have or acquire the quality of Active Sustainer of the Association;
• Priority is given to those who already have the Active Sustainer status, regardless of their previous academic training;
• Those who acquire the quality of Active Sustainer along with this course enrolment will additionally go through a preliminary interview during the selection phase;
• For additional information please visit the section: SUSTAINER.

LINKS

For additional information please visit the website sections below:

• When will other courses be organized and how can I apply?
• SUSTAINER
• What does it mean to be an Active Sustainer of the Association?
• How can I become an Active Sustainer of the Association?
• What are the benefits for the Active Sustainer of the Association?
• May I attend the personal development courses if I am a priest/ monk/ nun?
• Do you provide courses/ activities dedicated only to priests and/or monastic personnel?
• May I attend the courses if I am a student in psychology/ theology/ medicine?
• BROADCASTS