May 6th - Common Thread Group Meeting

This month we are back in Waveland Hall and we will be there until further notice! YEAH!

As usual we will begin at 7pm with a short meditation, followed by brief announcements, and our May Astrological report from Cathy Lindsay.


Our speaker on May 6th will be Rich Joens, a licensed social worker and part owner of Counseling Associates of Central Iowa.

Rich will be talking about a therapy technique called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) This is an eye movement therapy that involves the right brain/left brain component which has helped many patients process traumatic information that seems to get stuck in the right brain. Because so much recent spiritual literature discusses the connection of creativity, meditation and channeling with right brain activity, we thought that inviting Rich to speak with us would be timely.

Rich also plans to talk about Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy that is used in conjunction with EMDR. IFS uses the concept that we are all multiple personalities and each contain our own internal therapist. He is quite certain our members will find this very interesting. If time allows, Rich will also do an EMDR demonstration with an audience volunteer.

Rich came to Des Moines in 1983 working for Polk County Victim Services, most of that time as a violent crime counselor/advocate. With a Masters of Social Work degree and license, he worked for Broadlawns Medical Center as a clinical social worker, followed by full time private practice in 1997. Rich is a certified practitioner of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and a promoter of Dick Schwartz's Internal Family System therapy. Having been openly gay since beginning his career, he receives many referrals regarding gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender issues. Because of his work with PCVS, he also receives many trauma survivor referrals.