It was a great day. After months of preparation, the first William & Viola Farrell Symposium of Pastoral Care & Counseling was completed.

We had 105 attend coming from churches, NGOs, schools, hospitals and other organizations. The goal of this series is to provide training that bridges the gap between secular and religious counseling. The goal is to provide people from different fields involved with helping people, to empower them to deal with the psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs of their patients/clients.

Dr. Cesar Espineda was the main speaker. He is a Diplomate with the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy. He has graciously taken on a role of mentor for both CPSP-Philippines and Bukal Life Care & Counseling Center. Both of his topics centered on the importance of self-awareness and self-understanding of the counselor.

The first topic was “The Person as a Benchmark for Counseling.” The second was “Transference– Our Un/Conscious Reaction in the Human-Patient Encounter.”

The lectures were also tied to discussions as a whole group, as well as small-group discussion afterwards. Additionally, a cultural performance was provided by Batang, a Cordilleran dance troupe. They did dances from Kalinga, Mountain Province, and Ifugao. Additionally, we had a presentation of artwork by local artist, Rommel Pidaso. The work showed creation of culturally relevant “basura art”, or artwork constructed from garbage. Creation of meaning and beauty from what has been rejected certainly seems to be a relevant counseling metaphor.

We thank all those who attended. Of course we also thank our guest lecturer, our cultural presenters, volunteers, and sponsors.