Category: jonah

Reparative shake up in Northern Ireland

Yesterday, Alan Chambers posted about a trip to Belfast in order to speak about his newest book, Leaving Homosexuality. In the post, he disclosed that the two men hosting the series (note: according to Dr. Davidson, the recent sessions of Bergner and Chambers are hosted solely by Core-Issues), Michael Davidson and Paul Miller have

broken ties with Mr. [Richard] Cohen and neither utilize or endorse his practices.

This would be a change for Dr. Miller since he is quoted on Richard Cohen’s website with a glowing endorsement about Richard Cohen’s “counselor training program.” On Cohen’s website Miller says:

The Counselor Training Program was delivered in an event co-sponsored with ABEO, JONAH and IHF in Northern Ireland. People attended from all over the world (UK, Ireland, Israel, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, Lichtenstein), and the outcome of the training was an amazing equipping for these professionals to work in an evidence-based way with people seeking to change their sexual orientation. It was one of the best training events I have ever attended: clear, evidence-based, stimulating and pragmatic.

Paul W. Miller M.D., BCh, BAO, DMH (Belfast), MRC Psych

Consultant Psychiatrist

Managing Director, ABEO

In 2007, Paul Miller hosted a healing workshop and training session in Belfast (the brochure remains on the Core-Issues website). Then in 2008, Miller was embroiled in controversy surrounding remarks about him by then MP, Iris Robinson. At that time, he described Cohen’s 2007 workshop as “very valuable.”

More recently, journalist Patrick Strudwick reported on alleged sessions with Miller. Charges filed over that event will apparently be heard this month by the General Medical Council there. Meanwhile, Dr. Miller has removed his website (www.abeoonline.com) from view. Prior to the recent removal, he advertised a link to Richard Cohen’s International Healing Foundation (archived copy). Note there that he offered trainings in collaboration with IHF.

ABEO also provides training to those professionals working in the area of unwanted SSA. Through links with NARTH, JONAH, the International Healing Foundation and a number of international experts we are seeking to spread evidence based skills that will help professionals working in this area.

Miller once served as NARTH’s UK representative but appears to have stepped down from that position as he is no longer listed on the NARTH website. I have asked Dr. Miller for additional description about this change and will provide any statement he gives.

Additional note: in contrast to the statement that Core-Issues does not endorse the practices of Richard Cohen, their website does offer his two books, Coming Out Straight and Gay Children, Straight Parents.

Celebration of Being: A new way to ex-gay?

Recently, Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) sent an email with the subject line “Specially Priced Workshops” offering a workshop called the Noble Man in collaboration with a group called Celebration of Being. The event is also offered on the JONAH website. The email offered special prices for combining the Celebration of Being and Noble workshops ($1420.00 for both weekends!). The rationale and promised results are:

Offered by The Celebration of Being and the Jonah Institute

Why is this particular combination of experiential-learning weekends great for couples? Because it permits couples to experience deep emotional breakthroughs where each other’s authentic needs are recognized and honored.

At the Celebration of Woman workshop, the female partner will learn to:
• Step into the power, beauty and radiance of being a woman
• Tap into her deepest feminine essence and her fullest potential as a woman
• Open up her being, so she can share all these gifts with the man she loves

At the Noble Man workshop, the male partner will learn to:
• Feel and act empowered around women
• Open his heart and trust his purpose as a man in the presence of women
• Share these gifts with the woman he loves to truly honor and embrace her

Extra Bonus for the Woman who attends:
If the female partner participates in the “Celebration of Woman” workshop, she qualifies to help facilitate the men’s Noble Man weekend at a reduced rate and thus gain greater insight into the issues faced by her man.

By combining and attending the two workshops, the couple will:
• Build a deeper base of understanding between them
• Deepen their trust in each other
• Open them up emotionally to each other and ignite feelings of passion and joy for them.

To me, this had the sounds of a New Warriors Training Adventure ad so I investigated a little further. The Celebration of Being is a venture of Rajyo Hartman and Britta Johnson, both followers of the teacher, Osho (osho.com). The Celebration of Being:

…is committed to represent the leading edge of our evolving humanity, while holding a space for the tender transformation of everyone’s hearts.

Our Rites of Passage workshops, Goddess Workshops for women, trainings and individual coaching guide you to heal the issues that have kept you separate from yourself and others, find your special purpose here on Earth, and provide you with a tangible experience of your unique connection with the Divine.

We are dedicated to the discovery of the true essence of the feminine and masculine, and the healing of man and woman. We believe in an embodied spirituality, and are committed to the Awakening of all through our goddess workshops and more.

On the front page, the Celebration of the Noble Man workshop was listed with no mention of JONAH. The experience is promoted as a way to heal those mother wounds.

The Noble Man workshop is a three and a half day Intensive for men who wish to heal their issues with women. It is a profound process of being supported and honored by experienced women holding an unconditional space of acceptance, loving kindness and devotion. This is a safe environment for you to express and explore your fears, wounds and resentments around the feminine, and to let go of whatever is in the way of you relating from a space of presence, openness and integrity.

Given that the reparative drive theorist believes that gayness derives from the “classic triadic pattern” of the domineering mother and cold distant father, I suspect the workshop is provided by Jonah in order get gay men to repair the mother corner of that triangle. The New Warrior experience addresses the dad issues and perhaps this will be the new way to repair the mom issues.

As with New Warriors and the ex-gay movement, this seems like an odd collaboration. JONAH takes a pretty conservative view of homosexuality and is recommended by conservative Christians as the Jewish ex-gay group. JONAH is recommended on the new Facts About Youth website which says it is non-religious. Celebration of Being on the other hand, while apparently open to a wide range of spirtual influences, does not seem to be opposed to homosexuality. In fact, the founders of the CoB support a Celebration of the Gay Nobleman workshop in collaboration with Michael Sigmann. Johnson and Markman are listed as facilitators for that workshop which sounds a lot like the one JONAH is supporting, except without the gay.

Additional information: PFOX hearts them some Celebration of Being too.