What is to give light must endure burning – Viktor Frankl
AccepTTranscend is an expression of the life’s work (so far) of Tam Martin Fowles, a transpersonal counsellor, trainer, group facilitator, writer, activist founder of Hope in the Heart CIC and designer of
The AccepTTranscend Model for Transformation
Tam’s personal story includes a challenging childhood, and severe mental health crisis in earlier adulthood, the gradual recovery and transcendence of which have inspired and informed her life and work ever since.
Recognising early on that certain people transcend even extreme adversity in ways that can positively tranform their lives and world, and recognising some of this in her own crises, Tam was inspired to seek common criteria displayed by such people and explore possibilities for using these to guide others to transformation.
Tam has worked with people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures, from service-users with emotional, mental and social health issues to survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, former freedom-fighters in South Africa, and refugees and genocide survivors displaced from their various home countries. She discovered a remarkable capacity of spirit common to human beings everywhere, but not always immediately accessible. In some it emerges and grows alongside adversity or following adversity. For others, it needs to be guided, encouraged and nurtured.
AccepTTranscend has much in common with the theory of Post-traumatic growth which, according to Psychology Today “…posits that adversity can unintentionally yield changes in understanding oneself, others, and the world”. AccepTTranscend offers participants a way to intentionally yield such changes, at their own pace, in a safe, creative environment with compassionate others.
Tam has been successfully guiding groups and communities through this process since 2012. It has proved effective and sustainable at many levels for diverse participants on four continents.
Here are some comments from course and workshop participants
The AccepTTranscend logo depicts a torii gate, most commonly found at the entrance to a Japanese Shinto shrine to mark the transition from the mundane to the sacred.
The adoption of the torii gate as AccepTTranscend’s logo is intended to honour the survivors of the atomic bombings in Japan, and the strength and adaptability of survivors everywhere.
