Learning in the Dark (An Ode to Winter Solstice)

by Mandy Casurella, LPC

Learning in the Dark

An Ode to Winter Solstice

When the sun sits low on the horizon

Holding backs its light and warmth

The moose stumble through the snow filled forests 

And the spring in my step slows

From run, to walk, to crawl

Towards winter solstice

The darkest day of the year 

A check of my pulse

I am still here

To find a gentler way

Of learning in the dark

Less taking in 

More being with

Like the bear in her den 

Metabolizing what I have already digested 

As I reflect on my experience in the far north this time of the year, I see parallels in the experience of our 2023/24 cohort of RPT participants. Participants in the Relational Psychodynamic Therapy certificate program are invited to learn in the dark. To experience a consultation model that flips learning on its head. A move away from familiar top down, technique driven approaches and towards embracing complexity, affect, authenticity, courage, conflict and practices rooted in relational psychoanalytic theory. 

Like a bear in her winter den, the RPT therapist works to metabolize what has already been digested both in herself and in the therapeutic relationship. RPT consultation groups are places to co-metabolize the experience of the patient with the therapist. When the therapist returns to the wilds of the therapy room, she often does so with an expanded clinical mind and renewed vitality. 

Mandy Casurella is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Anchorage, Alaska where she embraces adventures of all kinds inside and outside of the therapy room. She works in private practice and as a trainer with CPI in the Relational Psychodynamic Therapy two-year certificate program.