Di Gammage - Playful Awakenings

Jan 26 2024 • 1 hr 32 mins

LEGO Literacy Alert!

Around the 1.23 mark, Di uses LEGO to answer some questions!

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Hello there!

We’re Dr. Jane Hession and Ronan Healy. We’re a husband and wife team and co-founders of the service design studio How Might We - www.howmightwe.design

We're passionate about Play and provide online and in-house training in the LEGO Serious Play method to:

1) Third-level Educators - https://bit.ly/LSP_Ed_Innovators

2) Organisational Innovators - https://bit.ly/LSP_Org_Innovators

We're delighted to have you as a listener. Please contact us if you would like to be a guest or have a guest suggestion.

Episode Three

Digital Transformations and Systemic Change firmly reside in the parlance of organisational design, but since 2018, we've wondered if there's space for 'Playful Awakenings.'

Di Gammage, a Buddhist Psychotherapist, Clinical Supervisor, and Child Psychotherapist, authored the book "Playful Awakenings", and we're delighted to feature her as our second guest.

During our discussion, Di revealed that her decision to pursue a career as a Psychotherapist was made at just 13, inspired by a family member's childhood experience.

Di discusses 'Detached Compassion' and emphasises the importance of feeling, honouring, and witnessing someone else's suffering without it becoming your own.

As a Buddhist Psychotherapist, Di explores 'Joint Practice', where the interaction also affects the Psychotherapist. Due to the emotional nature of her work, Di openly discusses how 'Voice Movement Therapy' benefits her.

It was heartwarming to hear Di express, at a very fresh 60 years of age, that she feels she is getting younger and that her seven-year-old self is curious about what she will be when she grows up.

We reflect on Di's autonomy as a teacher in the 1980s, which may be lacking nowadays due to the paperwork and regulations required of teachers, and how such regulations may inhibit playful relationships within the learning environment.

Di explains 'The Cloak' and how the people she helps have learned to cloak or repress their playful nature as a defence mechanism against the many life challenges confronting them. Di also discusses 'Falling Asleep' and how it links to Gabor Maté’s work on addiction.

This was a wonderful conversation; we're confident you will enjoy it too.

Guest Details

"Playful Awakenings" Book

⁠https://www.amazon.co.uk/Playful-Awakening-Releasing-Gift-Play/dp/184905150X⁠

Di's LinkedIn Page

linkedin.com/in/dianne-gammage-4846bb42

Website

https://playful-awakening.org/

di@playful-awakening.org

Topics Covered

A Playful Awakening in SouthWest Airlines - The best and funniest Safety Demo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbNy5Cc7GL8