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Written by Belinda Hulstrom
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 Wa - 'Harmony'
Aside from these customary inclusions for an AGM, members were asked to vote on two motions pertaining to the future direction of CCH: the first concerned non-association members of the CCH and the second would give the Executive Council a mandate to request a postal vote at one month’s notice on any issue related to the work of the Executive Council in uniting the profession.Both motions were carried in a spirit of supportiveness, trust and confidence engendered by a belief in the importance of the greater good of the group, i.e. our profession, bringing to mind the Japanese concept of “wa” (harmony).
The origin of “wa” can be traced back to Japan's agricultural past, when cooperation between farmers was essential to create and maintain the irrigation systems necessary to grow rice and other crops - with few natural resources and little available land for farming, people had to work together to survive. In Japan’s more recent history, the power of “wa” is often cited as the driving force behind Japan’s post-war economic miracle and a similar sense of cooperation, trust and desire for the greater good for the benefit of all has been apparent at all CCH meetings.
Following two inspired presentations by guest speakers Philip Armstrong (CEO of the Australian Counselling Association) and Colin Carbis (Co-creator of the Virtual Reality Hypnosis concept), CCH members participated in an abbreviated Knowledge Café exercise on the topic of professional supervision. The ideas and beliefs expressed were many and varied and provided a wealth of important feedback for the Executive but perhaps equally importantly, the exercise served to remind all present of a few very basic yet easily forgotten “home truths”:
• We all have opinions
• There is often no “right” answer
• The achievement of consensus can be challenging
Let us consider that, whether it be the Japanese farmers from centuries ago or Australian hypnotherapists of today, for many voices to be distilled into one voice there must be a mutual desire to achieve a common purpose. For the Japanese farmers, the common purpose was survival… |
