LIVE Class

Deep Listening - Deep Healing

 the work of Frank Lake

with Ian Rees
Monday, 27 October 2025 at 19h UK time
Frank Lake is one of the great pioneers of work with pre and peri-natal psychology and of psycho-spiritual therapy. He was a doctor /missionary who later trained in psychiatry, became interested in pastoral counselling within the Christian religious tradition and went on to develop a discipline he called Clinical Theology. As a result of his work with Stanislav Grof he became convinced that the root of human suffering lay in the experience of the primal pain of early life.

In this class, Ian Rees will focus on what Frank Lake identifies as the two basic and most common peri-natal catastrophes: “A terrible asphyxiating crushing affliction during the birth process; a separation anxiety which pushes the new born to the limits of solitary panic and beyond, over the edge of the abyss into dereliction and a falling apart of the self in dread and non-being….” (Frank Lake The Work of Christ in the Healing of Primal Pain).

Frank Lake addresses the healing of this prime pain through the activity of deep listening which he describes as Christ listening through us to the pain of the other. We will explore a form which he called the dynamic cycle which describes both the process of wounding and healing and consider how this work can be held in a more universal context than the Christian tradition he speaks from.

In this class John Wilks explores the history and uses of suction, vacuum extraction and ventouse and examines the implications for postnatal treatment approaches for both mum and baby.

John has been practising the Bowen Technique and Craniosacral Therapy full time since 1995. He is the author of four books on complementary therapies and developed a specialised Craniosacral training course for midwives which was the first of its kind to be accredited by the Royal College of Midwives.

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  • Beginner/Intermediate
  • Powerpoint Presentation
  • To support your client
  • 60 minute class
  • life time access to recording

Learning outcomes

  • Gain an insight into the work of Frank Lake relative to the birth experience
  • Understand Lake’s ‘deep listening’ and ‘dynamic cycle' principles

who can this benefit

  • Professionals working in the field of birth
  • Psychotherapists
  • Anyone interested in the work of Frank Lake
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Meet Our Presenter
Patrick Jones - Course author

Ian Rees

Psycho-Spiritual Psychotherapist
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