Saturday 1 August 2026
10.00am to 5.00pm
Sunday 2 August 2026
9.00am to 1.00pm

Presented by: Brigitte Puls Clin. Psychologist (NZ), Clin. Supervisor, Dances of Universal Peace Leader, Reverend, and Educator, with Ra Witten-Hannah, Diploma of Performance Music from Auckland University

Hosted by: DTAA (Dance Movement Therapy Association of Australia Incorporated)

Venue: The Drill Hall, 1c New Beach Road, Darling Point NSW 2027 (Enter via carpark)

CPD: 10 hours, Category A

Dance movement-, Creative and Body-based Therapists, Education and Healthcare Professionals are invited to a 2-day professional development workshop to learn new ways to respond to the impact distressing global events are having on our clients and ourselves - through embodied, creative exploration and reflection.

Framed through the lenses of Indigenous (NZ) and Western Models of Wellbeing, Brigitte invites us to embrace these often difficult emotional/ embodied states, and importantly, to move beyond suffering into states of self-agency, wellness and a sense of meaning making. We will work with physical, mental, social-emotional, nature-based and spiritual aspects of our identity into Hope and Empowerment. The four quadrants of Te Whare Tapa Wha, The Maori Model of Health and Wellbeing, provide a map for our process.

The workshop draws on the rich tapestry of experiences and understandings that body and movement-based practices, Dance Movement Therapy, Creative Arts Therapies, psychology, and the Dances of Universal Peace offer, and includes live music across the weekend.

About the Presenters:

Brigitte Puls

NZ reg psychologist (Clinical), psychotherapist (MNZAP), Supervisor (NZAP), Dance Movement Psychotherapist (DTAA), Dances of Universal Peace Dance Leader (certified), has, for many years, worked in private practice and, as a senior lecturer at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Brigitte practices psychotherapy and DMT within a holistic treatment approach based on human beings as embodied, moving, creative, relational and spiritual beings. She works with groups, individuals and children, integrating DMT, relational psychotherapy and modern approaches to healing. Brigitte facilitates retreats and workshops in various settings, fostering participants’ personal, professional and spiritual development.

Ra Witten-Hannah

Ra Witten-Hannah has a Diploma of Performance Mustic from Auckland University and is a certified Suzuki classical guitar teacher. He enjoys writing songs of the heart and composing spiritually inspired music. 

Ra has moved in Dances of Universal Peace (DUP) circles as a musician and a dancer for more than 20 years and is in training as a Certified DUP Leader.