ET: An open mind and willingness to be temporarily uncomfortable during the process.
JN: An open mind and willingness to be temporarily uncomfortable during the process.
DB: Is there actually such a thing as “too much information”?
ET: There is too much information and I think it depends greatly on who it’s being shared with. Some things are private and not meant to be shared with the general public. There are things shared among the small group that don’t make it to the stage. And every so often there are things that should be shared with a professional instead of a writing group.
JN: It depends. One of our guidelines is, “What is said in the room stays in the room,” but that may not be abused. We tell people at the beginning of each workshop that, though there are therapeutic qualities to the work, we, ourselves, are facilitators and not therapists. No one may use the workshop as a way to deal with a present, unresolved crisis. It is too much of a burden on us, and leaves the other participants in an awkward position, most notably if the issue is something that would require and outside agency for assistance with. For example, if a participant is currently stealing money from his or her office and has not yet gotten caught, other participants may feel burdened with holding on to that knowledge and feel it necessary to report the incident.
