Interpersonal Power Dynamics - A Community Workshop (CAIRNS)

Have you ever been in a relationship or interaction where there is a significant power imbalance?

Yes?

We all have.

Parent-child, boss-employee, many intimate partnerships, doctor-patient, teacher-student, younger-elder, and more and more…

In every single one of our interpersonal relationships there is a unique power equation at play. At the most harmful end, those with more power actively and habitually abuse and repress those with less, while on the most progressive, healing side of the equation,  those with more power protect and support all of those with less power.

In this moment in human history addressing interpersonal power imbalances matters a lot.

But very few of us have the vocabulary and framework to speak to power imbalances in our relationships in ways that make it feel accessible…

I personally have been at the forefront of navigating significant, community level rupture and conflict that may have gone in a completely different direction, or the problems may not have eventuated in the first place if all those involved had been exposed to the clear articulation and honouring of relational power imbalances earlier. Collectively we need  shared language and objective structure to even begin to speak to and explore interpersonal power dynamics with more agency and effectiveness.

Even as someone with a degree in counselling and a post-grad qualification in mental health and neuroscience, I couldn’t find a resource that addressed this. I couldn’t find a resource that begins to make these very nuanced and layered experiences accessible in everyday conversations. I couldn’t find the resource I needed, so I created it.

In this community workshop we'll be using this new resource, ‘Power Bingo’, as our starting point to discuss, explore, and feel into new understandings of interpersonal power dynamics.

Power Bingo is a 42 question ‘life audit’ in two parts - the first section addresses your ‘power baseline’, independent of any specific relationship dynamic, while the second section delivers you an ‘ultimate power number’ that changes depending on which relationship you’re investigating. Power Bingo can be done with people who are well known to you and people who are strangers - both options will still give access to the value of the process.

Finding a numerical score for our ‘Power Suckers’, ‘Power Advantages’, ‘Power Barriers’, and ‘Power Boosters’ is just the starting point though… The potential for meaningful exploration, connection, and change that this process can be a catalyst and/or support for is infinite!

Power Bingo is a new resource that has thus far only been shared with a small handful of curious folk. I’m offering this taster of the process in a 2-hour, pay-as-you-feel format both to continue the long process of sharing it with all of those it calls to and to also continue to gather real world feedback on how it lands for you.

Feedback from the pilot group was brilliant, with a lot of (sometimes uncomfortable) honesty in the room and a lot of excitement about how this resourced can be widely used. I’d love to witness and hear your experience!

Join us on Tuesday the 28th July from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at cozy ‘Evolution of Intimacy’ space - 22 Martyn Street, Parramatta Park.

This is a pay-as-you-feel workshop - contribute through Humanitix or on the night.

(If a guide is helpful then a contribution in the range of $25 - $35 would be amazing, but I would genuinely rather have you there than not, so please take your unique situation into account and truly pay-as-you-feel.)

Please bring - A cushion, a pen, something firm to write on, and your own water bottle.

**This is a safe, sober, and consensual gathering so please arrive in a state that supports this collective commitment.

Some of the content may evoke strong feelings and responses. These are totally valid and important.

However, as this is an entry level, short form event, please be mindful of your own emotional capacity, mental health, and external support network when deciding whether this is a helpful space for you to step into this time around.

If it is calling you but you can identify you have limited capacity right now, please get in touch and I can potentially send you the Power Bingo questionnaire to work through in your own time and space.**



About your facilitator:

A prolific creator and leader of all kinds of movement, connection, and creative and pleasurable adventures, I (Gabriella Salmon) have been leading groups and teaching all kinds of deep, delightful, and interesting things for over 17 years. My biggest work currently is in conscious pleasure spaces (both platonic and erotic). I hold tertiary qualifications in counselling, mental health & neuroscience, music therapy, and theatre arts. I'm also the Sunny Coast's most established acroyoga teacher and have been integrating play and cheekiness into all of my offerings forever! So even in the depths, expect moments of lightheartedness. My various teams of brilliant assistants and I regularly offers an array of workshops, events, and cozy gatherings that all focus on more honest, healthy human connection. I'm based on the Sunshine Coast, but am actively looking to extend my playground again across Australia and beyond... If you have a possibility opportunity or collaboration, I'm interested to chat.