The Heaven and Hell of Religion, Help for Helpers, Feb 8 2026

Описание: with Lynn Preston, Robin Baum, Liz Margoshes, BJ VanderMeer, and Dorothy Marks

Religion is one of those topics that people find very difficult to talk about across differences. Wars are fought in its name, cultures are built on it. People are deeply inspired and cruelly suppressed by its teachings. It is perhaps “unsayable” in two ways. Its essence is “beyond words” and just the mention of it can be a minefield. What does religion mean to each of us? Was it a central element in our childhoods? Can Focusing help us to gather in this delicate, vital and ambiguous exploration? In this month of stepping into the waters of the unsayables we plan an open, personal and rich conversation honoring all our experiences and perspectives.

Lynn Preston, MA, MS, LP is a long-time psychotherapist, supervisor, teacher and author who integrates the work of Eugene Gendlin and relational psychoanalysis. She has an abiding dedication to studying and teaching the workings of relationality in therapy, community and everyday life. She delights in the process of experientializing theory and finding new conceptual language for lived experience.

BJ Barbara VanderMeer, MA, MBA, MDiv, PhD, Spiritual Director
BJ VanderMeer's eclectic companion work is grounded in practice garnered through a career including:
· minister to United Methodist and Unitarian Universalist congregations in Connecticut and several Southern states.
· Instructor of world religions at University of Alabama and Hartford seminary.
· humanist affiliated chaplain in urban/medical centers in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.
· IRS Enrolled Agent whose clients explore issues of meaning along with financial concerns.
· director of “Pilgrimage Institute” where she led pilgrims and students to more than twenty countries in Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Europe.

Her philosophical and theoretical “grounding” include: the monastic traditions (anchorite and peripatetic) and mystics east and west; philosophers ancient and modern, and a foundation in psychological and educational methodologies. She is conversant in Interpersonal neurobiology. Her favorite books are On Human Nature, by Sociobiologist E.O. Wilson and paleontologist Stephen Gould’s Rock of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life.

Liz Margoshes, Ph.D. is a psychologist. She is currently working on a graphic memoir (http://www.growinginmygray.com) in which she sometimes says (and draws) the unsayable.

Dorothy Marks, LCSW-R is a psychotherapist, trained in Gestalt therapy, Self psychology and Focus-Oriented Psychotherapy. Before entering the field of psychotherapy, she worked as a Learning Specialist in schools and in private practice. One of her passions currently is to work on a memoir and she continues to dwell in the universe of poetry. Help for Helpers has provided her the opportunity to strengthen the importance of what it means to deepen the connection with others as well as with self.

Robin Baum, M.S.Ed., M.Div., MHC-LP is a mental health counselor and psychotherapist serving the Hudson River Valley of New York State. Her areas of specialization include gender-affirming therapy, queer sexualities, polyamory & consensual non-monogamy, spirituality & religion, neurodivergence & developmental disability and substance use & addiction. Robin is an existentialist and third-wave behaviorist, balancing big-picture values work (What do I believe and value? Who am I and how do I want to show up in the world?) with the development of skillful means (How do I act in alignment with my values and convictions in the midst of depression/anxiety/trauma/ableism/
homophobia/transphobia/white supremacy/capitalism?). She collaborates with clients using mindfulness and compassion-based methods drawn from modalities such as Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Focusing-Oriented Therapy (FOT) to tailor each client’s experience of therapy to their unique needs and goals.