About

Choose Again is a non-profit society based in Vancouver British Columbia ,Canada Deiderik Wolsak is the program director After many years on private practice in Vancouver and five years hands-on experience with families and youth at risk Deiderik wanted a quiet natural setting to allow his clients the space and time to heal at their own pace. A pilot program with addicted teens was so successful that the center was created in January 2006

Attitudinal Healing is based on the premise that each individual possesses an essential quality of being that is constructive, creative and whole, and that it is possible to access this quality through our conscious choice to do so. The Center’s unique approach educates and provides tools for examining the choices we make and encourages choices that help to foster a positive, self-directed, way of living, even in the midst of difficult circumstances. As Victor Frankl, said “the last of human freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance."

PHILOSOPHY

Do you recognize that sometimes you could use an “attitude adjustment?” What if the adjustment changed your entire outlook on life, what if you learned to accept and appreciate who you really are? This is possible and can even be fun.

Our program begins with the idea that everything is just as it is supposed to be and acceptance of that fact leads to a stress free life. Based on the philosophy of a spiritual psychotherapy called “A Course in Miracles” we teach that each of us has an internal teacher that is always available to help us decide if we want to choose fear or love.

We begin with the premise that as children we make up beliefs about ourselves that are often coping mechanisms at the time; but that can be debilitating when we carry the emotions attached to those beliefs into our adult lives. We all have a secret belief about how we think others perceive us and we are constantly interpreting what we see as evidence that our worst fears are true. In healing circles we are encouraged to look at our beliefs and question their validity. Are we really guilty, shy or not good enough; or did we make this up and forget to change our minds? The truth is that we can change our perspective and really get that we are on a journey of awakening to who we really are. That we deserve a life of happiness and love.

Our purpose is something that most of us have begun to ignore because it seems a waste of time thinking that we can veer do anything but survive. Our program demonstrates how to recognize our purpose and to find the thinking that prevents our alignment with that purpose. The desire to fulfill that purpose has never left us, we have just covered it over in a shroud of depression. The thinking is old, is not working to our benefit, and is based on negative beliefs – we can choose again.

Recognizing that we choose our feelings based on who we believe we are is an essential component of the process. So the first step is always identifying the feelings, Just feeling tired for instance is a dead end. Being tired is not a feeling it is a state arrived at from self-judgement and suppressed feelings. This stage can be difficult because society does not encourage the exploration and expression of true feelings.

Going deeper to find the feelings is an essential part of the process leading to awareness of core beliefs. Denial of fear and the denial of feelings will not work. Denial strengthens the belief in what is denied, thus preventing it from being processed. One may be able to quit drinking or taking drugs by the sheer force of will. However, the negative core belief that led him to drink in the first place will find another outlet in self-destructive behaviour This belief will demand new evidence and proof. Only by correcting the negative core belief, will the client make a different choice. Once these beliefs are recognized and accepted as part of whom the client believes he is, we can begin the process of correcting them.

Our program is totally interactive, which makes it valuable for the very experienced as well as the novice. We know that each person has the answers for himself and that in a loving accepting environment he can find those answers and choose to apply them. We encourage our clients to come to the retreat center in Costa Rica because it is helpful to step into an entirely foreign environment where all the usual frames of reference do not apply, ie. There are no friend and family to impress or control. We teach meditation and other forms of looking within so that the client can take home some different coping skills when he feels anxious. Silence becomes a state of joining in peace as opposed to a cutting off. As a group we learn that fear deserves close scrutiny while love is available and accessible.

Testimonial

Diederik works with clarity, strength, and compassion – Kim