Unit 1 – Preparatory session for practitioners

Symbolwork is based on a holistic approach, to get a person to reach themselves. The main goal is of Symbolwork is the realisation and enlightenment of the clients about themselves, their feelings, and their issues. 

Thus, symbols are supporting materials to express and to analyse yourself. With the help of symbols, an EJO4Youth trainer is able to provide people with an additional langauge when they cannot find the right words or expressions. Symbols act similarly to an interpreter and can transmit information one cannot or does not want to share.

Depending on an individual’s experience, a symbol may have many if not infinite meanings and is interconnected with multiple feelings, depending on the matter that is being discussed. From the perspective of the interconnection between the meaning of a symbol and the feeling attached to it by the client, there are no identical meaning corresponding to a symbol among different clients.

This introduction on Symbolwork originates from the working paper “Grundlagen für die Arbeit mit Symbolen“ (Fundamentals of Symbol Work), written by Wilfried Schneider in 2012. The materials and interventions used in the EJO4Youth Methodology are based on his approach of “Psychologische Symbolarbeit” (Psychological Symbolwork).