Laura Pastorini shares her experience with applying Social Presencing Theater in U process facilitation for organizations, among which the largest midwives’ association in Uruguay, Nacer Mejor.

When we get together with Laura for a chat and ask her about her experiences with applying Social Presencing Theater in groups, the richness of her stories allows us to really get a sense of what is possible with embodiment methods like this. Coming from a background in social and visual anthropology, systemic therapist and consultant Laura Pastorini has been using Theory U as a process framework with clients from widely different backgrounds for years now. Other forms of embodiment work already formed a common thread in her work early on, starting at the age of seventeen with a focus on wellbeing. About seven years ago, she says: “through constellation work, I met Arawana Hayashi in 2012 and I completely fell in love with the work she was doing. I started working and training with her.

Now, Laura is active as an independent consultant, in an association of peers in Uruguay, using Theory U as a framework for the transformation and change processes she facilitates in a variety of groups and organizations. She sees an increasing demand for this kind of support in her work with the public sector, social projects, NGOs, and other institutions. The reason behind this demand is that these embodied methodologies offer “a completely different kind of result and approach to the issues of organizations”, going deeper into the structural root causes of their challenges.

Letting go of our own judgements

Laura notices that SPT is becoming more and more integral to the services she offers her clients, as the need for a more deeply embodied understanding of challenges seems to be growing. She recognizes that this has something to do with the instant impact such methods bring about. Instead of discussing challenges, going into a method, and then coming up with elaborate future plans for change, a direct shift occurs in how the groups and teams operate together — during the process itself. “This kind of methodology has the power to transform a system immediately. When you see something, and when you experience something, it will never be the same again.”

It is a joy to listen to Laura’s lively stories of how she works with different kinds of groups and how she approaches bringing in Social Presencing Theater — which in many contexts is still quite an unconventional method. When we ask her what it takes to introduce such practices into more corporate or traditional settings, she smiles and says: “We need to practice what we preach, and let go of our own judgements.” She goes on to explain that: “When we decide beforehand that these people will not be able to work with this, that is a judgement. Just be there with all your antennae! (…) You have to be curious.”

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