blog – Page 2 – Feldenkrais History X

Is this Feldenkrais Training Organizer An Abuser?

Sascha Krausneker, Feldenkrais Training Organizer

There are multiple accusations against Sascha Krausneker. Multiple, detailed accusations against him, accusing him of sexual coercion, violence and harassment towards a Feldenkrais student and a Feldenkrais practitioner.

There are multiple, credible second-person accounts of the abuse. There was a police report filed against Sascha. And we have multiple credible reports of him having sexual relationships with – and harassing – a student in a training program that he organized. We have reason to believe there are more.

Repost: Dennis Leri, Feldenkrais Trainer, Buddhist and Sexual Harasser?

Denis Leri, Feldenkrais Trainer

Dennis Leri (deceased): Feldenkrais Trainer, Buddhist and Alleged Harrasser

Denis Leri. We were sent multiple messages that he and Frank Wildman were engaged in a contest to see who could “fuck” the most number of students. And there was a report that at one time he was not allowed to be alone with female students during a particular training.

Denis reportedly has been against certifying more female Feldenkrais trainers: “In a lengthy conversation with Dennis Leri, some years ago, I raised several questions, about why some highly competent women were rejected as “trainers”, by Frank Wildmann and Dennis Leri. They had no justifiable reason except as Dennis said, he just did not like [trainer candidate name] who Dennis told me, was just as bad as Anat Baniel, who Dennis clearly disliked intensely.”

Repost: Allegations Against Former Feldenkrais Trainer Frank Wildman

Frank Wildman, Feldenkrais Trainer

On January, 30th, 2018, the FGNA reported that “Frank Wildman “relinquished” his membership and status with the organization. No additional information was given. None.

Sexual harassment allegations have been swirling around Frank Wildman for decades. Why did the FGNA not mention this? Why was no additional information given? When were the first reports of ethics violations against Frank Wildman? If there were violations reported and they were of a sexual nature and not dealt with then the FGNA could be considered complicit in later acts, yes?

Here is a link to the original anonymous email complaint against Frank Wildman that was forward to the creator of FeldenkraisHistoryX:

https://feldenkraishistoryx.com/2019/01/22/decertifying-fgna-trainers-re-frank-wildman/

You did not here about Frank’s “defrocking” because of a secret legal agreement between him and the Feldenkrais Guild. Secret no more. The agreement is below.

Here is the legal agreement between Frank Wildman and the Feldenkrais Guild of North America:

https://feldenkraishistoryx.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/FGNA-Wildman-Agreement-22-Jan-2018.pdf

David Bersin involved in sex abuse cover-up?

We have received allegations that Feldenkrais Trainer David Bersin of the Feldenkrais Institute of New York is involved in the cover-up of the sexual harassment allegation in the Feldenkrais Guild trainer community. Bersin has reportedly told several people that the Feldenkrais Guild will likely not survive another lawsuit and he is begging victims of the trainer sex scandal to not go public with their accusations.

We will report more as the situation develops.

Disgraced Feldenkrais Trainer Frank Wildman Wants New Training

In August of 2019, former Feldenkrais Trainer Frank Wildman showed up in Costa Rica to give a talk on Feldenkrais. According to several participants Frank said the the Feldenkrais Guild has lost it’s way and that he left voluntarily.

Frank wants to organize an independent Feldenkrais training in Costa Rica. But be warned! Frank has no right to certify anyone. He is no longer associated with any Feldenkrais Guild. And Frank has allegations of sexual harassment and rape going back decades!

Frank’s new website is called Frank Wildman Movement.

Elinor Silverstein: What does she know?

Elinor Silverstein: Longtime FGNA Board Member and Amherst graduate. What does she know about the sexual harassment, rape and violence allegations in the Feldenkrais Guild training system?

Why did she never speak out during her 20-year+ tenure as a board member?

Elinor has a new book coming out in 2020. It is called, “How To Fake Sincerity.” It will be published by David Bersin and Elizabeth Beringer from Feldenkrais Resources.

Jerry Karzen: Did Moshe Feldenkrais “Make” Him A Feldenkrais Trainer?

Jerry Karzen has been telling people for decades that Moshe Feldenkrais “made” him a trainer. Is that true?

Dr. Feldenkrais chose him [Jerry Karzen} to be a Trainer in 1982 along with Mia Segal, Yochanon Rywerant, Ruthy Alon, Chava Shelhav, Miriam Pfeffer, Anat Baniel, and the late Bruria Milo and Gaby Yaron.

Screenshot taken on August 15th, 2017 from a now deleted website called Feldenkrais Hawaiss.

Moshe never used the word trainer. And Jerry Karzen never called himself a trainer until after Moshe Feldenkrais’s death.

Feldenkrais, Abuse and Awareness

Those who think they are doing something “good” or “noble” by hiding the Feldenkrais trainer sexual harassment allegations are mistaken. Looking the other way while students and other members of your community are harassed, assaulted or bullied is an act of deep hypocrisy.

There are Guild Certified Feldenkrais trainers who have been traveling the world for over 30 years preaching about maturity, awareness, and independence. And they have also been abusing students, assistant trainers, and even Feldenkrais training organizers.

Mature people do not rape.
Mature people do not protect rapists.

Wake up.
Grow up.

Get the violent abusers out of your community.

Come to terms with the limitations of your work and your legal and social structures.

#FeldenkraisToo: Feldenkrais Sex Scandal

Us Too – The #metoo Movement & Mature Behavior:

A Call for Transparency, Action and Accountability in The Feldenkrais World.

“We, the Undersigned, have experienced, witnessed or have been informed of harassment and abusive behavior in Feldenkrais® Training Programs and Advanced Trainings by both teaching and administrative staff members and visiting practitioners (EDs, Trainers, Assistant Trainers, Practitioner Assistants and/or experienced Practitioners), which has negatively impacted students and staff members on many levels.

Some events are recent, others date back more than 35 years. Abusive behavior has been tolerated, dismissed, minimized, ignored, negated, covered up, and its seriousness disregarded by the leaders of the Feldenkrais Community for decades. This behavior and complicity is unacceptable. These incidents have had a destructive impact on many: on their physical and mental health, their self-image, their career and finances, their sexuality, their personal and family relationships and their compassion for and sense of pride and trust in The Feldenkrais Method and its leaders.

To the victims of abusive behavior in Feldenkrais Training Programs: You are not alone. Find the courage to speak. Don’t allow fear or shame to prevent you from speaking up and speaking out now. Your story is important. What happened to you matters. Your voice can become part of our collective healing, as well as your own.

To those who have witnessed abusive behavior in Feldenkrais Training Programs: You are not alone. Don’t allow fear to prevent you from speaking now. Overcome your shame, fear or embarrassment about not speaking up in the past. Stand with the victim.

Please articulate what you have witnessed. To those who have or are currently covering other’s abusive behavior: Don’t be complicit any longer. Do not continue to fear consequences of being honest as limiting your career opportunities. Stand with the victims. Say what you know. Be part of the solution to this systemic problem, rather than a collaborator and an accomplice. It’s never too late to do the right thing. To the perpetrators who have abused their power, whether sexually, emotionally, psychologically, physically, or otherwise: It is time to be accountable and to accept the consequences of your behavior.

Take this seriously. Listen. Face what you and others have done, and become aware of the impacts your actions have had on each individual victim’s life and career. It is never too late to apologize, and to make sincere efforts to amend past behaviors. Let us truly honor the truth of our Method, not its misuse. “What I’m after is to restore each person to their human dignity.” Moshe Feldenkrais.”

SIGNATORIES: Please insert your name in alphabetical order, add your credentials and country. Signed: Trish Bate, PhD, M.App. Sci. (Phty), GCFP, Australia Stephen Cheslett-Davey, BSc Physiotherapy, GCFP, United Kingdom Melinda Glenister, GCFP, United Kingdom Cheryl Hertzog, GCFP, U.S.A. Molly Jaeger, GCFP, United Kingdom Katerina Joumana, FPTP Student, Austria Jeremy Krauss, LCFP, CFT, ED, Founder JKA , Germany Suzanne Kronisch, LCFP, GCAT, U.S.A. Dragana Kukavac, GCFP, ND, Germany IFF Assembly Agenda Appendix 2018 1 2 Manifesto: Us Too Asha Leitner, GCFP, Germany Deborah Elizabeth Lotus, LCFP, U.S.A. Cornelia Michalek, GCFP, Germany Mary Morrison, GCFP, MBSP, U.S.A. Monika Praxmarer, GCFP, GCAT, JKAP, Germany Esther Shorr Raphael, GCFP, Brazil Bernd Tröger, GCFP, GCAT, Germany Felicia N. Trujillo, ND, LCFP, GCAT, U.S.A. Kim Wise, BSc., Dip Phys., MIT, GCFP, Australia Additional pages of signatures to be appended CREDENTIAL KEY BSc = Bachelor of Science CFT = Certified Feldenkrais Trainer Dip Phys = Diploma of Physiotherapy ED = Educational Director FPTP = Feldenkrais Professional Training Program GCAT = Guild Certified Assistant Trainer GCFP = Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner JKA = Jeremy Krauss Approach LCFP = Lifetime Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner MBSP = Mind Body Studies Practitioner MIT = Movement Intelligence Trainer ND = Naturopathic Doctor IFF Assembly Agenda Appendix 2018 2

To the International Feldenkrais Federation Assembly May 2018 To the elected representatives of the Feldenkrais Community: We ask that you do everything in your power to adopt and implement an effective ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy on abusive behavior in Feldenkrais Training Programs and in practicing the Feldenkrais Method. We propose the inclusion of new language in current Standards of Practice and Code of Professional Conduct; comprehensive training on Workplace Harassment in its various forms as it affects students and training staff; clearly communicated pathways to file grievances; close monitoring and censure of known abusers; clearly delineated legal, financial and professional consequences for those found to be in violation of said policy, including, when necessary, their decertification and removal from power, and an absolute commitment on the part of the organizational bodies to uphold the true meaning of a Guild: . “An organization of persons with related interests, goals, etc., especially one formed for mutual aid or protection… organized to maintain standards and to protect the interests of its members…”

Please accept the accompanying manifesto and its signatories as evidence that members of the Feldenkrais community are determined that abuse of power no longer be tolerated. Trish Bate, PhD, M.App. Sci. (Phty), GCFP, Australia Stephen Cheslett-Davey, BSc Physiotherapy, GCFP, United Kingdom Melinda Glenister, GCFP, United Kingdom Cheryl Hertzog, GCFP, U.S.A. Molly Jaeger, GCFP, United Kingdom Katerina Joumana, FPTP Student, Austria Suzanne Kronisch, LCFP, GCAT, U.S.A. Asha Leitner, GCFP, Germany Deborah Elizabeth Lotus, LCFP, U.S.A. Cornelia Michalek, GCFP, Germany Mary Morrison, GCFP, MBSP, U.S.A. Monika Praxmarer, GCFP, GCAT, Germany Esther Shorr Raphael, GCFP, Brazil Felicia N. Trujillo, ND, LCFP, GCAT, U.S.A. Kim Wise, BSc., Dip Phys., MIT, GCFP, Australia I

https://feldenkrais-method.org/wp-content/uploads/Appendix-IFF-Agenda-Items-2018.pdf

Feldenkrais Federation Notified of Sex Harrasment Problem.

There is now public confirmation that the International Feldenkrais Federation knows about the sex harrasment and rape scandal in the Feldenkrais Guild Community. There is public mention of the matter that can be found online on the “agenda items” (see link below) from a 2018 International Feldenkrais Meeting in Munich Germany. It is a very long document – 58 pages in both English and German. However the first pages of the agenda concern the Feldenkrais #metoo movement and begin:

Us Too – The #metoo Movement & Mature Behavior: A Call for Transparency, Action and Accountability in The Feldenkrais World

“Some events are recent, others date back more than 35 years. Abusive behavior has been tolerated, dismissed, minimized, ignored, negated, covered up, and its seriousness disregarded by the leaders of the Feldenkrais Community for decades. This behavior and complicity is unacceptable. These incidents have had a destructive impact on many: on their physical and mental health, their self-image, their career and finances, their sexuality, their personal and family relationships and their compassion for and sense of pride and trust in The Feldenkrais Method and its leaders.”

You can find the document in its entirety here:

https://feldenkrais-method.org/wp-content/uploads/Appendix-IFF-Agenda-Items-2018.pdf

I have also uploaded a copy here Appendix-IFF-Agenda-Items-2018

Those of you who are a part of the Guild system and know of specific abuse allegations might want to take responsibility for sharing what you know and make a detailed public statement. The public and students have a right to know what has happened and if they can trust the Feldenkrais Guild system and trainers within it. You can ignore the problem if you wish, and hope that it will go away. But I think you will find that the information is coming out already whether you want it to or not.

If you are a Feldenkrais practitioner, a student in a Feldenkrais training or a member of the public who wants to know more, you may want to contact an official representative from the Feldenkrais Guild in your country.

Here is a list from the International Feldenkrais Federation of the 21 country- specific Feldenkrais Guilds:

Member Organizations

Again: If you have questions please contact an official Feldenkrais organization or one of the people from the Feldenkrais #metoo movement who are listed on the document linked above.

If you have been affected by the abuse or an abuser, it is imperative that you get outside of the Feldenkrais Guild “bubble” and talk to some kind of trained professional such as a psychotherapist or psychologist or other person who can listen to you and help you process the events in am more objective manner.

I am very saddened to hear that there are so many reports of abuse in the Feldenkrais Guild system and that is has been going on for so long. Though it is encouraging that practitioners are finally starting to talk about it (at least amongst themselves) and process what has happened.

I wish those of you in the Guild system luck in dealing with what I am sure is a very painful situation. I have confidence that you can deal with it openly and honestly and humanly and emerge as a stronger and more dynamic organization.