Cristina Nuñez’s SPEX workshops up to now (May 2020) have mostly been live and in groups: over 400 workshops in many countries of Europe, America, Asia and Australia (please see Cristina’s CV and the participants’ feedback video above), involving more than 4000 people. During the Covid-19 outbreak all of the live workshops were cancelled for months, so Cristina has been mostly holding online workshops, and making the absolute best of it (please see the section Online workshops).

Although individual sessions are possible and very useful in some cases, and at the beginning of a very personal process (please see the section Individual sessions), we always recommend group workshops. SPEX is about exploring the multiple perceptions of the images, of ourselves, of others and of the world, so the group’s different perceptions are incredibly stimulating and absolutely precious. Perception depends, as Merleau-Ponty asserts, 50% on the object perceived and 50% on our personal experiences so we definitely project our “stuff” into the images we perceive. But in SPEX we use these perceptions to stimulate thought and feeling, to help us broaden our own perception of ourselves and of others and to allow us to experience our infinite potential, beyond any label or stereotype we put on ourselves or on others. Moreover, sharing the same process with others in SPEX stimulates solidarity and the empathic gaze in all directions.

If you want to organize a live workshop in your area, please write us an email to pr@self-portrait.eu. Cristina Nuñez is available to travel anywhere. If you are not in Europe travel costs may raise considerably, however there are many ways to make it viable, by involving local universities, prisons, mantal health or rehab centers in the project in order to share the expenses and, at the same time, support and give more visibility to the project (please see the pages dedicated to these institutions in this section). Feel free to contact us to discuss these options.

If you are looking for a SPEX facilitator in your area, please check the facilitator map and section.

If you want to know about the upcoming workshops, please see the sections Online workshops and Individual sessions.

Part of the research that Cristina has conducted for her PhD (see section Research) was based on 181 responses to her questionnaires about the effects of SPEX workshops on the general public. This research has mainly shown that most respondents:

  • do not recognize themselves in the images
  • broaden their perception of themselves
  • learn trigger a partly unconscious creative process and transform emotions into art
  • continue to use the SPEX method when needed
  • listen more to emotions that need expression
  • accept themselves more
  • gain empowerment

The above video shows feedback from workshop participants.

Group live workshops:

At the moment there are no scheduled live workshops, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Please have a look at the Online workshop section.