Sunday mgazrne Page Three inside: page four -books page five-profile Number 18 February 22, 1976 FEATUR ES The singles workshop: Therapy in a By ANN MARIE LIPINSKI THE SITUATION BORE an errie resemblance to Agatha Chris- tie's Ten Little Indians. There were ten of us, including a carpet sales- man, a high school senior, an econ- omist-and them. The Bloods. Mar- garet and Bob Blood. We weren't being sequestered off on a faraway island, and we weren't the victims of an elaborate, sinis- ter plot. But, the gathering of ten strangers-six women and four men--in a secluded home on Ann Arbor's west side for a weekend billed as "a singles encounter workshop," was material enough for all sorts the desired action. I wasn't quite with either sort. a story. prepared to deal All I wanted was I WAS THE ninth one to arrive at the Blood home that Friday evening. It was a viciously cold January night, yet remaining out- side seemed easier than . forcing myself to cross the threshold of 'their Penncraft Court home. Knocking timidly on the door (hoping they wouldn't really an- 3wer) I thought wistfully of the security I had just abandoned for a weekend of journalistic enter- bubble I felt as if the chair was something I could hang onto. I only wished I could have dived under the cushion. Following the guarded greeting, an unnerving silence set in which wasn't broken until the Bloods ask- ed us to help them rearrange the living room furniture. In order to contain us in the "same physical and psychological space," we were instructed to occupy only half of the comfortably-furnished room. The sofa became the dividing line. We were told to "bring ourselves together." We obeyed. After we plopped ourselves down on pancake - thin, cloth - covered cushions, we were told to form a tightly-knit circle. Bob asked us to concentrate on what we were feeling "in the here and now" and to share our feelings with the rest of the group when we felt the in- clination. Painful silence ensued. I, like the others, feared revealing a part of myself, however small, to these absolute strangers. I knew enough about myself - it was the other people who interested me. AFTER TEN MINUTES of moni- toring the nervous, darting glances, Bob broke the tension by offering the results of his self- examination. He told us he was feeling "unusually good" that night and predicted a fruitful weekend. That didn't help much. Not only was I convinced that he commenced each encounter with the same pat statement, but I also resented the ease with which he delivered his remarks. I was sure that when I finally opened my mouth, nothing would emerge but a self-conscious stammer. The rest of us weren't immedi- ately inspired by Bob's soul-baring remarks, but slowly, one-by-one, we began opening ub. The anxiety most of us expressed contrasted sharply with the smooth state- ments delivered by the Bloods - veterans of two decades of encoun- ter workshops. From the tones of the shyly-of- fered confessions, most of my weekend cohorts were just as skit- tish as I. Lenny, a slim, fair-hair- ed high school senior squirmed anxiously as each person neared Daily Photo by PAULINE LUBENS The Bloods engage in a workshop exercise the end of his or her statement. He knew his turn was nearing. As the number of still-silent singles dwindled to three, he finally be- gan to speak. "I feel forced to say something right now, but I really don't want to," he said, his baritone voice quavering. "I don't know you yet and I don't want to say anything until I've had a chance to feel the group out. I'm just not ready." T RESPECTED his honesty and wanted to tell him so, but we desired friendship more than ro- mances, A, lengthy discussion of what each of us expected from members of the opposite sex eased the ten- sion considerably and served to ex- tract personal information from each of the ten participants. RICHARD, 32, who was quite withdrawn despite his ability to stare fixedly at others in the group, confessed that his chief am- bition was to get married. "At least I think that's what I want," he 'The role playingt were so neatly structured and supervised that you always completed them feeling very good about yourself. - Paul, A workshop participant - . a m m ~ m e :m2 2 :: :::r:.::,:.:r:r:_.4 :f.:4::