Introductory courses;
In-depth facilitator training & mentoring;
Technical guidance for effective online circles.
Plus:
Bespoke facilitation for organisations:
Conflict exploration
Decision making
Direction setting
Community building
Workshop — Meaningful Circles, Online
Meaningful Circles, Online
Can modern tech really be made to serve heart-based practices? Yes, it can.
Come and learn how to transform Zoom’s little square boxes into actual people who are experiencing being in a circle together, and finding real human-to-human connection.
In part 1 we experience just such an online ‘Council’ circle together, before learning how to recreate the same results yourself – technically, structurally, and emotionally.
Then in part 2, each person gets to test their own set up and receive individual coaching to optimise it…
Course delivered via Zoom (naturally!)
Council 1 — The Introduction to the Way of Council
Council 1
A 2-3 day training that allows you to experience this powerful set of group practices, and to learn the basics of facilitating your own Council circles.
This is experiential learning, where we learn by doing, gradually going deeper as our skills and confidence grow.
Typically offered in-person over a weekend, or online over 2 weekends, this course takes groups of 8-20 people on a journey of discovery, relearning long-forgotten arts of deep listening, honest speaking, shared vulnerability, empathy and connection.
Come and learn the essential elements of Council, its uses and benefits, its history, and its many forms & styles that enable it to adapt to different groups and situations. Discover first-hand the approach, skills, and aptitudes needed to facilitate Council circles that are safe and effective.
Council 2 — Going Deeper into the Practice
Council 2
A 2-3 day training specifically for Council facilitators with at least one year’s experience.
This course delves into the joys, the nuances, the challenges, and the perils of being a regular facilitator of Council circles.
What comes with wearing the Facilitator’s hat: “Are they projecting onto me? How’s my ego right now? This is intense - do I intervene, or hold my breath? “
We look at the shadow side of the facilitator, the blind-spots we might have, what to do when we’re triggered, what to do when the group is triggered… as well as revisiting concepts and skills from Council 1: like ‘turning into the skid’, ‘trusting the process’, and the wisdom of the Four Intentions.
Typically offered in-person over a weekend, or online over 2 weekends, this course takes groups of 8-20 people on a companionable journey learning from our shared stories of things learned the hard way, as much as from theory and best practice .
If you’ve been facilitating for a while, long enough to have picked up a few ‘chips in your paintwork’, and you still want to keep doing it, just better resourced - then this course is for you.
Council 3 — Advanced - Council as a way of life
Council 3
This is an advanced course for those committed to developing their Council practice as a way of life. Council 3 courses can be found in California via the Topa Institute, or for those of us in Western Europe, my friend and colleague, Pip Bondy offers a wonderful Council 3 training in the form of a 7-day retreat in Nature - you can find her offerings here:
Ancient Healing Ways | Vision Quest | Way of Council | Wild Rites | North Wales | UK
