The FDP program is a thoughtful and delightful course of study working to meet the needs of a growing worldwide network of facilitators. The content is powerful, the practices transformative, the community grounding, and the teachers supportive. I highly recommend this program to anyone whose passion or path in life has led them to deepen their devotion to the planet and to be of service in this way.
The Work that Reconnects has changed my life, and now, so has the Facilitators Development Program.
Rachael Alaia Helschein, Mexico
Work That Reconnects Spiral Journey Facilitator Development Programs 2024-25
Foundations of Facilitation of the Work That Reconnects - September - March
A 6 month online course and learning community with regularly scheduled webinars, online learning platform, study circles, homework, and optional "cafes." Webinars will start in September and be held on the second Saturday of the month at two different times to accommodate multiple time zones. September 10th 2022 through March 11th 2023
The course curriculum addresses four "threads": I. The Work That Reconnects concepts and practices II. Facilitation skills III. Decolonizing Our Minds and Building Inclusion IV. Living the Great Turning.
The Foundations course is open to beginning facilitators in the Work That Reconnects. Prerequisites include 1) participation in at least 3 days of experiential practice in the Work That Reconnects (retreats, workshops, ongoing study groups); 2) read books: Coming Back to Life and Active Hope; 3) diversity/anti-oppression study or training.
Applications are accepted on a first come first serve basis and no later than August 15 The application process includes an online or phone interview to mutually assess whether the course is a good "fit." Once accepted, a 50% deposit is required to hold your place in the program.
In this moment in history, people are waking up to the realization that our society is not sustainable. Violence in its many manifestations is causing pain and suffering. Climate disruption, systemic racism and oppression, endless war, and our political reality are some of the things creating fear for our people. We need ways to reduce fear and heal from trauma. People are looking for community and ways to be with the pain they experience from what’s going on in the world. They also want to find their particular gifts and how they can contribute to the Great Turning. These programs will give new and experienced facilitators the support needed to make this transformational journey themselves and to assist others on the path to coming back to life.
One’s ability to guide others through the Work That Reconnects is enhanced by one’s own personal work, knowledge of and engagement in social and ecological challenges, developing one’s skills as a facilitator, and working to dismantle the socialization that has lead us to behave in ways that continue oppression. This course will weave all these dimensions together.
Our text books for this course include Coming Back to Life and Active Hope, along with other materials on environmental challenges, systemic racism and other social justice issues, and facilitation skills. Those participating in the program will also be expected to do homework between webinars, participate in regular study circles as well as engage in personal/spiritual practices and community activism. Perhaps most importantly this program will help build a widening community of facilitators who support each other through sharing resources and experiences, as well as helping each other face the difficult times ahead with open hearts and minds.
The trainers/facilitators of the 2021-22 Programs are Molly Brown, Mutima Imani, and Constance Washburn, along with guest teachers who have extensive experience in facilitating the Work That Reconnects.
Program topics will include; WTR theory; systems thinking, deep time, the spiral, deep ecology, The Great Turning, confronting and exploring together current social, environmental, political, racial, and spiritual crises as well as facilitating WTR practices; workshop design; principles of inclusive, respectful facilitation; group process; awareness of power, privilege, and systemic white domination and racism, as well as “best practices” for counteracting that social conditioning. We will also explore what it means to be living the Great Turning: exploration of how each of us makes the Great Turning real in our personal, spiritual, and community lives.
The 2022-23 Foundation Program of the FDP will begin in September 2022 with the introductory webinar and end with a closing webinar on March 11,2022. There will be at least 2 - 3 hours of homework per month as well as requirements for individual practices, meetings with a study circle and with an ally in the Work between webinars.
Learn more and become part of the Work That Reconnects Network.
Thank you for your interest in the Work That Reconnects. To find out more about the Work and to sign up for workshops and retreats go to www.workthatreconnects.org. Sign up on the website as a facilitator if you are an experienced facilitator or as friend of the Work That Reconnect to receive notifications and updates. We also recommend reading the Deep Times Journal for the most current thinking about the Work and to learn more about what the global Work That Reconnects community is up to.