Which Council Workshop Is Right For Me?

Council Training 1:
Introduction to the Way of Council

This 16-hour offering, led by two Certified Council Trainers, is a powerful and inspiring introduction to the practice of council and offers an experiential opportunity to work with the basic elements, modalities and forms. Council Training 1 workshops are offered by Center for Council to the general public throughout the year and for specific businesses, groups, and government agencies that want to integrate the practice into their regular operations as a component for improving organizational wellness.

In Introduction to the Way of Council workshops, participants develop their fluency with and capacity to practice and offer council, and to bring this practice into their personal lives, communities, and professions. In Council Training 1, the history, fundamentals and nuances of the forms and modalities of council are explored in some depth and a good deal of background is offered on the intentions and languaging used in the practice. In addition to a grounding in the basic procedures and tools of council, broader applications to a variety of settings are explored, including classrooms, boardrooms, prisons, communities — as well as in more intimate settings like families and couples. Council Training 1 workshops attract educators, artists, business people, therapists, social service workers, and many others. Many experienced practitioners repeat this essential training in council basics, relishing the opportunity to refresh their practice and rediscover "the four intentions," exploring the subtleties of listening and speaking from the heart and what it means to truly embody spontaneity and leanness.

​Center for Council offers regularly scheduled Council Training 1 workshops in Southern California. Occasionally, public Council Training 1 workshops are offered elsewhere through other venues, in partnership with local organizations, schools and groups. (Please contact us if you'd like to explore partnering with Center for Council to offer a public workshop in your area.) 

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​Council Training 2: Deepening the Practice

Deepening the Practice of Council workshops offer a powerful opportunity to enhance one’s practice and explore the more complex contours of the work. This training is geared toward participants who have taken an Introduction to Council workshop and have been facilitating council for some time and have had some direct experience with the inspiring, and sometimes challenging, situations that arise – including encountering resistance, conflict and "shadow." Facilitators may also be starting to look at some personal obstacles and "blind spots" that have shown up in their development as a practitioner, as well as the need for greater fluency in self-regulation and grounding, for oneself and in one’s work with groups.  

The Council Training 2 workshop delves into the specific forms of Council suited for a variety of situations and explores the joys and challenges of bringing council into different parts of our lives. It offers a chance to develop more facility with "reading the interactive field" and learning to invite "the witness" perspective.

​One of the primary intentions of Council Training 2 is to support practitioners who are starting to encounter the sometimes powerful energies released in council and to offer encouragement to move out of one's comfort zones and to “turn into the skid,” learning how to navigate and best serve the circle, while maintaining safety and containment.
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Center for Council requires that those interested submit a brief application and letter of intention, reflecting on their experiences with council to date and what may be stirring for them as they approach this opportunity to deepen their practice. 

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Council Training 3: 
Living the Way of Council

​Council Training 3: Living the Way of Council is for experienced council practitioners who have taken both Council Training 1 and Council Training 2 and who are discovering that they are called to truly "live the way of Council," going beyond occasionally facilitating council circles as an approach to group interaction.

This advanced Council Training 3 workshop focuses on the three challenges of becoming a carrier of council: devotion to the practice, reading the interactive field in council, and being able to simultaneously participate in and witness the process (including oneself). Much material is integrated, including exploration of energy field work, movement, sound, ceremony, and the relationship between nature and council. Concepts of emergence, complex adaptive systems, and collective wisdom are often touched on in great depth and a space is created for the arrival of the unexpected.

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To learn more about public council-related offerings hosted independently of Center for Council, see Community Councils.

Becoming A Council Trainer

Have you attended a council training and feel a calling to take the work further? Center for Council will guide you through the rigorous process of becoming a Certified Council Trainer.

Trainer Certification