(22) Proposal: Classes-Goals

The Community will offer Re-evaluation Counseling classes for persons interested in becoming Co-Counselors and for the continuing benefit and growth of those already in the Community.

Goals of these Co-Counseling classes include:

1. Development of members' ability to aid others in discharging;
2. Members' recovery of their ability to discharge;
3. Communication of the basic theory, practice and policy of Re-evaluation Counseling;
4. Providing a continuously supportive environment for class members;
5. Assisting members in finding, setting and holding directions against chronic distress patterns;
6. Encouraging members to make rational decisions about their lives, assume increasing responsibility for themselves and their environment and take initiative in the growth and development of the Counseling Community.

The attainment of these goals requires considerable time. Community members benefit from continued participation in class. These goals have been found to be central in the process of human re-emergence.

That our goal in classes is to bring together as great a variety of people of different backgrounds as possible (unless the topic of the class is itself self-limiting), as a practical step toward the unity of all humankind, rather than bringing together only people who are easily comfortable and familiar with each other.

That meeting places for classes be accessible and comfortable for people with various disabilities (for example, that they be wheelchair accessible for people with mobility disabilities, that they have microphone loop systems or sign language interpreters for people with hearing difficulties, that there be support persons assigned for people with vision difficulties, etc., etc.).

That such accessibility become a requirement for our classes, and where such locations are not available, that the Communities take the initiative in making them so accessible, conferring with the people in charge of the location and making contributions of money and physical labor necessary to achieve such results.

That this be our goal and our standard, rather than settling for any limited accessibility.

Reason

Our classes benefit from having all varieties of people. They need to offer a broad vista for human living.

(23) Proposal: CLASSES-STRUCTURE

All Re-evaluation Counseling classes shall be based upon regular Re-evaluation Counseling literature and shall include:

1. Theory presentation led by a competent teacher;
2. Co-Counseling;
3. Demonstrations and group attention used for discharge;
4. Reports of Co-Counseling sessions;
5. Periodic evaluation of classes by the students in the form of how the class is going well and how it could be improved;
6. Group exchange of affection (e.g., validations and closing circles).

Classes have operated successfully using a variety of forms. These have included separate fundamentals and ongoing classes, classes which combine these activities and special-interest classes.

The structure of the class will be determined by the teacher. Consultation with other teachers and Reference Persons is encouraged.

Members are admitted by permission of the teacher. The teacher shall exercise judgment in extending this permission to insure that members will contribute to effective functioning of the class.

Teachers shall use and train assistant teachers whenever possible.

Class members shall commit themselves to regular class attendance and to at least one Co-Counseling session of approximately two hours each week outside of class.

Classes are enhanced by regular participation of members in other Re-evaluation Counseling activities including international and local workshops, "each-one-teach-one" events and gather-ins.

Reason

These procedures for classes have worked well for getting groups together to learn Co-Counseling and to begin a Re-evaluation Counseling Community. As Community members begin to work on their chronic distress patterns, they need the support of a class in order to consistently contradict these patterns. Classes provide a stable and resourceful structure which enables Re-evaluation Counseling to reach into every part of the general community.

(24) Proposal: Classes: Tuition and Scholarships

That qualified teachers of Re-evaluation Counseling classes shall be encouraged to charge tuition for their classes. That teachers are encouraged to offer scholarships in each class without compensation from outreach funds to as many as three young people and as many as two people oppressed by racism or the oppression of disabled persons who would otherwise find it difficult to take the class.

Reason

People who put time, labor and skill into teaching counseling should be paid adequately for their work. Such scholarships from the teacher herself or himself will greatly improve the participation of these groups of the population in our classes and thereby greatly improve the quality of our classes.

(37) Proposal: Community Support - Overcoming Cultural Distress

That teachers inform members of their classes about workable procedures for counseling on culturally enforced distress patterns. That Communities encourage gather-ins and local workshops to improve counseling in these areas and provide broad support for counselors working on them.

Reason

While any distress can be contradicted and discharged through persistent counseling, no patterns disappear by themselves. In particular, culturally enforced patterns of oppression and subjugation often require conscious intervention to bring them into awareness and to provide the human support needed by individuals in order to discharge them.