A Webinar with Naturalized RC
Hi Tim and Diane [Tim Jackins
and Diane Shisk],
I am seeking permission to involve local Co-Counsellors in a project that uses RC theory and Co-Counselling skills but isn’t officially a Co-Counselling project.
I’ve been asked to do a webinar for Asia Pacific Green [Green Party] women. I expect a wide range of women to participate, including people from Australia, New Zealand, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and possibly some other Asian countries. [A webinar is a live online presentation in which the participants, in different locations, can see and hear the presenter and ask and answer questions.]
Instead of delivering a lecture, I’ve suggested that we make the webinar an opportunity for networking and for demonstrating how to effectively take turns listening. I would talk a little about why we take equal time and then pose some questions for people to answer in small mixed groups (questions like what they are passionate about, what they would like to change, what challenges they face, what support they would like from allies). Then we would break into three or four groups facilitated by volunteers, whom I would like to be local New Zealand Co-Counsellors. After that we would “report back” to the whole group before possibly breaking into regional groups for a short meeting.
This webinar has come about because I am a mentor to an Indian woman in an emerging Green Party in India. I listen to her and help her figure out how to build the movement and gather others around her who share her vision of sustainability and social good. She and others I’ve met through their organization are inspiring. They face so many challenges yet are courageous and optimistic. I hope eventually to share more of RC with them, but for now I just want to share about basic listening, without naming where the idea comes from.
Let me know if you think bending the no-socializing Guideline in this way is acceptable.
Nikki Berry
Christchurch, Canterbury,
New Zealand
Dear Nikki,
Because you are doing this to spread the ideas of RC, I don’t think there is a conflict with our Guidelines. Of course, the Co-Counselors involved will need to have sessions about their relationships—and the snags, small irritations, and so on, that are likely to occur.
I hope it goes well. Please let me know.
With love and appreciation,
Tim
Dear Tim and Diane,
We had our international webinar meeting of Asia Pacific Greens last week—with women from Japan, India, Nepal, South Korea, the Philippines, and New Zealand. It went very well.
We met initially as a large group in which I explained that our aim was to get to think with the support of the other women and that sometimes, in order to think better, we need to laugh or cry or shake. I said that each person would have two minutes to answer each of several questions, and would get to speak without interruption.
We then broke into “break-out rooms,” with each group of four being facilitated by a Co-Counsellor. (I’d had to bring in a fourth facilitator at the last minute because so many people had registered—double the number they’d had in any previous webinar.)
The women answered the following questions:
- Imagine it is twenty years from now. List all the things you would like to be different by then. (Don’t worry if you run out of time to finish.)
- Choose one thing for now that you would like to focus on as a goal.
- List any barriers you think could make it difficult to achieve this goal.
- List any opportunities, including people who would help with the goal.
- Think of one or more things you could do as a next step toward the goal.
Then we came back together as a large group for a closing round. People shared one thing they had liked or were looking forward to, or something else they wanted to share.
There were a few technical difficulties, which meant that our break-out groups ended a little abruptly. But, generally, the webinar was a great success. People were moved by the experience. Many commented on the difference it had made to be “actively listened to,” and to listen to others in that way. Most of them asked if we could do something similar regularly.
Our team met afterward for a little discharge. All the volunteers had loved being part of the event. I just need to train some people a bit more in how to use their computers, as that aspect can be restimulating to some.