Portraying RC as Natural and Normal
When I introduce new people to RC, I emphasize listening and noticing what it’s like to be listened to. I trust that people will show more of their inner thoughts and feelings as they feel connected and safe.
I have been introducing listening partnerships in my wide world organization, and I invite people to RC introductory meetings. Some have eventually participated in fundamentals classes. We have close and ongoing relationships.
It’s important to me to portray the RC process as natural and normal. I hope to show that it can be an extension of what people already do with family and friends. We can listen to each other, and by focusing our attention on each other in timed turns, we can use the time deliberately and efficiently.
I emphasize listening, connecting, and sharing our minds. Rather than emphasizing discharge itself, I emphasize the results of being listened to—thinking more clearly, achieving goals, helping things go well around us, being more effective leaders.
I trust that as people feel safer and more connected, they will bring up harder issues and deeper feelings. In my turn as client I try to show myself, and my discharge is usually laughter and animated talking. I mostly listen when I am counselor.
This has worked well. Many people have become interested in learning more about RC, and I think many use the concepts with people in their lives.
My recent fundamentals classes have gone well. People seem to find the experience quite profound, even if they aren’t discharging deeply. Zoom classes have been good, but they seem to move slowly because they are shorter in length and without in-person contact. I slowly introduce counseling techniques. I talk about “mental health” oppression. Over the weeks I increasingly encourage the release of feelings. I’ve found it challenging to get people to Co-Counsel for longer than twenty minutes each.
We need to think carefully about the steps we take as we involve people who have had minimal contact with RC, often through a Sustaining All Life event. Steps include sharing more information, sharing listening time, answering questions, inviting them to an introductory talk and then a follow-up check-in, and so on. If they don’t know someone well who is in RC, we need to build a trusted relationship, and that can take time.
Watsonville, California, USA
Reprinted from the e-mail discussion list for RC teachers
(Present Time 204, July 2021)