More about Being Raised with RC
My parents got involved and were active in RC before I was born. I remember having one-way sessions with them as a young child when I was upset, and I remember their having sessions with other people at our house.
I may have attended one or two workshops as a baby, but I don’t remember them. I went to some playdays as a child and some gather-ins as a teenager. I didn’t take a fundamentals class or start doing two-way Co-Counseling until I was in my twenties. When I did take a class, it felt natural to me since I had been raised with much of the theory.
I have an older sibling who was raised like me. She has never been active in RC. However, she agrees with much of the theory, and as a parent she uses it (for example, that discharge is good) in raising her children.
My parents gently encouraged me as a teenager to do some RC. I did a little but didn’t really feel the need for it. I felt like I had enough support from them and others, and I was happy and busy with other things. My parents didn’t push me, which I appreciated. In my twenties, after college, I started struggling. It was the first time I couldn’t stay ahead of the oppressions, and I realized I needed more support. That’s when I turned to RC. Having an RC Community and Co-Counseling sessions was so helpful.
Organized RC may not feel “natural,” but it’s an efficient way to achieve discharge. That may be more important for me as a man because of male oppression, which can make it hard to discharge in non-RC settings. I’m glad to have the structured opportunities to discharge.
I think that RC as an organization gets a lot of things right. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it offers much better thinking about many things than other organizations I’ve found.
I’m less active with RC since I became a parent. I am still figuring out how to make it work while being a parent.
USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders of parents
(Present Time 208, July 2022)