Co-Counselling International (UK)

Starting A Co-Counselling Community

Julian Briggs August 1998

Based on an article by Liz Duff, Published in the CCI (USA) newsletter Openings II. (Collective wisdom and experience in building a Co-Counselling Community on the North Shore of Massachusetts.)

So: You want to build a community. You're out there all alone, a sole co-counsellor. What can you do?

  1. Find other co-counsellors in your area
  2. Teach someone yourself, one to one
  3. Organise a fundamentals class
  4. Train as a co-counselling teacher
  5. Join a Re-Evaluation (RC) Co-Counselling class

Find other co-counsellors in your area

The CCI Contact Persons (UK or world) can help you find co-counsellors near you.

Teach someone yourself, one to one

An under-used, easily accessible way in to co-counselling.

There are several co-counselling manuals and guides to teaching co-counselling one to one.

Teaching Co-Counselling One-to-One

by Richard Goldsbrough (originally published in the New Zealand Co-Counselling Newsletter)

Teaching one-to-one should be encouraged as an honourable enterprise for any co-co. Indeed I find that I learn best what I teach. So I see no problem with two people embarking on a joint enquiry into what works well for them as they apply co-co techniques and theory to resolving their issues. There is no reason why such an enquiry should stop at that which was learnt on the Basics Course. There is no reason why the enquiry should include all that was learnt on the Basics Course. I doubt if I would tread on many toes to suggest the co-co is not a closed subject set in concrete. Hopefully it is a launching pad for personal growth and emerging emotional competence. However, to be co-co there are a few non-negotiable principles and practices which are dealt with in detail in the next section but the most important must be:

  1. the client is in-charge,
  2. confidentiality,
  3. equal time.
So all power to those courageous (or desperate) enough to teach a friend or colleague to co-counsel.

Supposing your friend then wishes to join the network. In CCI we expect that a network member has had 40 hours of co-counselling training with an accredited teacher. I also expect that any network member will know:

anything else?

How could I be sure someone who has done a one-to-one enquiry will have those skills and understandings? Obviously the surest way is for your friend to do a Basics Course and I don't see a problem of asking for a place as a retrainee paying half. If you are an accredited teacher I'm likely to accept that all these bases have been covered. Another possibility we may like to explore is for your friend to have sessions with 2 or 3 other network members. If 3 people in the network agree that your friend is a co-co then I am likely to feel comfortable with their presence in the network. These are my personal thoughts and are not policy (whatever that is). What do you think?

Organise a fundamentals class

Organise a fundamentals class run by a co-counselling teacher, the co-counselling contacts (UK and world) may be able to help you find a teacher. You find a venue, promote and administer the class. Plan well in advance to give yourself time to find a venue, to get publicity out early and to give the teacher and participants plenty of notice.

Marketing Suggestions:

People have found the following places to be good locations to post flyers:

Who can assist you in marketing co-counselling

Many alternative health professionals refer people. "I have found my chiropractor, and other professionals willing to post flyers in their office. I have found a whole health center willing to give me their guest book mailing list. I have found greatest response when I made an announcement in my church, and was available afterwards to answer questions. " Liz Duff.

Consider what the needs of participants may be

Offer more basic personal growth work, classes etc

Things like assertiveness training, stress management or counselling skills, particularly whatever is 'flavour of the month'. John Talbut.

At the moment in this country you can enroll any amount of people on basic counselling skills classes. Or you could run introduction to co-counselling classes (i.e. pre-fundamentals) and call them some 'flavour of the month' name." John Talbut .

Consider offering a Pre-Fundamentals Class: Suggestions for a 'pre-fundamentals' class: Working in a group with ground rules Basic listening, Free attention, Not reassuring I would be hoping to get participants to realise the value of working with discharge, possibly mainly through free attention sessions and then feedback and discussion in the group. John Talbut.

"In Our Own Hands" by Sheila Ernst and Lucy Goodison (ISBN 0-7043-3841-6) has some suggestions for incorporating co-counselling into non/not yet co-counselling groups.

Once you have some contacts, consider practicing the following: The Art and Practice of Telephone Enrollment Compiled and written by Pam MacDonald, based on conversations with Judy Hartling, Cathy Sargent, and Carol Driscoll, edited and added to by Fred Wallace:

  • Do some deep thinking about why you want this person in particular to participate in the workshop (class). Think selfishly. Speak from the heart. Be honest.
  • Listen to where they are in their life. Will the workshop be useful to them? Tell them what you think. If you see that it is not what they need, say so.
  • If they want the time to think about it, that's fine! Tell them when you plan to call them back, ask them "Is that OK?"
  • Don't be concerned about the numbers. Be aware of them, but think about the dynamic. Who do you want to have there? Who do you want to connect with? Who is interested in the topic? Who wants it?
  • Set time aside for making the calls. Make hours of calling your goal, not numbers of participants. The numbers will come when you connect with the person and the topic.
  • Record your side of the conversation so that you can listen afterwards.
  • Write a page or 1/2 page about the specific person.
    1. Why you want them there.
    2. What you want out of the enrollment conversation.
  • Write what the workshop is about. Specifically in relation to your next call if possible.
  • Always ask the person if they can think of anyone who might be interested. Get as many people involved in the enrollment process as possible.
  • If you are doing cold calling: because you have recently moved:
    1. Attend various workshops in your area. You might be able to get a list of attendants, and then have people to call.
    2. Think about why you want anyone involved in a co-counselling class, and what you get out of it personally. Ask a question at the beginning of the conversation to feel them out. Write up what you want to say, and adapt it as you get more comfortable with it.

    Train as a co-counselling teacher

    In the UK, intensive teacher training workshops are offered. Members of CCI-USA are discussing the possibility of creating a teacher training workshop. See: co-counselling teachers manuals.

    Join a Re-Evaluation (RC) Co-Counselling class

    You may find local RC co-counsellors (and communities) in your area.

    Co-counselling with an RC co-counsellor will give you equal paired time, and the opportunity for discharge, however many basic assumptions are different. In particular, the counsellor is generally more in charge of a session than the client. For example, a client is instructed in RC, to "take your counsellor's direction (try 4 times) " to "work for re-emergence." whereas, in CCI, a client is instructed to simply ignore any intervention that the client wants to ignore.

    My experience with participating in an RC class leads me to share the following information: I was initially welcomed into an RC class, with the teacher's and area reference person's (ARP) awareness of my CCI roots. After a few months in the class, I was asked to make a decision: to choose between RC and CCI. According to the teacher and ARP, I could not do both. I informed them that I was not willing to make the choice. I would continue to co-counsel with anyone from either community who chose to co-counsel with me. They then informed my regular co-counselling (RC trained) partner who chose to continue co-counselling with me that he was no longer welcome in the RC community I have heard of people who keep connections in both communities, by keeping quiet about their CCI affiliations. Liz Duff

    CCI founders split from RC in the early 1970's. Many differences have evolved since the split.

    Building and Strengthening a Co-counselling Community

    See also: Community Building.
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