How We Combined The Best Practices To Create The Seven Month Intensive!

One of the things I am passionate about is finding ways to optimize effectiveness for participants. Below I outlined the pros and cons of two approaches to training as a basis for explaining the rationale for the format I chose for this Inner Empathy Intensive.

A lot of training is designed to be implemented on a weekend or week-long format. There are advantages to gathering people for concentrated time periods. Participants often can get a different sense of themselves outside their usual daily-life structures. Gathering with like-hearted people can inspire participants to experience feelings of elation or expansion. There needs that are not met in daily life are fully met. Concentrated time periods also gives participants the opportunity to form deep bonds with each other. Participants also vicariously learn when observing and supporting other people's Inner Empathy inquires.

As inspiring as these weekend or week-long groups can be, there are some drawbacks. In some respects, for many participants, workshop or seminar space can be an artificial environment. Their daily lives don't have the same support structures, deep connections, and needs being considered and met they experience in the workshop or seminar. This is abruptly revealed when participants return to their daily lives and experience a deflation of their expansive energy. All the challenges and relationship triggers that are a part of their daily life are waiting upon their return. The challenge becomes how to integrate what was learned in the workshop or seminar into daily life environment. Transference of experiential insights and skills from workshop or seminar to daily life is not guaranteed. And last, many group formats do not support one-to-one time with the facilitator.

Another approach to group training is to train over time using the phone as the primary means of connecting. Time could be multiple weeks to multiple months. Training over long periods of time allows people to learn and apply new skills to daily life. In effect, our daily life becomes the learning environment.

The advantages to this approach is participants have a chance to work with themselves as they encounter their real life-challenges. Any transformation that occurs is not burdened with being transferred to another environment as is the case with weekend/weeklong format. Extended periods of time also allows for integration of any deep experiential insights. There is more space to navigate some of the disconcertion that may arise with transformation. There is also the advantage of staying connected with a supportive group of people over a long period of time.

Some of the drawbacks to group training over time is that some people have trouble deeply connecting to others without the face-to-face contact. Also, brief periods of gathering as a group over the phone doesn't engender that same level of connection as a weekend workshop/seminar can.

Another drawback is the same level of expansion and freedom that occurs in weekend or weeklong programs may not be experienced. Thus, the participant will not have an experiential reference point for what is possible when their daily life is transformed. And again, many phone group formats do not support one-to-one time with the facilitator.

When I designed the Inner Empathy program, I combined the advantages of each approach in order to optimize effectiveness. Two three-day programs combined with 14 group phone sessions and 24 practice sessions with other group members, allows for participants to both form deep bonds and experience the stability and support of like-hearted people over seven months. People will experience the expansion and freedom of being outside their daily life structures and be able to take this inspiration into their daily life practice over seven months with the full support of the group and facilitator. It is powerful for participants to work directly with their daily-life relationships.

The personalized support with a facilitator is also designed into the program with 7 private Inner Empathy sessions. This gives participants the opportunity to be competently guided to work on the deep level to disclose deep disowned feelings and needs. Some of these deeper aspects are challenging to access without support.

The course design is the most compassionate and safe way to penetrate the deeper layers of our inner world. Half of the challenge of going deep is to do so in a way so that our protective structures are not intensely activated and prevent connection with deeper aspects of ourselves. The format gives participants time and space to engage in deeper aspects of themselves and to integrate these intense energies into their lives with the full support of the group and facilitator. This blended learning approach is innovative and effective.

 

 

 

 

• 14 Group Phone Sessions (small groups of eight on the phone)