Group Facilitation

Frances McDonnell
March 15/16th and April 5/6th 2014

Congruence, positive regard and empathy are the carefully researched conditions that facilitate the unwavering capacity for positive human growth, that Rogers called the actualising tendency. They strongly influence the trust, openness, fluidity and individual freedom that are characteristics of a creative community. (Natiello 2001).

Given these facilitative conditions a group will discover for itself what kinds of attitudes and behaviours it is willing to accommodate. It will set its own boundaries and be trusted to negotiate a way of operating that suits the group as a whole and the individuals within.

As facilitators we need to trust the group and each individual in the group to find their own solutions and direction. A Person- Centred facilitator aims to be non directive, and may offer a high degree of structure to a group.

Tudor and Merry (2002) describe the characteristics of an affective facilitator in terms of attitude, being genuinely free of a desire to control; in terms of belief, respecting the group to deal with its own problems; and in terms of skills, skills in releasing individual expression.

One way of seeing a group is to see it as an organism.

Rogers describes the best facilitator in the words of the Chinese philosopher Lao Tse

A leader is best:
When people barely know he exits,
Not so good when people obey and proclaim him,
Worse when they despise him,
But of a good leader, who talks little,
When his work is done his aim fulfilled,
They will say “we did this ourselves”

Who is this for?

  •  This course is for anyone working or who wants to work in a group setting.
  •  It is for those who are interested in learning more about themselves in relation to living or being in a family, group or community setting.
  •  It is for those wanting to learn more about facilitation and of the creativity that can evolve.
  • How can we be fully present in the facilitative relationship?

A statement of learning will be required on the last afternoon. This will not need to be written.

 There will be a certificate of completion.

Dates: The course is run over two weekends March 15/16th and April 5/6th 2014
Cost:  Fully waged £200             Part waged £160.00           Unwaged £120.00

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