The Healing Parents Course
Participant guidelines
The following guidelines are meant to promote a mutually supportive experience for all course participants, and to provide you with some clarity around expectations for our time together.
Listening.
Embodied listening is a central practice of conscious parenting. As we are learning to do this with our children, we also practice providing warm, full and present listening with each other. At the end of each class, participants will be invited to share reflections and/or questions. Whenever anyone shares during this time, please provide your full listening if you are present on the call. If you need to step away from your computer at any time during the call, this is totally fine. However, if you are present with your camera on, please try and give your full listening to other participants during this sharing portion of the class.
Privacy.
Your privacy, and everyone’s, is of utmost importance. Class calls and events provide opportunities for sharing. Anything shared within all community sharing spaces should not be discussed outside of the space, even between fellow community members. Please find a private physical space for connecting to the calls, to ensure that your sharing and others’ is only witnessed by the group. All course participants will sign a contract that includes a confidentiality section.
Referring.
When others share their experiences with the group, we practice refraining from referring to what they shared. If something that you heard someone mention resonates for you, you can thank them, use supportive emojis on zoom, and my favorite–send them a loving and affirming nod with warm eye contact. You are welcome to piggy-back on another’s question, as well as let them know that it was helpful for you that they asked it. I will cover this live with a few examples, on the first course call.
Attendance and punctuality.
Attendance and punctuality are not mandatory for calls. Generally the shared trust of a group is strengthened by everyone showing up as consistently as possible, and in this regard, attendance and punctuality are encouraged in order for you and everyone to get the most out of every call. If you are unable to attend the entire call but are able to participate por any portion, please do log on.
Cameras.
I welcome you to attend the calls with your camera turned on. I have seen parents lying down, cooking, folding laundry, etc. during calls, and this is totally fine! However, if you prefer to have your camera off, this is okay too. If you need to turn your camera off during the call, try to avoid doing so while another community member is sharing, as this can provide a distraction for them.
Course calls are not appropriate for your children.
There are some concepts that are covered in the course, as well as examples or feelings shared by myself or other participants, that young children should be protected from. Also, some of the course topics can bring up unexpected feelings for participants. If you have a nursing baby, please do come to the calls, and feel free to step out as necessary if you feel that any point it is too much to listen to, express or experience for you or your child. Children coming in during calls to ask for something or take a peek at the camera is a natural, sweet and common experience. I trust each parent to find a way to help your child back to a safe distance from the contents of the call. Headphones can be a great option for this!
Remain open.
In addition to parenting tools, we may be exploring diverse healing, philosophical, political and mystical practices and concepts. I invite you to keep an open mind and heart, while taking what resonates and leaving the rest.
Financial commitment.
The pricing policy for all Healing Parents offerings is based on fairness, reciprocity and accessibility.
Your regular payment is necessary for the ongoing support that the space provides, whether you are able to attend every meeting or not.
Parents experiencing significant financial struggles and who feel committed to doing the work in this community, can apply for scholarships. Your presence here is not only welcomed, but valuable to the other parents. Finances should not be the only limitation to anybody’s participation.
Finally, parents who have a little extra to spare, sometimes support others’ whose participation relies on scholarships. Invitations from me to contribute to financial relief for another parent, will be explicitly stated as such, and will never be automatically included in the basic cost of any of my offerings.