confidence-building
courses 2008

Know yourself! The Fundamentals of Co-Counselling
Handle stress better by developing deeper self-awareness
(five days over three weekends, Autumn 2008)

> Knowing and uncovering your feelings
> Encountering your history
> Self-acceptance
> New perspectives on yourself

• Can you give and take a compliment?
• Can you speak up in a group?
• Can you do things even though they feel risky?
• How do you cope with embarrassment or anger?
• Do you make the most out of your life?
• Can you present yourself with impact?

This five-day course is about helping you find out more about yourself and your feelings. It allows you to explore who you are and what you do with your life, and assess whether you need to change anything.

Why does self-knowledge increase confidence? I think that to have control over my life, and therefore myself, I have to know what I am dealing with inside of myself, ie what makes me tick. This especially means finding out about the things I do that get me into scrapes, or that hold me back, or risk making me disliked. So in order to unlock my own power and potential, I have to find out why I do what I do.

The course makes extensive use of the co-counselling peer-based method for personal growth, which has developed over the last 30 years. It makes use of some of the techniques in Gestalt therapy, psychodrama and process-oriented psychology

Successful completion of this course gives you the choice of accessing the CCI (Co-Counselling International) network and its workshops: it's an option open to you, if you want. CCI residential workshops have for over 20 years provided its participants with a unique and liberating space to grow, play, and to challenge themselves.

> Do you hold back?

If you believe that you are shy, or simply that you find it difficult in groups or with strangers, then the network of CCI residential workshops provides an excellent and unique environment to work on your shyness or holding back over a longer period of time. The beauty of it is that you can choose to do this at your own pace without feeling that you are pushed into anything you are not ready for. I have used this network of events over the last 15 years to challenge myself, and have become more able to 'put myself out there' in a confident way. It's been an indespensible element in my personal development, complementing the other courses, training and individual and group therapy I have done. (CCI residential workshops)

Details:
Dates: Five days over three weekends, Autumn 2008. Please contact me for exact dates.
Venue: Leeds
Cost: £250 per person
Group size: 8 - 12

More about this 3-course programme...

Staying in your 'comfort zone' is easy - you simply operate within the confidence level that you have already developed. As the saying goes: 'if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got'. But, as soon as you want to get involved more actively and creatively with the world and the people in it, you have to face the challenges of relating to others in a more direct way. This means taking risks - at whatever level. The less you can do this, the more difficult it is to handle these situations.

The course is largely experiential, which means that the emphasis is on doing things rather that sitting listening to lectures . There is no written work required, and I supply handouts so that there is no need to write anything down during the session. There will be pairwork, work in three's, and group work. The course is not just verbal - we pay attention to how we use our body and voice.

I hope you're not put off when I say it is necessary to take risks - I think that a useful course for personal development has to allow people to do things at their own pace. I think that such a group or course has to feel safe, so if you choose to do the course you will not be pushed into doing anything you don't want to do. On the other hand, if you sit back and do nothing but watch or go through the motions, you won't get much benefit. Ideally the course will feel both exciting and managable to you. It should also be fun!

Details, prices, booking
Booking form