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Learn how to give peer support for small groups with a focus on mental wellbeing

Training for Empowerment
in Peer Groups

We will enable convenors of peer support groups to empower their group members, both individually and collectively, to become more capable and willing to engage with their communities. Based on outputs from the Hosting Empowerment project, we are developing an education program for those working with such groups: coach training, primarily for volunteers, as well as trainer training for professionals. The Trainer Training program will enable professional trainers to design and deliver the Coach Training program, thus creating capacity to continue to train more coaches.

Barefoot Coaching is a way to offer peer support from a “coaching approach”. So this is not a professional coach training. It is aimed at offering peer support, assuming that the members of the group are creative, resourceful, and in charge of their own decisions. Barefoot Coaching is not about offering advice or even imposing a preordained structure, but about holding space for self exploration and insight.

What is it about?

Learn how to give peer support for small groups with a focus on mental wellbeing, using the Innertopia booklet as working material. The booklet consists of a set of practical exercises to promote self exploration and empowerment, starting from the participants’ own situations. The exercises are organised in three stages, well backed by science: Clarity, Confidence, Making it real.

The main work will be conducted in English. However, the Innertopia booklet on which the work is based has been published not only in English but also in 10 other languages, and it is anticipated that some participants in Trainer Training programs will go on to deliver courses in one or more of those languages.

* We are offering two versions of pilot training as part of the Barefoot Coaching project: one face-to-face, in Amsterdam, 20-24 May, and one online.

* For each of these pilots, we will offer two-tier training: you can train as a Barefoot Coach; or if you are an experienced educator you can choose to train as a Barefoot Coach trainer.

What does it cost?

There is no fee, since this is part of an EU Erasmus+ funded project.

Our ambition is that after the end of the project, these courses will continue to be offered (for a market-appropriate fee). This is the only planned subsidised opportunity.

If you can cover your own travel expenses for the event in Amsterdam, that’s excellent. If not, we have a limited budget to subsidise travel and accommodation expenses to a maximum set by the EU depending on the distance travelled.

GDPR:

Any personal information will only be used for purposes related to the workshop. This information will be kept confidential and will not be shared with any third party, fully in accordance to the General Data Protection Regulation – GDPR (European Parliament and Council of the European Union – Regulation (EU2016/679), https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj