What is for dinner? How are you doing? What is on your mind. If you are new to Street Prophets please introduce yourself below in a comment. This is an Open Thread / Coffee Hour and all topics of conversation are welcome. For today's suggested topic lets consider Empathy Circles.
An Empathy Circle is a structured dialogue process based on mutual active listening. The process increases constructive dialogue and mutual understanding by ensuring that each person feels fully heard to their satisfaction.
From: https://www.empathycircle.com/what-is-an-empathy-circle
Free Empathy Circle Facilitator Training course on Zoom. Classes start July 6, 2024. Enroll in our training course to learn mutualism, reflective listening, and empathy circle facilitation.
On July 6, 2023 the Empathy Center will be conducting a Facilitator training course on Zoom. The intent of this training is to teach the participant how to organize and conduct Empathy Circles.
The course is experiential and consists of 4 classes taught over 4 consecutive Saturdays. Each class lasts about two and half hours. In addition to attending 4 sessions of 2.5 hours each, there are weekly assignments to complete that may take 1-2 hours. We will also pair you weekly with an empathy buddy to practice empathy.
The only prerequisite is to attend at least two Empathy Circles prior to attending a training. We have recently started a drop-in Empathy Cafe on Thursdays at 6 PM, Pacific Time at https://zoom.us/j/3521266686. By attending this Empathy Cafe one can fulfill the two circle prerequisite.
The Empathy Circle and Facilitator Training fit into a larger vision of a Culture of Empathy: A vision and dream of building a culture based on mutual empathy among all people around the world. The Empathy Circle is a wonderful first step to practice, develop, and increase your deep listening and empathy skills. To sign up or get more information visit:
Jump the fold for a video on Empathy Circles and a little more explanation.
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The video below explains the benefits of the circle and the process to conduct the circle. The circles can be both in person or conducted using video conferencing using Zoom.
Some text about the benefits of Empathy Circles from the transcript of the above video:
Empathy Circle Benefits
- An easy practice to learn and host
- Develops active listening skills
- Each participant is seen, heard, and understood to their satisfaction
- Builds trust
- Supports a team building
- Bridges personal, social & political divides
- Helps head off conflict
- Helps resolve existing conflicts
- Offers emotional support in healing
- It is a foundation for other community building practices
From video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wyKW7Jebgck
Currently, there are about 20 empathy circles being run on zoom per month. One can see the calendar of meetings, focus and topic, times, and join links at this address: