This page has all the current info, including content, schedule, fees, and application procedure. (Some other pages are still being updated.)

THERE ARE SPACES AVAILABLE IN A NEW SMALL GROUP STARTING JANUARY 2021 (via Zoom).

Pathways of Transformation

4-Tiered Program

Learning and Implementing a Set of Powerful Skills for:

1. Personal Transformation

Healing Journey and Transformational Unfolding of Core Being

2. Transformational Relationship

Win-Win Conflict Resolution, Healing the Past, and Relationship Strengthening

3. Transformational Community

Building a Supportive Mutual-Help Network with Basic Helping Skills

4. Transformational Counselling

Guiding Others’ In-Depth Healing and Transformational Journey

Contact Barbara Forest, PhD, at coordinator@lifespace.ca for a personal Program Orientation.

Hands-on training in transformational psychotherapy skills.
Note: the term “counselling” also denotes psychotherapy, throughout.

Tier 1: Personal Transformation

  • A Journey of Personal Healing and Transformation.
  • Personal Empowerment: learning how to guide your own self and to take the transformational processes into your daily life.
  • Processes Learned:
    • Processes that deeply touch you inside, bringing you more Aliveness and Wholeness—and Oneness with the beauty of your Core Self.
    • Being more in touch with your ongoing intuitive wisdom: listening within.
    • You are the expert on you: finding the answers to life that fit you.
    • Transforming the limiting beliefs that cripple your life.
    • Resolving inner conflicts; e.g., transforming the critical inner Judge into a Protector.
    • Healing the past.

Tier 2: Transformational Relationship

  • Relationship as a vehicle for healing and the ongoing deepening of love.
  • Processes Learned:
    • Communication and win-win conflict resolution skills.
    • Strength realization on both individual and relationship levels.
    • Healing the wounds from the past, triggered by relationship.
    • Applying these skills to your own relationships.
    • Keeping fresh, alive, connected, and in love!

Tier 3: Transformational Community

  • Empowered community: the basic helping processes (such as, respectful listening) are skills that belong to everyone. They are also the foundation of a satisfying life—deeply connected within yourself and in your relationships.
  • Forming a Mutual-Help Network with real skills to help each other through the ongoing challenges of life. Plus, supporting each other’s continuously deepening personal growth. (We are working with some community groups regarding this.)
  • Our motto: learning skills to help yourself and to help others help themselves.
  • Processes Learned (for a Certificate in Basic Counselling/Psychotherapy Skills): Basic helping skills:
    • Building an Inner Resource Base; Presence
    • Empathic listening, respect, and constructive authenticity
    • Facilitating the inner journey of connected self-realization, wholeness, and action
    • Win-win conflict resolution skills

Tier 4: Transformational Counselling/Psychotherapy Skills

  • Deepening competence with the personal transformation skills, to guide a deeply healing and transformational journey for someone else.
  • Additional practice and supervision would be involved (for a Certificate in Advanced Transformational Counselling/Psychotherapy Skills).
  • The community Mutual-Help Network would be available as facilitative listeners for the ongoing life challenges and crises. Transformational Counsellors would then have their time freed up to do any needed additional in-depth therapeutic work.

TEACHING METHOD

The atmosphere is warm, non-judgmental, and encouraging. Our own personal work is an integral part of the process—learning how to help oneself, as well as others. We travel together—growing and healing—discovering a deepening and expanding wholeness. The person-centred empathic foundation of the program is also highly supportive of diversity and multiculturalism.

The focus is hands-on skills attainment, including step-by-step training manuals, demonstrations, supervised practice, and specific feedback. The processes to be learned are clearly spelled out.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE: NEW SMALL GROUP PLAN

Note: the term “counselling” also denotes psychotherapy.

In the past, the Lifespace Transformational Counsellor Training Program was taught in large groups and spanned 2 years. This meant that people could only enter the Program every 2 years.

Now, it is being taught in small groups that can start whenever a small group of people (or even just one person) is ready to begin. (As long as Barbara Forest has time available.)

 Working in these small groups means that there is:

  • A lot of in-depth personal attention: 1-to-1 personal psychotherapy sessions and coached practice.
  • Streamlined intensive training.
  • Focus on practical hands-on work (students come well prepared).
  • Flexible start time: you can start anytime in the year, instead of having to wait 2 years.
  • Flexible end time: the small group can determine how frequently they would like to have classes, and hence finish much sooner than in two years.

The ideal gathering is if there are at least 4 people in the group, so that you will have fellow classmates to practice with. However, the Training is structured so that a group can even consist of just one person.

THERE ARE SPACES AVAILABLE IN A NEW SMALL GROUP STARTING JANUARY 2021 (via Zoom).

 Here is how it will work:

COURSE STRUCTURE

A. Preparation: Students are expected to be well prepared for class, so that we can streamline the # hours, and hence keep costs down. We want to spend most of our time doing practical hands-on work (receiving counselling and doing coached facilitation of others). Preparation consists of:

  1. Studying the key readings, especially the Lifespace Training Manual/Handbook, before class. Study the Training Manual/Handbook again after each class (having now experienced it).
  2. Giving yourself 2 personal sessions between each class, taking yourself through the transformational steps learned. (An extremely valuable aspect of each course is that you are learning how to facilitate yourself!)
  3. Having a 2-way practice counselling session (a “dyad) with a fellow student, if others are available for that.
  4. Coming to class ready with the reference notes for the steps under study: You come prepared to be coached through facilitating someone else; i.e., you are familiar with where the steps are laid out in the chapter or (even better) have made your own reminder notes. (Bring your Training Manual/Handbook to class, for reference.)
  5. Coming on time to class to make best use of our time.

B. Teaching Format:

  1. Brief initial group resourcing.
  2. Quick overview of the steps under study and their purpose. (To give you a map for what we are about to do. Your reading will also have prepared you.)
  3. Demo: Barbara Forest facilitates a student through the process steps, section by section (showing the steps before talking about them in detail).
  4. Process Steps Explained: After each section, the steps shown are summarized and any questions are clarified. (The steps are taught here, in more detail, after they have been experienced.)
  5. Practice: Then Barbara coaches a student in the facilitation of another student through that part of the process. (If there is only 1 student in the group, then s/he would facilitate Barbara, who would also act as the Coach.)
  6. Steps c, d, and e are repeated, breaking down the process under study into digestible segments, as much as is feasible.
  7. Sometimes, Barbara will facilitate the whole group at once through an experience.

C. Class Size and Duration

  • Each course has 4 class sessions, of varying duration depending on the number of students.
    • For 5-6 students: 5½-hour classes (including two half-hour breaks).
    • For 3-4 students: 4-hour classes (including one half-hour break).
    • For 1-2 students: 3-hour classes (including one half-hour break).

D. Class Frequency: The small group will determine their frequency of class meetings depending upon the time they will need to complete their preparation commitment. (For example, if you had a class once a month, you could finish all 4 courses in 1 year and 4 months.)
Class dates and holidays will be arranged to accommodate everyone’s schedule.

E. Tuition Fee per course: $1920, plus a one time materials fee of $50. All tuition fees are income tax deductible and HST exempt, since Lifespace is certified with Human Resources & Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) as an Educational Institution.
If you would like additional personal psychotherapy sessions (which would include more training in the skills), these would be at Barbara Forest’s discounted Lifespace student rate of $150/hour. (Her regular fee is a sliding scale of $180-280/hour.)
Skills Consultations with Barbara (playing recordings of you counselling someone, using the skills) are also at the discounted Lifespace student rate of $150/hour. (Required for the Certificates.)

F. Requirements for Entry: These are Professional Development courses. You need to have had some prior experience in counselling/ Human Relations / psychotherapy processes. Students come from all walks of life, and we are all involved in doing deep personal healing work. You also need to be at a level of personal development where you are ready to learn to counsel someone else, as well as doing your own inner work.

  1. If you do not have much prior experience, or would like to do some personal healing first, you can prepare for the classes by having private transformational psychotherapy sessions with Barbara (which would include training in the skills).
  2. Before starting the courses, you are asked to have a 1.5-hour private session with Barbara (at the discounted Lifespace student rate of $150/hour). This experience gets you flowing with the processes and is a way of ensuring that these are a fit for you.

G. Advanced Students or Graduates, who have taken the course before, might join to refresh their skills and to act as support and experienced home practice partners. However, the new students would take priority in the class for the sessions and coached practice.

H. Class Location: During the pandemic we will have group classes via Zoom and 1-to-1 classes via telephone. When it is safe to do so, we can meet in person in the West end of Toronto, ON, Canada, unless someone has joined from out-of-town and needs us to keep the Zoom/telephone format.

I. If You have to Miss a Class:

  1. 1-to-1 classes can be re-scheduled. Please give at least 48 hours notice—more, if possible.
  2. Group classes will be recorded, and can be listened to if you unavoidably have to miss a class.
    Please give at least 48 hours notice—more, if possible.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

  • Discussing your background and goals with Barbara Forest to ensure a fit. To set up a time, contact her via coordinator@lifespace.ca. (Includes a Program Orientation.)
  • Having a private psychotherapy session with Barbara Forest (at her discounted Lifespace student rate) to experience personally the transformational processes.