Level i: Open The Circle

Level One is a 28-hour virtual or in-person Facilitation training that lays the foundation for circle creation and communication. It is an opportunity to learn from the ground up how to start and run a Teen Talking Circle in your community, school, or youth serving organization. 

You will learn the principles, history and guiding values undergirding our philosophy and mission. You’ll gain an understanding of how to establish a circle, interest participants, and teach the basic processes and skills.

The basic training is designed to be deeply experiential and concretely educational. Through sharing your story about your own teen years you’ll identify the issues and challenges you still carry from them that would affect your role as a facilitator.

You will learn how to create safe space, set agreements, and model effective speaking and listening practices that nurture compassion, acceptance, understanding, introspection, conflict resolution and so many other necessities needed for thriving relationships. You’ll understand the value of role modeling important human skills, such as being able to sit in the fire of discomfort, explore the shadow side of ourselves, and celebrate our gifts and challenges. Through this process, you will hone your intuitive skills as well as your leadership skills.

By understanding and practicing the latest in the field of human development, you will strengthen your competency at holding the kind of transformational space which is healing and essential for young people to expand their perspectives, nurture their self-esteem, and create healthy relationships, as well as inspire them to realize their path to fully realizing their gifts, strengths, and capacities as human beings.

Level ii : Deepen the Circle

Level Two allows you to take the practices you’ve learned in Level One to a much deeper level of personal growth.

Over the past twenty-six years of running teen circles and facilitator trainings, we have learned that in order to successfully lead a teen circle, an adult facilitator needs to do their own work. Getting unstuck from systemic paradigms that affect our capacities to create evolutionary relationships and express our full humanity changes our lives. This takes courage and work to shift our consciousness and behavior. In Level Two, we delve deeply inside ourselves.

A teenager will only go as far as the facilitator can go in terms of listening and holding whatever they are going through. By doing your own work on the issues you carry from your own teen years, you become an effective facilitator.

We all need to practice the skills we teach in teen talking circles — compassionate listening, reflection, presence, the ability to “sit in the fire,” be real, tell the truth, and resource our capacities that foster thriving and sustainable relationships.

All of us are in the same boat, teens and adults alike — we all live in the same world with the same meta issues. We all have to do our own work in order to walk our talk.

The Level Two Training is the place we get to do the work we must do in order to be that kind of adult in the world. 

After both the Level One and Level Two training you will be paired with a member of your training cohort for continued support and practice.

Complete the Circle : Become a Trainer

Looking for more ways to enrich your community and bring more Circles to the world? Become a Trainer with TTC through our “Complete the Circle” Training program.

The CTC Program is a one year intensive for seasoned circle facilitators looking to join the TTC organization as independently hired TTC Facilitator Training Leaders. Upon completion, graduates will be able to confidently lead Teen Talking Circle Level I trainings anywhere in the world.

Qualifying candidates work closely with our leadership to delve deeply into the advanced repertoire of TTC methodology, expanding upon the teachings of Lvl I & II, while nurturing self-confidence and leadership skills.

If you are currently a TTC trained facilitator and have a minimum one year running Circles, contact us to apply to be part of the 2022 “Complete the Circle” Trainer Program!