Do you find that people naturally gravitate to you seeking solace? Do people tell you how supported they feel by your presence? Do you have a flair for listening? This course is an opportunity to refine this affinity with greater attunement and skill to be of benefit to others.
The course is a unique one following a mindfulness based approach and focusing on the inner listening paradigm. The course is experiential and practical with just sufficient theory to supplement an experiential understanding of what it means to hold space for another. To be there for another, we need to encounter ourselves deeply and so the course design includes self-reflection, engagement in non-sectarian mindfulness practices, personal sessions with experienced counsellors/listeners and peer sessions. Inner listening and self-care are key components of the course.
Spread over a year, it involves a mix of in-person and online sessions. The in-person sessions will be held at the Just Being Center, Pune three days in a month that includes a weekend. The first three months involve three day sessions once a month, thereafter we alternate every month, between once a month three day sessions and two day online sessions. The online sessions will be more for group supervision, sharing and feedback.
We also have a fully online pathway that can be taken by participants.
Course Dates :
Module 1 : August 6 to 8, 2021
Module 2 : September 3 to 5, 2021
Module 3 : October 1 to 3, 2021
Online Supervision: November 20 and 21, 2021
Module 4: December 10 to 12, 2021
Online Supervision: January 15 and 16, 2022
Module 5: February 4 to 6, 2022
Online Supervision: March 5 and 6, 2022
Module 6: April 1 to 3, 2022
Evaluation: 26th June, 2022
Rs 45000 plus 18% GST (additional fees for personal counselling sessions and for missed sessions).
There is no requirement of any specific qualification or background, just a willing heart. At the end of the course you can offer listening and/or counselling sessions (if you have a psychology background) to benefit the community either on an individual basis or as a part of the organisation. This course is also suitable for those already in the field of counselling.
Course Highlights:
- Practical & Experiential
- Personal Work & Mindfulness practice
- Basic theory of counselling
- 600 hours of coursework
- Individual and group supervision from experts
- A mix of in-person and online sessions
- A total of 25 credits awarded at the completion of the course
- Group work
During the course, participants learn:
- To be attentive
- To what is going on within themselves,
- With the person who’s talking to them
- And in the listening space
- To authentically respond to what they are paying attention to in a way that is supportive to the client’s process.
- To draw the attention of the speaker to their own inner process such that an inherent wisdom and wholeness is uncovered
- To remain open and inviting in the face of whatever is encountered and meet people with an open, warm heart of love, grounded and centered.
- To deeply attune to in the moment processes as well as orient in wholeness and basic goodness.
- To include body awareness and somatic resonance.
The training is in paying attention moment to moment to various layers and dimensions within oneself, the other, the relational field and the larger field of awareness and to respond and support from an attentive and attuned space. Participants learn to engage in this process that is fluid, dynamic, present, supportive and empowering.
Participants would also learn to know when there might be a need for some specialized help and respond accordingly.
The in person sessions will be supplemented by the online supervision sessions. Participants are required to receive and offer counselling sessions in between the in-person sessions, thereby adding dimensions to the listening process as they go along. They will receive feedback on their work during the online supervision sessions as well as on their submitted reports (that includes written and audio recorded sessions).
Course work:
The course work is about 600 hours that includes in person training sessions at the Center, mindfulness practices, online supervision sessions, personal counselling sessions, peer exchanges, conducting individual and group sessions.
Attendance and completion requirements:
Participants need to attend all sessions. In case sessions are missed, it will need to be covered up with a trainer either in person or online at an additional fee. In addition to attending in person and online group supervision, participants are required to complete the following as part of the coursework:
- 300 hours of mindfulness practice
- 6 personal counselling sessions with recommended counsellors and listeners
- Conduct 30 individual counselling sessions with others
- Conduct 20 individual sessions with peers
- Conduct four two hour group sessions, one of which is conducted in class with peers and three other sessions in other organizations and groups
Diploma will be granted only if all course completion criteria is met. Those without a psychology or social work background will be certified in Mindfulness Based Listening with Embodied Presence. Those with a psychology or social work background will be certified in Mindfulness Based Counseling : Listening with Embodied Presence
Sandy Dias Andrade
Lead facilitator and designer of the course
A gifted psychotherapist, trainer and workshop leader with 19 years of experience in the field, she has primarily trained in Mindfulness based interventions like Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Integral Somatic Psychotherapy (ISP), Biodynamic CranioSacral Therapy (BSCT), Focusing Skills Certification and is equipped in skills in cognitive, affective, somatic works as well as trauma resolution.
Sandy Dias Andrade is a psychotherapist in mindfulness and presence and founder director of Just Being, Pune. She is also a trustee at Connecting, an NGO involved in suicide prevention work. She was responsible for initiating the helpline service and has trained and mentored over hundred volunteers in ‘Mindfulness Based Active Listening’ as well as mentored other organisations and individuals in setting up listening systems.
Dr Jaya Rajagopalan
Supporting Faculty: Head of Department of Psychology, St. Mira’s College for Girls, Pune.
She has actively designed courses to advance students’ understanding of psychology as a profession, designed curriculums for undergraduate programs with psychology as a specialization, taught varied psychology courses for undergraduate levels, including psychopathology, research methodology and counselling psychology. She is also responsible for developing several volunteering programs that were very popular with the community and students. Served as representative to the community outreach team for various mental health interventions. She is also a coordinator of the Internal Quality assurance cell and is instrumental in launching a very successful mental wellbeing program for students.
Harini Raval
Assistant Facilitator: Mindfulness and Presence based counselor, Educationist, Social Work specialization
Harini has done MSW, and holds a Ph.D. in Education. She is working with the Centre for Learning Resources to strengthen educational leadership. She has been associated with Just Being for about three years. There she completed the course in Mindfulness Based Counseling and is currently pursuing the Presence Oriented Psychotherapy course. She has been holding listening spaces ever since. She is a counselor with Just Being Center’s Counseling Services and a facilitator for it’s social, school and mindfulness programs.
Vipul Shaha
Assistant Facilitator: Mindfulness and Presence Based Counselor, Educator
Vipul holds a master’s degree in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard. He is also a certified counselor in Mindfulness Based Counseling : Listening with Embodied Presence from Just Being Center, where he offers counseling services and a facilitator for the Center’s social and school projects. He is currently pursuing a PG Diploma course in Presence Oriented Psychotherapy.
Kasturi Mukherjee
Assistant Facilitator: Mindfulness and Presence Based Counselor, Visual Art based therapist
Kasturi is a well experienced art-based therapist who has trained under experts in the visual art therapy field in India and UK and is also certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner. In the past, she had successfully founded and run a process-based art program for children, for over two years, in Pune. She has completed the certificate course in Mindfulness Based Counselling: Listening with Embodied Presence she has been part of Just Being’s Training and Corporate programs. She is currently pursuing a PG Diploma in Presence Oriented Psychotherapy course.
