Local Leaders | Wellbeing: Imagine a circle of care and healing

Can you imagine what it would be like for our children to grow up in a society that doesn't shun the big, common, beautiful and traumatic situations that they will experience as they grow? What could we achieve as a society if we were all welcome to be our whole, messy, selves in supported, therapeutic spaces that facilitated healing and growth?

This is the world promoted by circling.

Circles are organised, supportive spaces for people to meet in groups, to share and heal together. Circles usually involve discussions and therapeutic processes to encourage self expression and personal growth.

If we were to leave a group of people together, talking in a room, they could end up anywhere! The best circles are facilitated by qualified leaders with experience in working therapeutically with groups. Circles are differentiated from a girls' or boys' night out by intention. Some circles will have a theme, or a focus. Some will be designed for particular groups of people, such as a women's circle, men's circle or healing circle. Circles usually have a clear start, intentional content, reflective discussion and closure.

Meeting in a circle has the symbolism of being without hierarchy. Everyone is equal in a circle. A skilled facilitator ensures that the circle has form and structure, allowing the work of being together to flow, and the focus held securely.

Red Tent is a modern day movement that shares it's roots with the Suffragettes, second wave feminism and all the places women have been meeting together since the beginning of time. Red Tent Women's Circles are characterised by the safe and supported space mentioned above, that has also been decorated with luscious red drapery. Women's circles don't actually require decoration, yet it does make it feel all the more juicy! The most important requirement of a Women's Circle is that the participants feel safe and have a willingness to be there.

At a Red Tent, specific themes for discussion may include health and wellness, motherhood, menstruation, parenting, marriage, life hopes and dreams, and any other condition of being human.

In recent years, the men's movement has worked to deliver a similar phenomenon of circling to support men to discuss themes of masculinity, fatherhood, mental health, growing up, and all the other conditions of being a man in the modern world. Men who attend circles have decided to invest in their own personal growth. They are usually encouraged to drop the bravado of everyday life, and practise a new, authentic way of talking to one another.

The choice to attend a facilitated circle often comes from a desire for an increased quality of life. Circles provide an environment where you may explore who you are, and gain wisdom from other people just like you. Everyone has a story, and when supported to share, individual experience can be a powerful teacher for all.