Date:  Friday 16 October 2020                               Time:  10am                                  Length:      2 hour
Date:  Wednesday 21 October 2020                    Time:  2pm                                  Length:      2 hour
(This session is being run for a second time as the first one has booked out).

Presenter/s
Jen Barrkman and Kris Plowman

This session is designed for:
Emerging facilitators                      Still developing                   Wisdom Keeper                  Everyone

Will this session be recorded?                               No

Important to note:
This session can only have a maximum of 12 attendees.  The session is being run twice – both sessions will be the same content, you do not need to attend both.

Session Outline

Listening is an art. A gift. A space where we open ourselves to others. A place where the differences between me and you, and between us and them, can be bridged or at least better understood. Words are not the only means of communicating. This experiential on line session will explore how we can listen deeply, what stops us and provide an opportunity to creatively express having heard each others stories using metaphor, drawing, silence, sound and movement.

Key Learning Objectives

Participants will:

• Identify what helps them to listen well
• Recognise the importance of alternative expressions
• Be able to demonstrate how you have heard others using a variety of creative listening approaches eg movement, metaphor, sound, art, silence.

How this session contributes to the AFN Community of Practice

The art of listening, and creating spaces where people heard, are needed in the world wherever people gather. For facilitators listening is a core skill in our toolbox. Yet sometimes we ignore developing and enhancing this critical skill.

Toolkit takeaways

Handout of different creative listening approaches

Speaker Biographies

Jen Barrkman a registered psychologist, consultant, facilitator, oral historian and Playback Theatre practitioner. She has 30 years experience actively engaging people using participatory and creative group processes and story for communities. She also works as a counsellor and creative therapist in private practice. She is particularly interested in how people are heard particularly those who are most vulnerable.