The Teen Talking Circle Project: Speaking and
Listening from the Heart Facilitator's Handbook

By Linda Wolf and Neva Welton
Published by dsistas Press, Spring 2005

2nd Edition JUST RELEASED!!

This book covers nearly 10 years of experiential research on the art of facilitating Teen Talking Circles.

To Order books, click here: http:ttcpbooks.mollyguard.com

A new book from the co-authors of Global Uprising: Confronting the Tyrannies of the 21st Century ­ Stories from a New Generation of Activists...

Speaking and Listening from the Heart: Facilitator's Handbook, by Linda Wolf and Neva Welton, is a must-have guide for beginning and seasoned facilitators, teachers, social service providers, parents, youth serving organizations, and others who care about the health and emotional well being of young people. Based on the work of the non-profit organization, The Teen Talking Circle Project, Speaking and Listening from the Heart contains over a decade of lessons-learned through facilitating and participating in weekly Girls and Guys Groups and mixed GenderTalks workshops.

Visually and emotionally engaging, and deeply informative, Speaking and Listening from the Heart contains a rich array of stories, interviews, photographs, exercises, resources, and invaluable information for starting and running Teen Talking Circles. Included in the 150-page book is a foreword by Jean Kilbourne, creator of the Killing Us Softly video series and author of Can't Buy My Love, and a conclusion by Dr. Carol Gilligan, author of In a Different Voice. Also included are interviews and quotes from community leaders, such as: Leah Green, founder of the Compassionate Listening Project; Michael Meade, mythologist and author of Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart; Jackson Katz, founder of Mentors in Violence Prevention and creator of Tough Guise; and Paul Kivel, founder of the Oakland Men's Project and author of Boys Will be Men.

Speaking and Listening from the Heart is not only an invaluable resource for anyone who works with or wants to work with teens, it is also a timely and critical message about the importance of providing youth with safe places to explore their lives and express themselves openly, while keeping the lines of communication between generations, genders and cultures open, honest, compassionate, and real.

Speaking and Listening from the Heart:
A Heart and Hand Book from the
Daughters Sisters Project

"This book can help open the hearts and minds of teenage people so that they will be prepared to create the world we all desire. Speaking and Listening from the Heart offers state of the art understandings and practices to facilitate a revolution in compassion, relationship and creativity." ­ Jean Houston, PhD

"Speaking and Listening from the Heart has a great deal to teach all of us -- regardless of age -- about the demanding and all-important art of attentive care for self, others, and communities, and is a gift of immense and timely value." ­ Christine DiStefano, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Washington; Co-Founder, Center for Women & Democracy at the University of Washington

"I am encouraged that the Daughters Sisters Project has developed such a loving template, which can now be passed on and used by so many. I can't help but reflect on how young women's lives will be so different because of the opportunity to be a part of this beautiful process. Had I encountered DaughtersSisters at their age, I know mine certainly would have been." ­ Lindsay Wagner, Actress; Co-Founder, Peace Makers Community

"This handbook is an amazing tool that will allow women to help change lives of younger women and girls in a way that can't be expressed in words.   When you have the privilege of leading a group of young woman in such a powerful setting as a circle, the responsibility weighs heavily and you need all the guidance and help available.   Having the handbook to refer to for guidance, for tools, for exercises and for inspiration will be such a comfort when I actually start my circle. In fact, if I didn't have it, I don't think I'd be confident enough to go ahead with starting a group. I must admit though, that having the practical knowledge from attending a training session makes the book much more useful and I am sad for anyone that can't have both, the real training and the guide.   However, as the training is such an intense experience, the book provides the detailed information for referral later - as well as provides quick reference that I plan to refer to before each session with my girls.   For those people that are not able to attend a Facilitator's Workshop, the guide is the best possibly way to understand the overall experience. As a parent of a deaf child, it is my hope to start a group for siblings of other children with disabilities.   My daughter is hearing and could have greatly benefited from such as group, in fact, now that she is an adult I hope that she will be my co-facilitator and take the training and we will run groups for siblings as well as possibly groups for deaf boys and girls. I only wish that when I was a teenager I had a group. It could have saved me thousands of dollars in therapy and a great deal of hurt. The handbook allows for individuals, such as myself, to create groups with confidence." Kim Sanderson, BC Canada

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