“I felt less anxiety in my life (nearly zero); I had certainty about my actions, thoughts and feeling being truly mine and coming from within. I felt very comfortable carrying responsibility for everything that comes from me. It was a very empowering and cool feeling.”
Anna A., last year’s participant
Get tools to stand for yourself, befriend your body and emotions, and honor your right to exist.
Are you caught up in a circle of shame and feeling of worthlessness? Do you often want to feel different than the way you do? Do you have problems asking for help or do you put others’ needs before yours? Do you want to show up as you are and express how you really feel more?
All these were and still are challenges for me, Clem. And after 38 years of trying and failing, I imagine that I found one way that works pretty well for myself and others I had the chance to support. And it is based on practicing… our right to exist! On a daily basis since we are a child, we constantly receive messages that we should not behave or feel or think the way we do. Automatic responses such as “don’t cry” when we are sad to death, “don’t worry be happy” when we are extremely stressed, “you made me sad” when we stated our boundaries, or “be strong” when we just lost someone and are crumbling, are just a few examples of those. Until a point where we “grow up”, i.e. we internalize these messages and become our own bossy coach by telling ourselves “I shouldn’t be so weak”, “I should say this but not that”, “I should behave”… and we eventually start to tell others how they should feel and behave. I imagine that constantly wanting to feel/think/act differently than we do, i.e. wanting reality to be different than it is, brings a lot of unnecessary suffering.
In the “Right to Exist” program, we press “pause”, learn that we have the right to feel how we feel, know what we know, think what we think. It means paying attention to how we are in the moment, making it important enough to share it with others, however unacceptable we or others think it is. We live out loud. It also means, or perhaps means in the first place, to learn to befriend and become comfortable with the uncomfortable parts of our inner world, may it be fear, anger, shame, hurt, or even joy. And perhaps even learn to like them for what they are: survival helpers.
And how are we going to achieve this exploit in the “Right to Exist” program? We’ll learn to listen to our inner world more, share out loud all the unacceptable thoughts and feelings with other participants, and practice all that in the real world. We’ll learn to get more comfortable with discomfort, fear, shame [insert the emotions you hate the most]. No more living in the closet! To do so, we’ll do some somatic work and movement to improve our body awareness, as “the body keeps the score” of what happened/is going on with us. We’ll learn different ways to communicate with others which are more respectful and true to ourselves than running on autopilot, learn to embrace and dialogue with our inner world, so that we can stand for ourselves, and talk for, but not from, our hurt, anger or fears. I will facilitate this program inspired by different approaches, including gestalt therapy, radical honesty, self esteem psychology and internal family systems.
Importantly, or should I say crucially, in this program, chances are high you’ll be challenged AND you’ll be in control of how much you want to be challenged: I will not push you to do things that are too much for you. You will be free at any time to opt out of a particular exercise if you do not want to do it. I imagine that long term change happens when we take care of our current needs instead of pushing them away, and the program will be a space for that. A big part of this being that you’ll have the opportunity to take it to your own pace.
Structure of the program
The program will follow a gradual progression with thematic periods, with the first weeks dedicated to body consciousness, followed by learning ways to communicate more authentically, and finishing with ways to practice self esteem. Some seminal written works, in particular “the six pillars of self esteem” by Nathaniel Branden, will guide the backbone of the program’s structure. To ensure you get the best out of the program, we will have regular activities of different kinds. These include:
- weekly group sessions: one evening per week (day to be decided together), we will meet for 2 hours. These sessions will be largely practical, supported by some time dedicated to theoretical principles. Participants will share with each other, practice with guided exercises, experiment and co-create the space.
- homework between group sessions: some material to read, some challenges to try out in the real life!
- one-on-one monthly sessions between you and me: during one hour per month, you’ll have my full attention to dive into your challenges and goals. Depending on your needs, we may work with emotional regulation, goal setting, internal dialogue and self acceptance.
- buddy group system: you’ll be part of a group of 2-3 buddies to support each other in your learning, by trying exercises together, or simply sharing your challenges and achievements of the moment.
- a last weekend integration retreat (optional, not included in the price): where we will practice for 2 full days what we learned during these six month, discuss how to continue the work in the real world, and say goodbye to each other.
Pricing and refund policy
The total price of the 6-month program is 15 000 CZK. There is no refund possible. Nevertheless, you can pay on a monthly basis (2500 CZK / month), allowing you to drop out any month if you wish to. If you decide to commit and pay for the whole program directly, you’ll pay 13 500 CZK (1500 CZK discount). This price does not include the final weekend retreat, which I will discuss further with the participants towards the end of the program.
In case you are not sure if this program is for you, feel free to contact me and we can agree for you to join the first group session for 500 CZK. Nevertheless, the capacity of the group is limited to 10, and I will give priority to participants agreeing to commit for at least a month.
About the facilitator
I am Clem. I have been facilitating self acceptance spaces for about 5 years now. Having been a university professor, I have a scientific academic background. I am in the process of leaving university to become a full time counselor and workshop facilitator. Besides a long experience and training in coaching thanks to university, I am now getting formally trained in two modalities that helped my self development, internal family systems and radical honesty.
Two words regularly come back from people who worked with me, “warmth” and “safe space”. I am always happy to hear these, as I make it very important for myself to provide a safe haven where people can feel accepted as they are. Here is what former participants say:
“I really liked your calm, attentive, relaxed and authentic way of being, that helped me to relax and to feel welcome as I am. 🙂 I think you have a great ability to empathize what a single person and the whole group needs in that moment.” Anna K.
“Clément has been so supportive and encouraging. He cares for each individual and does the most to help them. He created a positive and safe environment where we were not only allowed to succeed but also to fail.” Anonymous.
You can find more about me here.
Want to enroll?
To keep this program personalized, I limit the number of participants to 10. The enrollment is currently not open, but if you want to be contacted when it opens, just send me an email at clem.lafonpla [at] gmail.com! 🙂
When
TBA
What
Weekly in-person group sessions
Homework to reflect and try things out in the real world
Monthly one-on-one sessions
Buddy support group
A final integration retreat (optional; not included in the price)
Price
Monthly payment: 2500 CZK / month
One payment for the whole program: 13 500 CZK (1500 CZK discount)
Enrollment
not open, TBA
if you want some more specific info before deciding, feel free to contact us at clem.lafonpla [at] gmail.com
Warmth & Joy 