Healing Circles

Relationship-based Culture and Wellness offers Healing Circles for teams across UC Davis Health. Healing Circles create a safe space to explore differences, unburden our struggles, and build our communities in a safe, inclusive place.

Healing Circles are a technique for proactively building authentic relationships to create collective impact. They support teams in creating a safe space of support through authentic dialogue and therapeutic relationships in hopes of creating a community of belonging that embodies kindness, inclusivity, and trust. Healing Circles are guided by a shared vision to live and practice in love, compassion, courage, and integrity.

What you can expect:

Circles are an alternative process of communication, based on traditional discussion and healing practices of aboriginal peoples throughout the world. While circles have been adapted for many communities and many purposes, they share essential features:

• Everyone in the circle is equal and has equal opportunity to speak.
• Decisions are made by consensus.
• A set of guidelines for the circle are read and agreed to at the start of each group.
• The guidelines are based on shared values, in order to work toward a common goal.

Circles are:

• Established as confidential, sacred/safe space.
• Culturally sensitive.
• Open and close with reflective words from the Circle Leader.
• Circles are a way of being and bringing people together that creates individual and collective empowerment.
• They are derived from aboriginal and native traditions where they were considered sacred and essential to community well-being.
• Circle gatherings are most successful when they allow a gentle form of facilitation, which they receive from trained circle “keepers.”

Types of circles

There are different types of circles that serve different purposes

• Support circles provide emotional or spiritual support to individuals.
• Talking circles create an open dialogue about specific topics, and often include members from fundamentally different places or roles.
• Peacemaking circles are used to build relationships, and to promote “peace” within a community.
• Healing circles may be used to heal bonds that have been broken or to create new bonds.

Program Goals:

• Hold at least 4 healing circles per year.
• Will respond to current events as they unfold.
• Will respond to the needs of staff.
• Are open to everyone.

Background:

The Healing Circle methodology and practices have been adopted primarily from AHC: Attitudinal Healing Connection.

To schedule a Healing Circle for your team, please email:

America Abalos,
Administrative Officer II
Alabalos@ucdavis.edu

Jessica Micheletti,
Manager, Relationship-Based Culture and Wellness
Jmicheletti@ucdavis.edu

Theresa Pak,
Strategist, Relationship-Based Culture and Wellness
Tjpak@ucdavis.edu