Upon completion of Level 1 you will know how to:

• cultivate trust in the relationship with your clients.

• transform judgments of clients, when they arise, into unconditional acceptance.

• express yourself more carefully to create safety for your client.

• maintain a full presence during sessions.

• listen empathically to your clients' feelings, needs, and meanings, thus creating a connection.

• forge a partnership with your clients to create something better.

You will be able to help your clients:

• recognize interpretations that exacerbate their suffering.

• connect with, and honor the longing of their hearts.

• connect with natural compassion.

• identify life-alienating systems, their impact on their well-being, and ways to protect themselves.

• ask for what they want in a way that’s more likely to elicit cooperation.

• reduce reactivity and impulsivity and promote self-regulation and self-control and increase equanimity and resilience.

You will learn multiple interventions and processes to help your clients. Examples of these are:

• Awareness of Life-Alienating Systems

• Integrative Intuitive Choices

• Understanding the Other

• Inner Silence Meditation

• Personal Assets (vs. Comparisons)

• Self-Responsibility (vs. Blame)

• Needs Assessment (vs. Judgments)

• Mourning and Restoration (vs. “Just Desserts”)

• Choice (vs. Demands and Denial of Choice)

• Courageous Transparency (vs. Tone of Voice and Body Language)

• From Conflict to Connection

We will attend to sustainability: Self-Care for the Practitioner.

Myra Walden and Priti Sureka facilitate the sessions — they endeavor to create a safe, collaborative environment in which participants are able to learn, contribute and share vulnerably when moved.

Each week, we alternate between conceptual learning and practice.

1) CHECK-IN — We begin each session with a few words from each person sharing how they feel at the moment and the needs that are met or not met.

2) INNER SILENCE MEDITATION — Next, we do a practice designed to promote self-connection—contact with our physical sensations, feelings, needs and natural compassion.

3) COLLABORATIVE LEARNING — In these interactive sessions we discuss Empowerment Therapy concepts and applications. You will learn from your peers and contribute to their learning; listen to real life stories; and likely gain new insights.

4) PRACTICE — During these sessions you will be able to do Empowerment work and receive coaching from Myra Walden and other seasoned practitioners. You will discover your strengths and learning edges; and you will witness, and likely be inspired by the power of this work.

5) ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CHECK-OUT — At the end we share matters that pertain to the group and say how we feel and the needs of ours that are met or not met. We give feedback to the facilitator regarding takeaways.

Inspired by Carl Rogers and grounded in self-connection, we endeavor to create an environment of respect, empathy, authenticity and connection with one another. Thus, we lay the conditions for collaborative, experiential learning. 

We believe that the practitioner’s character is as important as their knowledge and skills. In addition to sharing concepts, we nurture personal growth. 

There is a maximum of 25 participants per group. This allows all the participants, facilitators, and a tech support person to be visible on one Zoom screen.

We meet on Tuesdays at 7:00 —8:30 pm Central Time.

Find your local time here.

To receive a certificate of completion of Level 1 we require attendance to 20 of the 24 sessions. Keep track of your attendance including date and topic; once you have fulfilled the requirement, submit a report to the program leaders.

The course runs from January to June and July to December of every year. However, the program is designed in such a way that you can join at any time. If you join after January or July, you will need to meet with a trainer for 1 to 4 sessions to help you catch up.

You will need the book Empowerment Therapy by Myra Walden. Please read Chapters 2-5 —Observations, Feelings, Needs and Requests— when you begin the course. These foundational concepts will help you understand and participate in the discussions.

Yes! You will meet people interested in helping others. As you get to know your colleagues, you can reach out to those you connect with to get together for mutual empathy, companionship, and learning. We are a close-knit community which we hope will help meet your need for belonging.

No, the program is designed for people who want to help others. If you’re seeking healing and personal growth we recommend the NVC Academy where you will find a myriad of programs for personal and relational development.

The following is our sliding-fee scale.

$50 — $30 USD per month

The monthly subscription gives you access to all the weekly sessions.

In order to support our work, please choose the highest amount you can contribute comfortably.

Our fees are low compared to other certification programs of this kind because we want to help develop practitioners whom we hope will bring this powerful work to people who cannot afford support services.

The following are some guidelines to promote safety and protect flow and cohesiveness:

• Arrive promptly. The doors close 10 minutes after the start time.

• Keep your camera on throughout the session.

• Join the breakout groups.

• Stay until the end.

• Let Myra know when you’re going to miss more than two consecutive sessions.

• Remain fully present and engaged throughout the session.

If these requests don’t meet your needs, you will be able to engage in a dialogue with Myra during the orientation meeting.

Yes. There are five foundational concepts that will recur at every session. Understanding them will make your learning experience easier, and you will be able to follow and participate in the discussions. 

1. Observations vs. Evaluations

2. Feelings vs. Thoughts

3. Needs vs. Strategies

4. Requests vs. Demands

5. Empathy (Needs-based empathy)

If at the end of your trial month you decide to stay in the program, we recommend that you buy the book Empowerment Therapy and study the sections above. In addition, it will be helpful for you to print the Inventories and bring them to the sessions.

If you attended at least 20 of the 25 sessions, you will receive a Certificate of Completion. If you entered the course late, you can make up the missed sessions at a subsequent course, or you can request private tutoring. The cost of a private tutoring session is additional to the monthly fee, and it varies from  tutor to tutor.

Write to Myra Walden to schedule a 45 minute meeting. Together, you and Myra will assess the goodness of fit. Next, fill out the Induction Form and send it to her. She will send you the link.

Email: empowermenttherapymw@gmail.com