RC Fundamentals Classes Happening Online or by "Self-Study"
For many years, we have offered a self-paced, independent study online class. But now, in this circumstance created by COVID-19 we have decided to make the theory and practice of Re-evaluation Counseling (RC) available in a series of classes taught online by a certified RC teacher.
If you are interested in being part
of an class taught online
fill out our short form.
Include the city where you reside. We will either match you up with an online class nearby, or a class that is not geographically based. We hope to see you on Zoom.
Self-Study Online Class
Online self-paced, independent study RC Fundamentals classes are available—and reserved—for people who are very interested in learning the theory and practice of RC but do not have any possible access to a regular Fundamentals of Co-Counseling class in their geographical region or an online Fundamentals class. Learning Re-evaluation Counseling in a self-study class is much more difficult than learning it in a regular local class or online class because you are alone. It requires a much higher level of commitment to the learning process and sessions. This is why we encourage participation in a local class in person if it is at all possible, or an online class taught by an RC teacher. (During the time of COVID-19, there are no in person classes of RC happening.)
What follows is the description of the self-study class. The theory and practice covered in this class, if followed, has the potential to give you a very good understanding of Re-evaluation Counseling. The provided self-study class materials are the result of decades of work by a large number of people, and you will be expected to read these materials in preparation for every class. Ultimately, however, the depth of your understanding of Re-evaluation Counseling will depend greatly on how effective you and your partner become in counseling each other.
For each of the lessons you will be given one or more articles to read, as well as instructions on how to apply this information in your sessions. Before each session, you and your partner should go through the class materials and make sure that both of you understand the theory presented.
The self-study class uses literature available on the RC website as much as possible, but the class also includes some printed literature that you will need to purchase to have shipped to you. These same materials are used in many regular 'live' fundamentals classes.
Requirements
Active participation in this class will require a high level of commitment on your part both in terms of time and effort. The following are required for successful completion of the class:
A Co-Counseling Partner
To complete the self-study Re-evaluation Counseling Fundamentals Class you must have a partner who is committed to completing the class with you. The class is not easy to complete, so it is important that you both are willing and determined to put in the required effort. The potential gains you stand to receive from the class are well worth such an effort.
The Co-Counseling partner you choose can be anyone. While it certainly is possible (and very rewarding) to Co-Counsel with a committed partner or parent, it may be easier to attempt the class with a friend.
Reading Materials
When a regular Fundamentals Class is taught, the teacher presents the reading materials to the class, usually during the first part of a class meeting. Because this class is self-study, you will have to read and discuss the articles yourself.
Each lesson will contain a list of reading materials that must be fully understood before you move on to the next class. These materials are divided into two groups:
- Primary articles
- Secondary articles
The primary articles are essential for your understanding of the ideas presented in the lesson. You should take great care in reading these articles and in making sure that you have grasped their content.
The secondary articles are listed as an aid in understanding the primary articles. These articles often contain commentary from the Re-evaluation Counseling Community at the time when the basic ideas being presented were developed. They are therefore valuable in providing you with a deeper understanding of the topic.
Some of the references are to sections of a book, "The List." This book is not available online, but must be purchased from Rational Island Publishers.
The following printed publications (including "The List" are required for participation in the online class:
- The Fundamentals of Co-Counseling Manual
- The List
- A Subscription to Present Time
A Place to Meet
The place where you and your partner meet for your sessions should be private and with as few distractions as manageable. If you are a parent, for example, you may need to arrange for child-care during your sessions, or your sessions are likely to be disrupted too often for you to concentrate well on the class materials and on your partner.
Time
The effort required of you to become an efficient Co-Counselor is not small. To complete the class, you will need to meet regularly with your partner. A weekly meeting is preferable, although you could meet every two weeks, if necessary. If you meet less often than every two weeks, you will find it much more difficult to complete the class.
Each meeting should be scheduled to last 3 hours, of which 1 hour will be devoted to presentations and discussions, and the remaining 2 hours are for practicing what you have learned in a Co-Counseling session. You are likely to find it necessary to meet two or more times to complete a single lesson. Since there are altogether 12 lessons, you should count on 12-20 sessions to complete the online class.
Presentations
One of the best ways to learn a topic is to try to explain it to someone else. When you meet, one of you will therefore make a short presentation of some of the main topics for the class.
In a regular class, presentations are usually done by the teacher or the assistant. That role will be played by you and your partner. This requires that you are prepared before you and your partner meet. In other words, you must be willing to put in the time that is required to read and prepare to talk about the materials.
Another reason why this step is important is that many of the ideas that you are about to be exposed to are hard to grasp because they negate much of what you have learned elsewhere and now take for granted. Just reading this material is therefore not sufficient for a good understanding of these ideas.
You will often find that the primary articles for a lesson contain more material than you can reasonably cover in one session. That is fine. You may use as many sessions as you find necessary to fully cover the ideas presented in the primary reading material for the lesson. You may then optionally use additional sessions, if you like, to go through the follow-up materials.
Only when both of you are in agreement that you have understood the ideas in the primary reading material should you proceed to the next class.
Sessions
Each time you and your partner meet, you will spend a good amount of time (usually 2 hours total) practicing the ideas that are the topic of the lesson. While each lesson will contain suggestions for what to talk about during these sessions, it is not required that you follow those suggestions. However, it is important that you follow the instructions for how to conduct the sessions. In other words, the How is important, but the What is only a suggestion.
The session is the core activity in this class. You will not learn Re-evaluation Counseling without a lot of sessions where you and your Co-Counseling partner take turns paying attention to each other.
Confidentiality and No-Socializing Rules
To join RC you will be required to agree to two simple rules of conduct, the Confidentiality Rule and the No-Socializing Rule. The Confidentiality Rule states that everything that a client tells you during a session is completely confidential between you and that person, and must not be referred to afterwards in any way without the clients' agreement. The No-Socializing Rule states that you will not attempt to set up relationships other than the Co-Counseling relationship with people whom you meet through Re-evaluation Counseling. (If you partner is a friend or family member, of course you keep that relationship; the Co-Counseling skills you are learning can enhance that relationship.) Both of these rules are designed to improve the safety of the Co-Counseling relationship.
Protection of Passwords
The online class materials are invaluable and represent some of the best thinking of the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities. We therefore require that you treat this material with a good amount of care. Please make sure that the password you are given is kept in your hands only.
Cost
The following outlines the cost of the online class. If you already possess any of the listed materials, we will offer you a discount on the class membership.
Basic Online Class Membership |
||
Item |
(In USA) |
(Outside USA) |
|
The Fundamentals Manual (1 book): |
8.00 |
8.00 |
|
The List (1 book): |
50.00 |
50.00 |
|
1 Present Time Subscription (1 year): |
20.00 |
30.00 |
|
Self-study class materials (2 passwords): |
60.00 |
60.00 |
|
Online class fee (2 members): |
40.00 |
40.00 |
|
Shipping/handling: |
8.00 |
36.00 |
Total: |
186.00 |
224.00 |
Additional Set of Literature For Second Partner |
||
Item |
(In USA) |
(Outside USA) |
|
The Fundamentals Manual (1 book): |
8.00 |
8.00 |
|
The List (1 book): |
50.00 |
50.00 |
|
1 Present Time Subscription (1 year): |
20.00 |
30.00 |
|
Shipping/handling: |
8.00 |
36.00 |
Total: |
86.00 |
124.00 |
Steps in the Application Process
Online class membership is reserved for people who have no other possible means of participating in a class and who have never learned RC. If you are interested in joining the Online Class, here's how to proceed:
Step One: Fill Out the Contact Form
Before you apply for the online class, fill out the contact request form on this website (see link below). Someone will let you know within a week or two whether there is a certified RC Teacher near you and, if so, how to contact them. They will also communicate with you about joining an online class led by a certified RC Teacher.
Step Two: Self-Study Class Application
If you are advised that there is no teacher near you and an online class is not possible, you will fill out an application form for the self-study class (see link below). Email that information to Dvora Slavin (the self-study class Reference Person) at ircc@rc.org. She will verify that there is no local opportunity for an RC class. Again, please allow a week or two for Dvora to respond to your application.
Step Three: Class Approval and Payment
After reviewing your application, Dvora will email you to inform you whether your class application has been approved. If approved, you will need to order and pay for your class membership and materials. Dvora will provide additional details in your class acceptance email about how to order and pay for these items.
Materials are ordered from and supplied by our publishing company, Rational Island Publishers, Inc. Cash, check or credit cards are accepted. Rational Island typically ships within 1-2 business days after receipt of order.
Link to Rational Island Publishers
Step Four: Class Begins
Once you have paid for your class materials, you will be emailed the instructions for accessing the self-study class on the RC website. Congratulations and welcome to the class!
Class Outline
Lesson 1: Basic Human Nature/Listening
- Basic theory
- The postulates of RC
- The art of listening
- The art of being a client
- What to do in your first Co-Counseling session
-
Lesson 2 : Distress Recordings and Distress Patterns
- The nature of distress recordings and patterns
- The three ways distress is encountered
- Intermittent vs. chronic patterns
- Short and long term effects of distress
- The distinction between the person and the pattern
Lesson 3: Discharge
- The mechanisms of discharge
- The basic order of discharge
Lesson 4: The Role of Counselor and Client
- The basic skills and responsibilities of the counselor
- The basic skills and responsibilities of the client
- Some preliminary skills and techniques beyond listening
Lesson 5: Fundamental Counseling Techniques
- New and good (at start of session)
- Balance of attention
- Spectrum of Techniques
- Physical contact
- Contradictions
- Attention out (at end of session)
Lesson 6: More on Contradictions
- Four Things a Counselor Needs to Do
- Examples of Contradictions
- Attention Away from Distress
- Validation and self-appreciation
- Holding directions
- Showing Caring
Lesson 7: And Even More on Techniques and Contradictions
- Commitments
- Scorning Fear
- Understatements
- Identification
- Flash Answer
Lesson 8: The Early Roots of Distress Recordings
- Early hurtful experiences and present day difficulties
- Early hurtful experiences and restimulation
Lesson 9: Co-counseling Session Reports
- A Method to examine your progress as client and counselor
- Review of Identifications and Restimulation
Lesson 10: Rational Human Needs and Addictions
- Rational needs
- Frozen needs
- Addictions
Lesson 11: Oppression and Liberation: An Introduction
- Oppression and distress recordings
- Internalized oppression
- Oppressor patterns
Lesson 12: The Co-Counseling Relationship
- Building increasingly caring, open, and permanent Co-Counseling relationship
- Review of the no-socializing policy, Co-Counseling reports, and identifications
Lesson 13: Thinking, Logic and Power
- How our intelligence works
- Freedom of decision and acting on logic
- Reclaiming our power
Lesson 14: Setting Goals
- Setting short and long-term goals
- Decide, Act and Discharge
- The Goal chart
Lesson 15: Reality
- Reality is always benign
- Counseling with attention away from distress
- Reality agreement and understatement
Lesson 16: Our Goodness, Our Relationships and Our Confidence and Hopefulness
- Recovering our sense of goodness
- Recovering our ability to connect deeply
- Recovering our inherent confidence and hopefulness
Lesson 17: More on Oppression and Liberation: The Basics and Ending Racism
- Oppressed, oppressor, and witness roles
- Freeing ourselves of internalized oppression, oppressor patterns, and the witness role
- Ending Racism: internalized racism, racist oppressor recordings and institutionalized racism
Lesson 18: Overview of Other Major Forms of Oppression
- Presentation of the basic elements of other key oppressions in our society including classism, oppression of indigenous people, sexism and male domination, and so on.
- All of these descriptions point to the basic element of dividing people to keep them from being able to unify and end the oppressive society
Lesson 19: Counseling on Relationships, Closeness and Sex
- Love is the natural way for humans to feel about each other.
- We acquire many distresses in this rigid society in building close, intimate relationships.
- The co-counseling process can be used to discharge on those distresses to build rational relationships that can include sex.
Lesson 20: Care of the Environment
- Oppression and the environmental emergency.
- Ways to discharge on the environmental emergency.
- Setting goals and taking action.
Lesson 21: RC Learning Theory
- What is learning?
- Circumstances that allow students to learn best.
- Circumstances that get in the way of learning.
- How to use this process to recover our ability to learn anything.
Lesson 22: RC Literature--Reading and Writing
- The value of RC Literature.
- What gets in the way of reading and writing.
- Ways to counsel on recovering our ability to read and write.
- Circumstances that can create successful reading and writing experiences.
Lesson 23: The RC Community, Teaching, Leading, and Inviting Friends
- What the RC Community is
- What the RC Guidelines are
- Information about RC leadership and teaching
- Thoughts about inviting friends and family to join you learning about and using RC