C. RE-EVALUATION COUNSELING CLASSES
C.2. Goals of RC Classes
Basic Goals
The Community offers Re-evaluation Counseling (RC) classes for people interested in becoming Co-Counselors and for the continuing re-emergence of those already Co-Counseling.
Goals of these classes include
- developing members’ ability to support other people’s use of the discharge process;
- assisting members to recover access to and use of the discharge process;
- communicating about basic and newer RC theory, practice, and policies[31];
- providing a supportive and inclusive environment for class members by helping them develop close, committed, caring relationships; by sharing information about oppression and internalized oppression; and by helping them work on how oppression and internalized oppression have affected them;
- finding, setting, and holding perspectives outside of distress patterns and setting directions against them, including and particularly, chronic distress patterns;
- encouraging members to make rational decisions about their lives, assume increasing responsibility for themselves and their environment, and help build the Co-Counseling Community; and
- training new RC teachers.
Diversity
We apply our Guidelines flexibly to encourage and support participation of diverse groups in RC classes.[32] Our goal is to bring together people of varied backgrounds rather than only people who are familiar with or easily comfortable with each other (except when the topic of a class is intended for only a certain group). This is a practical step toward the unity of all people. When possible, RC Communities should offer alternatives to conventional meeting times, places, and schedules. Society puts up barriers to the participation of members of some oppressed groups, and we do not want to replicate this oppression. For example, when there are young people in a class, the format may need to be more flexible so as not to replicate the rigidity experienced in school and other oppressive settings.
Young people under the legal age of adulthood sometimes choose to participate in RC class series, ongoing support groups, and workshops without a parent or guardian. In this case, they need the written, informed consent of a parent or guardian to support their decision. Young people’s participation, as with people of all other ages, is voluntary.
Accessibility[33]
A core aspect of disability[34] oppression is exclusion. Meeting places for classes are to be accessible, physically and in other ways. For example, to maximize inclusion, accessibility also requires providing effective communication and consideration of different ways to hold classes and provide information, including online. We try to use sites that are wheelchair accessible for people with mobility impairments[35] and have microphone loop systems or transcribing for people with hearing impairments. We also try to provide sign language interpreters for people who are deaf or have hearing impairments, provide support for people with vision impairments, and create accessibility in many other ways.[36]
Full accessibility is our goal. When accessible locations are not available, the Community can confer with the people in charge of the available locations and discuss possible adaptations. The Community may also contribute the money and/or physical labor needed to make these meeting places accessible.[37] We also strive to help people gain access to the technology and knowledge necessary to attend on-line events.
REASON
RC classes and these goals are designed to make human re-emergence possible. Because re-emergence from distress takes time, Co-Counselors benefit from continued participation in a class.
Our individual re-emergence can proceed rapidly when we are part of a group of people who are using the discharge and re-evaluation process on an ongoing basis, led by a teacher who thinks about each person individually and about the group as a whole.
People re-emerge more quickly and become better Co-Counselors in the presence of diverse experiences and perspectives. Distress patterns, and chronic distress patterns in particular, are more easily contradicted when not everyone in the group has similar distress patterns.
We aim to include all varieties of people in our classes in order to offer a broad perspective on the many ways humans can live. The oppressive society denies full participation in society to members of some groups. We want our Community practices to challenge this oppression. Societal conditions—for example, work hours, economic hardship, difficult living conditions, and language oppression—may determine the possible times, locations, and formats in which particular groups of people may learn RC. We encourage the RC Communities to apply their requirements for Community membership flexibly (see Guideline A.4. The Membership of the Community) so that people from these oppressed groups are not unintentionally excluded. Any questions can be brought to the appropriate geographic or Liberation Reference Person.
[31] There are two different kinds of policies in the RC Community: (1) the Community’s policies, including those endorsed by a World Conference or an Area meeting, and (2) policies that represent the best thinking of a particular group (draft liberation policy statements).
Policies are guides and agreements that assist a group of people to act together in a cooperative, supportive way. Policies can promote discharge and help clarify thinking. They represent our best thinking to date, so they are always considered to be in draft form. Policy consists of (1) proposals for the application of RC theory, (2) recommendations based on our past experiences, and (3) structures for implementing these proposals and recommendations.
[32] For more thinking on the participation of oppressed groups in the RC Community see: rc.org/liberationtheory.
[33] Access means the physical and practical arrangements that enable those with impairments or limitations to participate in an event in the most inclusive way reasonably possible.
[34] Disability in RC refers to and describes the oppression targeted at people with an impairment. A disability is created by a society when adaptation or accessibility is not provided or where negative attitudes are manifested. A person with an impairment becomes disabled when facing a barrier (physical or attitudinal).
[35] Impairment refers to and describes the physical, medical, or quasi-medical health condition. For example, “I have a visual or hearing impairment.”
[36] We have been able to make funding available for accessibility through the Re-evaluation Foundation (see Guideline H.13. Assisting the Re-evaluation Foundation's Outreach Efforts).
[37] The person(s) with a disability should be consulted. They may know of an accessible environment, and that location should be explored for the site of the class.