Anti-Oppressive Group Facilitation Resources

These resources have been curated from the lineages of training and practice that shape my work: Healing Justice, emergent strategy, generative somatics, and Somatic Abolitionism. Citations and links to original sources and further reading material is provided throughout. Additional scholarly articles and anti-oppression resources can be found at Psychedelic Liberation Collective.

Establishing Group Norms: Space Agreements

Space agreements, adapted from Psychedelic Liberation Collective

*agreements with bolded text are unpacked below with resources for anti-oppressive facilitation

• We collectively agree to avoid using language that may be assumptive, or potentially racist, sexist, classist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic or ageist.  

• Let’s speak from experience and use “I” statements to build trust within the group and avoid assumptions about others’ experiences. When we use assumptive language, it can prompt others to feel alienated, disconnected, triggered and/or excluded. 

• Be mindful of the ways that intersecting identities (ie: race, class, ability, sexuality, gender, etc) inform your and others’ experiences, of privilege and oppression. We live at intersections, we all benefit and/or are harmed by systematic oppression. (The River Current of Intersecting Systems of Oppression)

• Meet each other where we’re at. We all bring our unique histories, experiences and identities to the table. Let’s keep that in mind as we engage each other. 

• What comes here stays here; what’s learned here leaves here. Individuals’ identities should remain confidential, but the discussions we have can and should inform our interactions with people outside the group. Personal, private information about group members should not be disclosed to the rest of the group without explicit consent. 

• ‘Move up/Move back.’ Be mindful of the space/time you take in group discussion. (Facilitation Strategies for Equitable Participation)

• Recognize intent, address impact. Many times when someone does or says something that causes harm, it is not their intention to do so. But when we use our good intentions to deny or avoid being accountable for the harm, more harm is caused. We ask that we each acknowledge that our intent and the impact of our actions are two different things, and to take responsibility for any negative impact we have. (Managing Microaggressions)

The River Current of Intersecting Systems of Oppression

Racialized and otherwise marginalized people are astute trackers of the “river,” and know from lived experience how to identify when it shows up. Others may be newer to this, but we all can develop this skill. We ALL have gaps in our knowledge, places where the current hasn’t yet become perceivable, and thus are capable of embodying the current of systemic oppression. Space agreements establish consensus that we will collectively work together to recognize that this conditioning is present and address when it is causing impact in our shared space.

Group Facilitation in Online Spaces

Facilitation Techniques for Equitable Participation

1. Open multiple and varied channels for participation

2. Keep participation right-sized: choose between a few options, limit the number of responses, limit the type of responses, make imperfect lists, limit the length of response, map a feeling

   — Instead of ‘Any questions?’ —> ‘What are 3 questions that come up for you?’

   — Instead of ‘What’s coming up for folks’ —> ‘On a scale of 1-5, how clear do you feel about this idea?;’ ‘What are 3 feeling words when sitting with this idea?’

   — Instead of ‘What are your key takeaways’ —> ‘Take 1 minute to make an imperfect list of lessons learned;’ ‘One win, one challenge’

3. Build a gentle ramp towards verbal group participation: looking at this, what do you see; let’s take a moment to think of an area of alignment and an area of tension; what are 3 questions that come up for you?; what’s your opinion about this?

   — ‘I observe - I feel - I think’

Principled Disagreement

Fear and avoidance of disagreement can be destructive to group process, and increases the likelihood of reproducing systems of oppression. If a group can form resilience and the capacity for full participation for all, exploring disagreement can be a generative process within a container of shared principles and process. In her book, Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements Charlene A. Carruthers writes, “principled struggle means that we talk with each other from a place that allows mutual dignity. Principled struggle means that our conclusions about people, events, and organizations are as sound as possible, grounded in observation, and recognizing that even then our assessment may not be valid.” Three Commitments, p 84.

Common ‘river’ group behaviors around disagreement:

• Avoid disagreement by focusing on alignment and similarity at all costs

• Disagreement occurs in a series of monologues that don’t respond to each other

• Gesture towards asking for disagreement without actual channels or containers to hold it

• Demonize or vilify people who dissent or disagree (often BIPOC who are women, femmes, queer and trans)

Anti-oppressive facilitation strategies for encouraging principled disagreement

— Call on two people at once - ‘can you both come on mic together and share your thoughts with each other’

— Ask a follow-up question, ‘so in that example, what do you wish was different?’

— Create a container for sustained conversation, i.e. parties will discuss this topic for 15 minutes, the rest will witness

— Be the connector between statements, ‘I heard you echo some of what was said, can I ask the next speaker to weigh in on that as you share your thoughts?’

Managing Microaggressions

“Microaggressions are brief, everyday exchanges, in the form of seemingly innocuous comments and subtle gestures that send denigrating messages to people of color because they belong to a minority group. Microaggressions are a primary source of racially biased experiences on a day-to-day basis and are also a barrier to treatment for patients of color when committed by mental health professionals. This has important applications for many groups, including ethnic minorities as well as refugees who may have experienced ethnic violence in their countries of origin. The ability of clinicians to accurately understand and assess their clients’ difficulties is the essential first step to effective treatment.”

How will we handle rupture and repair within anti-oppressive group space?

“Recognize intent, address impact. Many times when someone does or says something that causes harm, it is not their intention to do so. But when we use our good intentions to deny or avoid being accountable for the harm, more harm is caused. We ask that we each acknowledge that our intent and the impact of our actions are two different things, and to take responsibility for any negative impact we have.”

Recognize intent, address impact…although we meant no harm, there is a negative impact. Begin by witnessing the impact with acknowledgment and acceptance of that experience.

Take responsibility for any negative impact we have….although we meant no harm, our actions have resulted in negative impact. Offer a genuine apology for the impact, without expectation of forgiveness or resolution.

Managing microaggressions, grounded in Healing Justice principles - a framework to intervene on systemic oppression and bring resources for healing

1. Witness the impact, regardless of intent

2. Apologize (develop skills for making a good apology)

3. Repair, if welcome (develop skills for reparative and restorative processes)

There are certain tropes that get played out in response to being called out for microaggression which stem from white supremacy and from trauma response

• Intersecting systems of oppression generate trauma, they are traumatizing to the oppressed and are damaging for everyone, even those who also receive advantage from these systems.

• Generational trauma, unresolved guilt and shame, and the impact of systems of supremacy are legacies of historical trauma.

• We are all steeped in the epigenetic influence of trauma response of the last 500 years (Crusades, Inquisition, Manifest Destiny, the violent establishment and maintenance of colonialism, patriarchy, white supremacy) and ancestral healing is deeply needed.

• Generational (epigenetic, transgenerational) trauma is held in the body, and generations of learned behaviors for interracial relating (i.e. Resmaa Menakem: white bodies expecting deference from bodies of culture, and when POC don’t caretake white comfort, bad things happen). These embodied memories are only a few generations and still very much alive in our bodies and nervous systems.

• White supremacy teaches that any confrontation with one’s internal bias is an attack, this is one of the ways that white supremacy is maintained - it is encoded into the system as a safeguard against detection. (Robin DiAngelo)

What gets in the way of embodying our values?

When the defense system gets activated, it can prompt a move into a coping role (away, against, towards) as a learned strategy for escaping distress. While in these roles, we have less access to emotional and intellectual faculties and less capacity for social engagement.

These roles can look like:

Towards (supplication) … fawning, crying

Away (flight) … urge to flee, avoidance, attempt to change the subject

Against (fight)… defensiveness, deflection, attack

Doing the work to expand our window of tolerance/window of transformation helps us to remain present and increase capacity to be with discomfort as we navigate power and privilege dynamics.

Somatic Practices/Processes to expand the Window of Tolerance/Window of Transformation (Kai Cheng Thom)

• Cultivating the observer, contemplative and mindfulness practices

• Somatic inquiry, tracking inner states

• RAIN (recognize, allow, investigate, nurture) Ruth King, Mindful of Race

• Polyvagal theory - Anchors; Body Language; Social Engagement Continuum (from Deb Dana, Polyvagal Theory for Safety and Connection)

• Somatic Centering - begin with basic dignity, safety, belonging (centering practice at 12:35 in video)

• Grounding practices

• Guided meditation, visualization, metta

The below variation on Window of Tolerance was developed by Kai Cheng Thom. Her book, I Hope We Choose Love, and accompanying workbook, So You’re Ready To Choose Love, are highly recommended tools for Restorative Justice.

Expanding the Window of Tolerance/Window of Transformation

Somatic embodiment practices enhance our capacity of interoception, the ability to track our inner physical sensations that give us cues as to the state of the system. What helps shift up the ladder to the ventral vagal state of social engagement?