Anna Swisher
Mentoring & Consulting
Mentorship and Consulting are two different approaches to support the learning and growth processes. Both approaches give me the amazing opportunity to witness and support the emergence of human potential, and to walk alongside someone in this exciting, scary, chaotic, and confusing time that we call the Great Turning.
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I work with people of all ages and genders. You can read more below, or send an email to have a chat.
MENTORSHIP is an opportunity to receive one-on-one support, guidance, and coaching. It can be specific to your journey or aspirations as a facilitator, or it may be in a more general sense as you navigate certain periods of your life. My approach to mentorship is person-centred, meaning our work together is based around your own goals and desires. My role is to facilitate the emergence of a person's unique gifts, talents and passions, to offer perspective, reflections, and resources, and to share guidance from my own experience only if and when it is of use.
If you are an aspiring or emerging facilitator, mentorship is a great way to receive support and have someone in your corner as you navigate the challenges of putting yourself out there. But you don't need to be an aspiring facilitator to take advantage of mentorship; we all need mentors! If you feel the pull, let's chat.
CONSULTING is a rather specific way of supporting someone with a task. I offer consultation sessions to people who would like some support to design, develop, and/or deliver an offering to their clients, colleagues, or community. Maybe you are interested in integrating the Work That Reconnects into work you already do; maybe you could use some help talking through the best way to approach and design a program or workshop. Maybe you've got an idea for a community offering and you want some help fleshing it out.
If you're interested in either Mentorship or Consulting, just email me and we can set up a time to chat.
WORKING WITH ADOLESCENTS
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During adolescence, the developmental process entails a healthy differentiation from the nuclear family in order to establish a sense of self. During this time, it is essential for young people to have mentors who provide positive modeling of authenticity, integrity, and self-love; and it is a necessity that these role models are someone other than parents, as teens naturally (and healthfully) begin to differentiate from their family.
My role as a mentor is in supporting the authentic self to emerge; to reflect back to someone the gifts that they inherently carry. To help foster a foundational self-awareness, a believe in one’s gifts and voice, and a compassionate curiosity about self, others, and world. To assist in clarifying a sense of self, and anchoring a feeling of belonging in the world.
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My personal orientation regards nature and our own bodies as essential contexts for connecting to ourselves and our world (a.k.a. these things are important to me,) and this underlies the way I spend time with young people. I wish to support a positive and loving relationship to one's own body. I am hopeful about awakening the ecological self, and a sense of care for the world.
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I also am awkward and weird and insecure in many ways, and am utterly grateful for the chance to be that way, unpolished, without having to prove anything. Frankly, teenagers are often my favourite people to hang out with.