Council Training 2
Council Training 2
Topa Institute, Ojai Santa Paula Road, Ojai, CA, USA
October 10 - 12, 2025
About this Retreat
Irasha Talifero has lived in the Ojai Valley since 1976 and has cultivated a wealth of local connections. She moved to Ojai to have and raise her son, Snowshadow Talifero, who is now a local hero — a fireman who protected the ridge that Topa Institute now calls home during the Thomas Fire. The same year Irasha arrived in Ojai was the first time she went up to the ridge above what is now the Besant Hill School, then the home of Human Dimensions Institute West. She soon began volunteering and gardening on the site, planting some of what remains there today.
Irasha has had the privilege of experiencing many new ways of learning from teachers from all over the world. Here, in her own backyard, she was blessed to know and interact with the prominent spiritual and cultural figures of the Upper Ojai, including Jiddu Krishnamurti, Beatrice Woods, as well as Chumash elders Grandfather Vincent Tumamait and Grandfather Semu Huate. This was a new awakening for her. Over the decades, she continued her involvement with the Ojai Foundation and began facilitating programs for thousands of students, some of which were her most valuable teachers. In 2016, she became a Council Trainer. Four generations of her family have become a part of the ridge’s practices and communities: at present, her granddaughter Tara Talifero is a junior at Besant Hill School — a star student and representative at the campus. Irasha brings this long history on the ridge to Topa Institute, continuing to introduce this special place to new generations of people.
Anita (Ani) Samaha has been working with diverse populations for over 20 years, creating connections through nature, council, and team building activities. She co-founded the Santa Barbara Lesbian Meetup group, now with close to 1000 members. She holds a Masters in Chinese Medicine, where her love for helping people and providing healing work began. She helped create a semester abroad program for 16-19 year olds in New Zealand, where living in community fostered a deep sense of belonging and support for the youth. Ani’s had the joy of working with various organizations/institutions including Wilderness Outdoor Leadership Foundation, Santa Barbara Boys and Girls Club, Teamworks, Santa Barbara Middle School, Pacifica Graduate Institute, Celebrate Life, Circle Ways, and the Center for Council. Some of her most rewarding work has been through council facilitation and training with social justice organizations and incarcerated people. She believes that through both council and play, strengthening people’s ability to listen more deeply to themselves and one another, the world can be transformed in magical ways.
Details of this retreat
Council Training 2 is a powerful opportunity to deepen one’s practice and explore the more complex contours of facilitating council circles. This training is geared toward folks who have been facilitating council and have had direct experience with challenging situations, conflicts, and confronting the more hidden or unconscious forces that may drive group dynamics. Facilitators may also be starting to look at some personal obstacles that have shown up in their development as a practitioner.
This workshop delves into the specific forms of council suited for a variety of situations and explores the joys and challenges of bringing council into different parts of our lives. It offers a chance to develop more skills with “reading the field” and “witnessing”. One of the primary intentions of Council Training 2 is to support facilitators who are starting to encounter the sometimes powerful energies released in council and to encourage them to move out of their comfort zones, learning how to navigate and best serve the circle, while maintaining the container. Facilitators may also be starting to look at some personal obstacles that have shown up in their development as a practitioner.
At Topa Institute, we offer a welcoming and inclusive space, to support and serve historically marginalized groups, including BIPOC participants and LGBTQIA+-identifying individuals. We respect and welcome diversity, recognize above all our shared humanity, and emphasize that council allows us to drop labels, expectations and biases.
We recommend the prerequisite of Council Training I, along with practice facilitating and sitting in councils. The experience gained in circle will support your evolution as a facilitator, in addition to giving you the material needed for our time together in this training.
In this 2-day training you will:
Further develop facilitation and communication skills
Deepen connections to community
Apply Council to support Social Justice
Broaden understanding and practice of “reading the field”, noting what is unspoken and intuiting the shared energy and needs of the circle
Explore tools for mindfulness, self-inquiry, and self-regulation
Investigate ways to navigate moments of heightened emotion, both for participants and as a facilitator
Deepen our understanding and skills for “witnessing” and “mirroring”
Explore “turning into the skid”
This workshop delves into the specific forms of council suited for a variety of situations and explores the joys and challenges of bringing council into different parts of our lives. It offers a chance to develop more skills with “reading the field” and “witnessing”. One of the primary intentions of Council Training 2 is to support facilitators who are starting to encounter the sometimes powerful energies released in council and to encourage them to move out of their comfort zones, learning how to navigate and best serve the circle, while maintaining the container. Facilitators may also be starting to look at some personal obstacles that have shown up in their development as a practitioner.
At Topa Institute, we offer a welcoming and inclusive space, to support and serve historically marginalized groups, including BIPOC participants and LGBTQIA+-identifying individuals. We respect and welcome diversity, recognize above all our shared humanity, and emphasize that council allows us to drop labels, expectations and biases.
We recommend the prerequisite of Council Training I, along with practice facilitating and sitting in councils. The experience gained in circle will support your evolution as a facilitator, in addition to giving you the material needed for our time together in this training.
In this 2-day training you will:
Further develop facilitation and communication skills
Deepen connections to community
Apply Council to support Social Justice
Broaden understanding and practice of “reading the field”, noting what is unspoken and intuiting the shared energy and needs of the circle
Explore tools for mindfulness, self-inquiry, and self-regulation
Investigate ways to navigate moments of heightened emotion, both for participants and as a facilitator
Deepen our understanding and skills for “witnessing” and “mirroring”
Explore “turning into the skid”
Getting Here
Topa Institute, Topa Institute, Ojai Santa Paula Road, Ojai, CA, USA
Accommodation
Early Bird Price through Sept 10
Program Price - includes 2 nights of campsite
Last Chance
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