FACILITATORS

Become a facilitator

Help girls gain confidence and connection with their body

 

Many girls associate the experience of menstruation with secrecy, shame, humiliation and disgust.

This negativity often affects a girl’s sense of self, her confidence, body awareness and emotional realms, which can impact her outlook at school and home, her relationships and her wellbeing.

Celebration Day for Girls facilitators work to powerfully transform this deep cultural wound at its source.

We don’t give dry lectures on biology facts. Instead, our facilitators create a relaxed group experience and sense of celebration to help our next generation develop a practical and positive approach to a natural part of life.

By becoming a facilitator, you can help young girls in your community connect with and listen to their body and understand what they need. This gives them the confidence to speak up and/or care for themselves.

This work is an opportunity to overturn the long-established culture of secrecy and isolation around periods.

Does this light you up?

In-Person Training Info Pack
Online Training Info Pack

What we look for

Our small-group training is offered to women selected for their skills, experience and passion to embrace this role.

While no specific prior professional training or practice is essential, it is expected that you have experience facilitating groups, and have explored menstrual cycle awareness in at least one of many possible ways. This could include, for example:

  • tracking your physical signs of fertility to understand fertile and infertile times in the cycle
  • journaling with an awareness of the cycle to deepen your understanding of yourself, or
  • observing nature’s cycles and how they may reflect your lived experience of the menstrual cycle.

Training available in English, French and Spanish.

 

Online Training Info Pack
In-Person Training Info Pack

Upcoming training dates

En Présentiel: 16-18 OCTOBER 2021

Narbonne, France, avec Brigitte Laurent

Pour postuler en français en ligne,  RENDEZ-VOUS ICI, or you can use the English application form above and below. Vous pouvez télécharger le LIVRET D’INFORMATION 2021 FLP ici. Pour en savoir plus sur la formation sur le site français CLIQUEZ ICI.

2022 dates coming soon!

Interested?

Find out more with our FAQs below.

Contact us to receive new training date announcements.

Express your interest by completing an application.

Apply now: Facilitator Training

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Do I need medical qualifications to be a Celebration Day for Girls facilitator?

No. You do need to have experience of consciously living with your menstrual cycle, and an ability to share your understanding and positive approach to connecting with your menstrual cycle as a normal and natural part of life. Facilitators work with  – to -year-old girls who have little or no experience of periods. As an adult, you already have years of experience you can draw on while facilitating.

As part of our selection process, while no specific prior professional training or practice is essential, it is expected that you have explored menstrual cycle awareness in at least one of many possible ways. This could include, for example:

  • tracking your physical signs of fertility to understand fertile and infertile times in the cycle
  • journaling with an awareness of the cycle to deepen your understanding of yourself, or
  • observing nature’s cycles and how they may reflect your lived experience of the menstrual cycle.

Can I start facilitating my own workshops after I complete my training?

Before you can offer your own Celebration Day for Girls workshops, you will need to gain accreditation through meeting a number of requirements. These include

  • Meeting attendance requirements during training.
  • Undertaking one-on-one mentoring with one of your trainers after training is completed and before you facilitate your first workshop.
  • Providing proof of your capacity to work safely with children with a police check/safeguarding of children certification through the process relevant to your local state or territory.

You will also need to set up a kit of workshop resources. We will provide you with a list of essential and nice-to-have items, their approximate costs and where to purchase them. This kit can be established to suit your budget, and built on as you progress.

If possible, we recommend that you attend a Celebration Day for Girls with an established facilitator as a support facilitator, so that you experience the the flow of both the women’s session and the full day. However, this can’t always be arranged when we have new facilitators who are trailblazers in their region! We will do all that we can to support you on your journey to becoming and being part of our Celebration Day for Girls community.

Most definitely.  An important, and perhaps unspoken, part of the Celebration Day for Girls is that mothers have the opportunity to re-dream a little of their own menarche and menstrual story as they gather with their daughters to celebrate.  Many of us, partly because of cultural silence or even hostility to aspects of women’s bodies, along with inherited physical traits, have experienced a painful time with our periods, both emotionally and physically.

In the Mother’s Session before the Celebration Day you will have an opportunity to express some of your own feelings about your experience of menstruation.  Women have often found this sharing to be revelatory and insightful, both by sharing their own and hearing those of other women, and offers a path to a fresh new relationship with their menstrual cycle and female body. (Please note that while women generally find this valuable there is no compulsion at the Mother’s Session or the Celebration Day for Girls to share personal experiences.)

Dr. Christiane Northrup, in her book Mother-Daughter Wisdom, says, “The mother-daughter relationship is the foundation of every woman’s health.  It has more clout biologically, emotionally and psychologically than any other relationship in a woman’s life.” If you have had a difficult time with your periods you may not want to scare your daughter with graphic descriptions and the key to your support for her at this time is genuine communication and connection. You may like to share with her some of your experience in an age appropriate way as well as speak with her about how you want it to be for her. Allow ample time to hear her questions, ideas and concerns. The Celebration Day for Girls will gently and smoothly support this communication between you.

A Celebration Day for Girls creates a space where girls can feel good about their journey toward inhabiting a woman’s body. As your daughter sits with friends (new or old) and a skilled facilitator she will imbibe a sense that she can experience menstruation each month in a positive way, and that, if she has discomfort or other menstrual problems she can get the support she needs.

The Celebration Day for Girls facilitators have each undergone their own personal journeys with menstruation and have dedicated themselves to the rich practice of menstrual cycle awareness. Through this process they have become passionate educators in this field.

Can I make an income facilitating Celebration Day for Girls workshops?

A REALITY CHECK: Anticipating bookings and income from running Celebration Day for Girls workshops

We understand that your interest in the role of Celebration Day for Girls facilitator derives from your commitment to women’s and girl’s wellbeing, and the importance of positive and skilful preparation and support for menarche and cycling life.

That said it’s likely that you’re also interested in adding this workshop to your suite of professional offerings, or as an extra to your day job, and for the supplementary income it may provide. And this may indeed come to pass.

In the same way that it takes time, for a newly trained herbalist or acupuncturist to develop a reputation and a reliable income, establishing a regular calendar of Celebration Day for Girls workshops takes time and effort and a willingness to take many small steps.

In time some facilitators regularly run 5 to 8 workshops a year, while others only ever planned to run 1 or 2 a year for specific groups. What is unlikely to happen is that you will quickly and easily fill monthly CDGs soon after you train.  This is no reflection on the value of the workshop or your ability or marketing skills, though all these help of course.

As an indication of possible income, the current fee as at July 2020 per mother/daughter pair is AU$165, or AU$125 concession, in Australia.

How do I pay royalties/stay connected to the CDG facilitator community after training?

You remain a welcomed member of our facilitator community, through conversation and meet-ups on our online communication platforms, and ongoing support and professional development opportunities offered on a regular basis.

For the first five years after your first workshop delivery, you pay a small percentage of your workshop income to the Chalice Foundation, which goes toward our ongoing efforts to provide positive menstrual education to those who may not be able to afford it and supporting positive menstrual culture globally.

After your first five years of workshops, you then pay a scaled annual fee (all options less than AU$100 pa) to the Chalice Foundation based on the number of workshops you deliver in that year.

How do I promote my Celebration Day workshops/get bookings?

After you achieve accreditation, you will have participated in our training, which addresses how you go about developing your reputation as a Celebration Day for Girls facilitator and building up your bookings. You will have access to:

     – our established marketing materials

     – the connection and support of your trainers/mentor

     – ongoing access to the wisdom of our CDG facilitator community through Facebook and What’s App groups

     – announcing dates and posting on our Celebration Day for Girls Facebook page

     – contributing to the active feed of pics, dates, links and stories on our Celebration Day for Girls Instagram page.

Also:

See our response above to the question Can I make an income facilitating Celetion Day for Girls workshops?

Where can I deliver Celebration Day for Girls workshops after I'm accredited?

Our facilitators and leadership team use open and supportive relationships and communication, along with practical guidelines (based on past successful outcomes) to help new facilitators develop their reputation and clarify where to deliver Celebration Days in their community.

When selecting people for training, we check for the number of existing facilitators in your region and aim to ensure there is plenty of opportunity for everyone.  Rather than working in allocated, defined ‘territories’, we use a collaborative model to determine the best outcome when two or more facilitators have connections with the same community or school.

How much does the workshop cost?

The fee per girl (that is girl-mother pair) to attend a Celebration Day for Girls is consistent within each country and is reviewed periodically. There may be an additional fee if the facilitator needs to fly or pay for accommodation to run your day or if venue fees are high.

We are keen for this program to be affordable for families and have priced it moderately, furthermore concessions are available for those that need them. In Australia the fee per girl is $165 (as at September 2018). For other countries please contact a facilitator within that country or the one nearest to you. Please note that workshop prices are reviewed periodically and may change.

For the cost of facilitator training – Celebration Day for Girls

See our Online Training Info Pack or our In-person Info Pack (registration is the same rate for either online or in-person training).

Is CDG inclusive of people not conforming to a binary gender identity?

This is a sensitive and complex question. Rather than make a general statement here that may not be useful in individual circumstances, drop us a line and we will endeavour to answer your questions.

Celebration Day for Girls is for girls 10-12 years old or any young person in that age range who menstruates or will menstruate.  

Benefits for my workplace/community

Why pay for this?

Scholarship places

One place in each of our facilitator training course is reserved for an applicant who is on low income. 

Our scholarships are intended to support people who otherwise would not be able to pay the full price of the course, are within minority/marginalised social groups and who can demonstrate a capacity to apply their learned workshop facilitation skills in support of social empowerment and positive menstrual cycle awareness (e.g. through their prior involvement in relevant groups or initiatives). 

The scholarship is subsidised at 70% off the full price. Closing date for the scholarship application for our next intake is one calendar month prior to program start date. 

Please apply through our online scholarship application form here 

Seven women standing arm-in-arm, smiling outside with tall trees behind them