Beyond Boundaries - Advanced Boundary Skills for Anxious Systems
If you’re reading this, chances are that you are familiar with LeaderWise’s Not Your Average Boundaries Training (NYABT), which has become a frequently requested and offered LeaderWise workshop. If you are not, NYABT is a 6-hour workshop that teaches participants about types of boundaries and how they function, offers two different yet complementary frameworks for working with various boundary issues, and has a strong focus on personal wellness. This focus comes from both research and our own experiences, both of which demonstrate that serious boundary violations do not happen out of the blue but rather are the result of many prior boundary crossings of lesser magnitude. Additionally, it is not sociopaths and predators we need to watch out for; boundary violations are primarily committed by reasonably well-trained individuals who are experiencing extraordinary stress. By focusing on personal wellness, our goal is to give church professionals the awareness and tools they need in order to avoid stressful, boundary-threatening situations.
Sometimes, however, personal wellness is not sufficient for the challenges of our various professional contexts. Faith communities, hospitals, institutions of higher learning, and even extended families are all systems, and each system has its own complexities. These complexities might include, but are not limited to: cultural differences, political differences, financial challenges, chronic illness/mental illness/addiction, shifting demographics, social justice concerns, lack of trust, abuse of power, and more. Complexities in a system lead to anxiety in a system, which in turn leads to unhealthy patterns in the system. When faced with systemic challenges such as these, ministry professionals often find that no matter how robust their own personal wellness might be, it is not sufficient to protect the system from boundary-threatening situations.
At LeaderWise, we have seen situations in which anxiety and dysfunction in systems can have devastating consequences, which is why we developed Beyond Boundaries, our advanced boundaries training. Beyond Boundaries picks up where NYABT leaves off, assuming that participants have done the necessary work to understand and enhance their own personal wellness and taking the work a step farther into the tasks of understanding and strengthening their own resilience. Through a series of large group learning, small group practice and conversation, and individual reflection, Beyond Boundaries participants are guided through a process that will enhance their resilience and fortify their ability to differentiate themselves from the unhealthy and dysfunctional patterns that frequently arise in anxious systems. Beyond Boundaries equips leaders not only to resist getting caught up in dysfunction but also to contribute to the work of restoring health to anxious systems.
Are you intrigued? Interested? Feeling like this might be exactly what you need? Well, you’re in luck because we will be offering Beyond Boundaries to the public on October 15 and 16. The training will take place from 1:00 – 3:30 pm Central Time each day (starting at 2pm Eastern, noon Mountain, and 11:00 am Pacific) and will be offered live via Zoom. Please follow this link to the course description on our website for more information or to indicate your interest in participating. To inquire about bringing Beyond Boundaries to your organization, please contact Cindy Halvorson for more information.
