EALC Discussion Group Email: Guidelines and How it Works

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Welcome to the Pilot AEDP EALC (Experiential Assistant Learning Community) Discussion Group email.

The purpose of the EALC Discussion Group email is 2-fold and emergent!

First, the Group is for Experiential Assistants to connect around being an EA. Share “case studies” of experiences from EA groups; ask questions about what to expect, write about what you gain from the experience, and what you struggle with. This is a forum to support fellow EAs, share ideas, resources, and constructive advice.

Second, the Discussion Group offers an opportunity for EAs to more broadly explore AEDP clinical questions, insights and stories among fellow Level 2, Level 3, Certified AEDP therapists and Certified AEDP supervisors who are especially active in the AEDP community. 

Six Fast Facts about the Pilot EALC Discussion Group

  1. All members of EALC are automatically added to the Group – you may opt out at any time.
  2. Only members can “post;” posts should be emailed to EALC@aedpinstitute.org.
  3. Posts are added to a daily digest that is sent to EALC members once per day.
  4. This is a pilot! The admin team will ask members at regular intervals: how is it going? how can it be made more valuable? how we can improve guidelines? does it need moderating? etc.
  5. As implied above, the pilot EALC Discussion Group is not moderated – i.e. no one checks messages before they are posted. Note that the AEDP admin team has access to the email and to archived messages.
  6. Group conscience, guided by AEDP ethos, is as important as these guidelines in determining the tone and content of discussion. By AEDP ethos we mean, among other things: employing compassion, curiosity, openness to diverse ways of thinking and being; privileging the positive; never shaming/ blaming/ or lecturing; repairing when things go awry. 

Eight Guidelines for the Pilot EALC Discussion Group

These are “starting” guidelines for this pilot Discussion Group. Please discuss them! If it emerges that an aspect of the structure or guidelines needs to change, let’s survey members and change. For now, the guidelines:

1) EALC Group emails/posts should be relevant to most or all AEDP EA’s. Please backchannel posts/emails meant for one or a small subset of EAs. Same goes for responses – backchannel unless they are for everyone.

2) Stay mindful of the 2-fold purpose of the EALC Discussion Group:

a) For EAs to connect around the experience of being an EA. Case studies from EA groups in courses: what you love about the experience, what you learn, what you struggle with. This is a forum to share support, ideas, resources, and constructive advice about EAing- without lecturing or being lectured. 

b) AEDP clinical questions, insights, exploration of the model: opportunity for discussion among Level 2, Level 3, Certified AEDP therapists and Certified AEDP supervisors who are especially active in the AEDP community. 

3) Respect Client Privacy: When you share clinical stories or questions, always make them 100% anonymous! Group emails/posts are NOT private communications.

4) Welcome lots of voices: Encourage infrequent posters by taking their posts seriously, responding in a way that supports belonging. If you find yourself posting a lot more than others, consider taking some time off. 

5) Stay calm: We are living in challenging times; many of us are on edge; online communications can be easily misconstrued. Please keep the EALC Discussion Group a calm, curious, compassionate forum to ask questions and express oneself. If you are upset by a colleague’s post, consider waiting a day before responding, and then if you respond, please backchannel. 

6) Keep it ad free! This Group is not meant for commercial purposes; no promoting the services of others or your own. Please use the member bulletin board for your AEDP offerings like supervision groups etc.

7) Keep it referral free! Please use the Referral network – not this Group – for client referrals.

8) Keep it low on Institute administration issues: The EALC Discussion Group is not regularly monitored by admin (or faculty). Institute admin team is happy to receive and respond to your questions, proposals and concerns about Institute issues – please send them to admin@aedpinstitute.org. 

9) The tough stuff: The Institute, in its sole discretion, has the right to remove someone’s access to the Group and will do so when they do not abide by the guidelines; and, the Institute may eliminate the Group email entirely if in the Institute’s sole discretion, it becomes an unhealthy environment.