Circling and authentic relating

Domain XIV · Western esoteric, divinatory & new spiritual movements · Guy Sengstock, Jerry Candelaria, Bryan Bayer · 1995 · San Francisco Bay Area

What it is

Circling and authentic relating are a family of group relational practices, not a psychotherapy and not a single trademarked programme. Practitioners call AR a "secular awareness practice" that helps people notice more of what is happening in themselves, others and the group; its own writers say it…

Format

• Entry: drop-in evenings and meetups. Small groups (the Circling Institute gives about 4 to 10 people) sit in a circle with a facilitator; an evening opens with introductions and an AR exercise, then circling rounds in which attention rests mainly on one person at a time. AR evenings run structured…
• Courses. Multi-week introductory series, for example a five-workshop series built on the five principles, combining AR games, embodiment practices in pairs or small groups, and circles.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Advanced and facilitator training. Year-long programmes (e.g. the Circling Institute's training; earlier the Integral Center's T3), Circling Europe's six-month intensive facilitator training, Authentic Revolution's Facilitator Academy, and online platforms with many weekly sessions. Certification and the right to use the trademark are tied to licensed schools.
• The implied theory of change, as practitioners state it, is that being accurately seen and heard in the present moment, hearing one's impact on others, and not being advised or fixed, lets people feel less alone and expands awareness and self-acceptance over time. Evidence status in one line: no controlled outcome studies of circling or AR are known; the older research on large-group awareness trainings (LGATs)…
• History and organisations, as the Circling Guide (a practitioner-run site) reports them: the practice emerged in several groups from about 1995; the name and the first paid groups date to 1998 in the San Francisco Bay Area (the Arete Experience weekend, Guy Sengstock and Jerry Candelaria, to 2008); Bryan Bayer and Decker Cunov built Authentic SF and the Integral style with the Integral Center in Boulder (Robert…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• the client hearing referral as disapproval of their community.
• couples where one partner uses circling language to override the other.
• facilitators or peers handling a crisis inside the group without professional help.
• the therapy hour turning into a circle; the therapist being drawn into the community's hierarchy.
• events with no stated agreements or opt-out; costs that are non-refundable once the client is inside.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.