ABOUT THE DARING WAY™ GROUPS, INTENSIVES, AND RETREATS
The Daring Way™is a highly experiential methodology based on the research of Dr. Brené Brown. The method was designed for work with individuals, couples, families, teenagers & young adults, work teams, and organizational leaders. It can be facilitated in clinical, educational, and professional settings. During the process facilitators lead exploration in topics such as vulnerability, courage, shame, and worthiness. Participants are invited to examine the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that are holding them back and identify the new choices and practices that will move them toward more authentic and wholehearted living. The primary focus is on developing shame resilience skills and developing daily practices that transform the way we live, love, parent, and lead.
The Daring Way™ Curricula include: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, and for high schoolers or college age young adults there is BOLD: live Brave. be Original. Love big. Dare greatly.
Here’s how Brené describes the progression of her work:
The Gifts of Imperfection – Be you.
Daring Greatly – Be all in.
Rising Strong – Fall. Get up. Try again.
ABOUT THE GIFTS OF IMPERFECTION™ GROUP CURRICULUM
When our embarrassments and fears lie, we often listen to them anyway. They thwart our gratitude, acceptance, and compassion—our goodness. They insist, “I am not worthy.” But we are worthy—of self-discovery, personal growth, and boundless love.
In this group we will read Brené Brown’s game-changing New York Times bestseller The Gifts of Imperfection—which has sold more than 2 million copies in more than 30 different languages, and Forbes recently named one of the “Five Books That Will Actually Change Your Outlook On Life”.
With the book as our companion, we will get messy. Together, in group discussion and facilitated art exercises we will find the courage to overcome paralyzing fear and self-consciousness, strengthening our connection to the world.
A motivational and inspiring guide to wholehearted living, bolsters the self-esteem and personal development process through her characteristic heartfelt, honest storytelling. With original research and plenty of encouragement, she explores the psychology of releasing our definitions of an “imperfect” life and embracing living authentically. Brown’s “ten guideposts” are benchmarks for authenticity that can help anyone establish a practice for a life of honest beauty—a perfectly imperfect life.
Now more than ever, we all need to cultivate feelings of self-worth, as well as acceptance and love for ourselves. In a world where insults, criticisms, and fears are spread too generously alongside messages of unrealistic beauty, attainment, and expectation, we look for ways to “dig deep” and find truth and gratitude in our lives. A new way forward means we can’t hold on too tightly to our own self-defeating thoughts or the displaced pain in our world. Instead, we can embrace the imperfection.
The Gifts of Imperfection course contains 12 lessons. Each one includes:
- A learning intention, at least two activities, and will take one to two hours to complete.
- Reading assignments for participants to complete in advance of each meeting.
- Creative workbook activities to be done in-person when you meet. Some of the activities will be assigned as homework between meetings, leaving more of your in-person time to process the activities and share insights. Almost all lessons include materials that participants need to bring, such as photos.
- DIG Deep Commitments (Get Deliberate; Get Inspired; Get Going) made in person at the end of each lesson and then put into practice before the next meeting.
ABOUT DARING GREATLY™ GROUP CURRICULUM
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”—Theodore Roosevelt
Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable or to dare greatly. Based on twelve years of pioneering research, Brené Brown PhD, LMSW, dispels the cultural myth that vulnerability is weakness and argues that it is, in truth, our most accurate measure of courage.
Brown explains how vulnerability is both the core of difficult emotions like fear, grief, and disappointment, and the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, empathy, innovation, and creativity. She writes: “When we shut ourselves off from vulnerability, we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.”
Daring Greatly is not about winning or losing. It’s about courage. In a world where “never enough” dominates and feeling afraid has become second nature, vulnerability is subversive. Uncomfortable. It’s even a little dangerous at times. And, without question, putting ourselves out there means there’s a far greater risk of getting criticized or feeling hurt. But when we step back and examine our lives, we will find that nothing is as uncomfortable, dangerous, and hurtful as standing on the outside of our lives looking in and wondering what it would be like if we had the courage to step into the arena—whether it’s a new relationship, an important meeting, the creative process, or a difficult family conversation. Daring Greatly is a practice and a powerful new vision for letting ourselves be seen.
Engage with other women and men on this transformative journey to WholeHeartedness. Show up, Be seen, and Live brave™
- Discover how vulnerability is true courage and the foundation for real connection and relationship.
- Learn to embrace all parts of you, as you quiet the inner critic and debunk negative beliefs that are keeping you small.
- Experience and internalize more compassion for yourself and others.
- Practice speaking your mind with an open heart, as you are able to ask for what you need.
- Become more confident and at ease as you share your gifts with others.
ABOUT RISING STRONG™ GROUP CURRICULUM
The physics of vulnerability is simple: If we are brave enough, often enough, we will fall. Rising Strong is about what it takes to get back up and how owning our stories of struggle gives us the power to write a daring new ending. Struggle can be our greatest call to courage and the clearest path to a wholehearted life.
Social scientist Brené Brown has ignited a global conversation on courage, vulnerability, shame, and worthiness. Her pioneering work uncovered a profound truth: Vulnerability—the willingness to show up and be seen with no guarantee of outcome—is the only path to more love, belonging, creativity, and joy. But living a brave life is not always easy: We are, inevitably, going to stumble and fall.
It is the rise from falling that Brown takes as her subject in Rising Strong. As a grounded theory researcher, Brown has listened as a range of people—from leaders in Fortune 500 companies and the military to artists, couples in long-term relationships, teachers, and parents—shared their stories of being brave, falling, and getting back up. She asked herself, What do these people with strong and loving relationships, leaders nurturing creativity, artists pushing innovation, and clergy walking with people through faith and mystery have in common? The answer was clear: They recognize the power of emotion and they’re not afraid to lean in to discomfort.
Walking into our stories of hurt can feel dangerous. But the process of regaining our footing in the midst of struggle is where our courage is tested and our values are forged. Our stories of struggle can be big ones, like the loss of a job or the end of a relationship, or smaller ones, like a conflict with a friend or colleague. Regardless of magnitude or circumstance, the rising strong process is the same: We reckon with our emotions and get curious about what we’re feeling; we rumble with our stories until we get to a place of truth; and we live this process, every day, until it becomes a practice and creates nothing short of a revolution in our lives. Rising strong after a fall is how we cultivate wholeheartedness. It’s the process, Brown writes, that teaches us the most about who we are.
ABOUT BOLD: live Brave. be Original. Love big. Dare greatly. GROUP CURRICULUM
A Courage Building Program for Adolescents and Young Adults
BOLD is an 18-session NEW group curriculum from The Daring Way™. It combines and adapts Brené Brown’s research, to be more relevant to the developmental issues and concerns of young, emerging adults.
About Brené Brown
The Daring Way™ method is based on the research of Brené Brown, Ph.D. LMSW. Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent the past twelve years studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame. Her groundbreaking research has been featured on PBS, NPR, CNN, and Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sunday.
Brené is the author of two #1 New York Times bestsellers; Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead (2012), and The Gifts of Imperfection (2010). She is also the author of I Thought It Was Just Me (2007).
Brené’s 2010 TEDx Houston talk “The Power of Vulnerability” is one of the top ten most viewed TED talks in the world, with over 14 million viewers. Additionally, Brené gave the closing talk at the 2012 TED conference, where she talked about shame, courage, and innovation.
Further information is available at www.brenebrown.com.
If you are interested in learning more about the content of the groups and Brené Brown’s work, watch her TED talks here: