Story Groups: Unlocking You is a group experience curriculum written and taught by professional counselors Cyndi and Steve Mesmer. This curriculum is intended for experienced Story group facilitators to use to start their own Story Groups in their particular setting. The curriculum comes with 11 pre-recorded teaching videos, 12 leader tip videos, a 75 page leaders manual, a 50 page participants manual, all with lifetime access to the content.   The curriculum can be customized to accommodate a weekly group experience(10-12 weeks needed) or a multiple weekend intensive.  Additionally this curriculum comes with one year of monthly group coaching with Cyndi Mesmer.  

Cyndi and Steve Mesmer have been Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors for more than 25 years each.  They are both trained in Narrative Focused Trauma work with The Allender Center and Cyndi is part of the teaching staff at The Allender Center.  

Cyndi and Steve have spent the last decade writing curriculum for and running dozens of Story Groups.  Cyndi also coaches Story Group leaders individually and runs a weekly consultation Story Group for seasoned story group leaders.  They have taken all those years of experience of constructing and facilitating story groups and created the Story Groups: Unlocking You curriculum.

Topics include: 

• • Introduction to Story and how engaging stories works?  
  • How to write and engage a Story.  
  • What does it mean to grieve our stories.  
  • How we invite and participate in reenactments of our core wounds. 
  • What happens when we are misnamed? 
  • Attachment: Its impact and Healing
  • How we are alienated from ourselves and the collective community.  
  • Healing is a lifelong process. 

You are living a story.  How well do you know your story?  What we have found is that most people haven’t explored the stories that most shaped them into the people they are today.    

When we look at ourselves through the powerful framework of story, we begin to encounter those hidden or misunderstood parts of ourselves and gain new insights and understanding that promote new ways of relating to others and change how we experience the world.    

We were hurt by people.  We need to be healed by people.  Being in a supportive community of fellow story group travelers, led by a skilled guide, creates a healing space to do our work.   Nothing in our 25 plus years of experience promotes change and personal growth like group work. 

The curriculum is intended for leaders already familiar with Story Group work so that they can offer this plug and play Story group experience to the people they serve and work with.  Anyone desiring to know themselves better and/or address childhood stories of harm is appropriate to enroll as a participant. 

Simply put, to extend your reach as a story group facilitator and to become a part of a supportive community of Story group facilitators.  You have already been trained in Story group work and have learned how to engage another persons story with skill, deep respect and unfiltered curiosity.  You also know the demands and rewards of Story Group work.  The Story Groups: Unlocking You curriculum allows you to utilize your skill and minimize some of the work.  This curriculum allows you to focus on what you love to do and and become the story guide your participants need.  As an Unlocking You Facilitator you can offer your participants a professional level teaching curriculum, a participants manual with weekly reflection questions, and receive weekly video coaching tips on how to maximize the group experience for your participants.  You also have access to monthly coaching with Cyndi Mesmer where you can ask additional questions and connect with other Story Group: Unlocking You facilitators. We can’t wait for you to join the team!

YES!  This is one of the many options of becoming an Unlocking You facilitator.  The curriculum pays for itself in the first group!  We have taken out all the guess work and done all the detail and teaching work for you.  We created both a 12 week and weekend intensive structure that you can run in your own setting with paid participants.  And we include sample pay structures in the leaders guide.  We also filmed a promotional video for you to use to advertise your new Story Group.  We truly want you the facilitator to be able to use this curriculum as you see fit in your community.

It is necessary to have a background and training in Trauma Informed Story Group facilitation.  This prior training will have included a framework for understanding the nature of trauma, how early experiences of harm shape a persons development and a deep respect, unfiltered curiosity and commitment to a non judgmental approach to engaging participants stories.  Additionally, it is imperative that a Story Group: Unlocking You facilitator has done their own Story work and understands how their story will likely collide with a participants story.   

If you do not have this background and experience, you can receive this training at the next Trauma Focused Narrative Group Training at The Art of Living Counseling Center.  Register here: Trauma Focused Narrative Group Training

One of the benefits to this curriculum is its flexibility.  All of the teaching and facilitator tips are accessed through the pre recorded streaming content online.  This makes virtual groups easy to structure and create.  A facilitator can also create and run a fully in-person group or run a hybrid group of both in-person and virtual participants.  For an in-person and hybrid group experience the facilitator simply needs to have a space to meet, a monitor and speakers to display the teaching and a computer to stream the content from.  

• • 11 Teaching Topics for Participants
  • 12 Teaching Tips for Facilitators throughout the course specifically for facilitators to help support you in leading you own story group
  • A 75-page Practical Leaders Guide that will help give you some valuable information in setting up your story group
  • A 50-page Participants Guide with teaching notes of each segment and take home reflection questions
  • One year of monthly live Zoom sessions with Cyndi Mesmer for coaching and support that will be recorded and available if unable to attend
  • Lifetime access to content