Facing Human Wrongs: Unsettling Wellness

Students are strongly encouraged to have engaged with the work of the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Collective via the course Facing Human Wrongs and/or Sensing Harm by Design or reading Hospicing Modernity. Please note that if you have not taken these offerings, we will still welcome you into the course with the understanding that the on ramp might feel shorter and bumpier.

We ask you to take this self-assessment questionnaire to further assist you in determining whether the course Facing Human Wrongs: Unsettling Wellness (FHW:UW) is suitable for your needs.

Unsettling wellness utilizes the methodology of FHW, including the Broccoli Seed Agreement, and requires participants to be ready to be challenged in their view of themselves as care workers, their professions, and of the world, to navigate the complexity of their own emotions and identities and to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty: the fact that there are no universal answers, formulas, solutions or course methodologies that can work for everyone.

Participants who benefit the most from this course are those who are looking for experiences where they can:

• be present to and process the harms caused by humanity and specifically by care work
• see themselves as part of humanity, and the whole spectrum of humanity within themselves, including the good, the bad, the ugly and the messed up
• confront their personal and professional compulsions, problematic patterns of thinking and behaviour, and perceived entitlements, and how they affect their relationships
• develop (self) compassion and resilience to witness the human predicament as care workers in the long haul, including capabilities to decentre the human experience
• redefine community beyond human relationships and interrupt conditioned patterns of relationship building that demand transactional validation, which can be essential in creating healthy relationships beyond the course.

 Please note that if you fit any of the situations below, the course is not recommended for you.

• if you require a substantial sense of certainty and control
• if you are a survivor of abuse who is actively working through trauma that requires extensive support
• if you are looking for a community that can validate your opinions and meet your expectations for individual care, attention and belonging

We strongly ask you to please pause and consider if now is the right time for you to engage in this experience at this time in your professional life. Reflecting on your practices of self- and co-regulation may be useful before you begin, as well as perhaps checking in with a trusted friend, elder, and/or therapist. During the course, you are welcome to reach out to the Unsettling Wellness (UW) instructors for assistance in learning from observing your internal responses, although we are not able to provide therapy.

Fee structure

This course includes a sliding fee scale. When registering, please select the fee type that applies to you.

1. Base fee: The base course fee is $865 CAD (with 50% of net proceeds redistributed to Indigenous-led projects in the Amazon and northeast of Brazil)
2. Pay-it-forward fee: Please consider paying this amount ($1,300 CAD) to contribute towards the participation of more people if you:
   • have the ability to comfortably meet all your basic needs and have a relatively high degree of earning power due to level of education, social class or other forms of privilege
   • belong to a sponsoring organization, are employed full-time or work part-time by choice
   • own the home you live in, have investments, retirement accounts, inherited money, or have access to family money and resources in times of need
   • travel recreationally
3. Reduced fee: You can also choose the reduced fee ($435 CAD) if you:
   • have difficulty covering basic expenses for you and/or your family
   • have medical expenses not covered by insurance
   • are an elder with limited financial support