Facilitator Support and

Empathy Buddy Calls

Building Community and Mutual Support for Facilitators


Part of being an Empathy Circle facilitator is to be part of a community and have mutual support from other facilitators so you can support each other when you host Empathy Circles, Cafes, and other projects. As a facilitator, it is important to have as much personal support as possible. By support, we mean where you can share and be empathically heard, feel a connection, get assistance, have a sense of community, have questions answered etc. because it can feel stressful and overwhelming to facilitate Empathy Circles. 

This is especially true when we move into conflict resolution which can feel quite stressful and challenging. When facilitating circles with people who are dealing with deep emotional issues like alienation, depression, grief, trauma, anger, mental illness, dysfunction, addiction, etc. We need to support each other in facilitation.


Your Empathy Buddy Call: Facilitator Community and Mutual Support 

Part of being an Empathy Circle facilitator is to be part of a community and to have mutual support with other facilitators. You can support each other when you host Empathy Circles, Cafes, and other projects. As a facilitator, it is important to have as much personal support as possible.



Description of a Buddy Call


One of the assignments in the training is to take part in an Empathy Buddy call with a different person in the training each week.  Each week you will receive an email with your Empathy Buddy. You will email each other to arrange a time for the call.  The scheduling can be a challenge with finding a time that works.  Different time zones also can complicate connection.  


Tips for Scheduling Your Empathy Buddy Call

The scheduling can be a challenge with finding a time that works.  Different time zones also can complicate connection. 

More Tips for Scheduling


How to Conduct Your Empathy Buddy Call


What to Talk About? Suggested Topics Include: What is your experience of the training to date? What are your concerns, anxieties, fears or expectations? Or just talk about what is on your mind.


Buddy Calls Offer Many Forms of Support to Grow a Culture of Empathy


Personal Support 

We all need support in our lives. This helps ground us, helps with thinking more clearly, helps with releasing frustrations etc.  The calls can be structured in a way that works for everyone.

Pre-Circle Support
Facilitation can be stressful. You can have a pre circle or post circle to be empathically heard.  You share concerns you may have, which can be grounding. You get a bit of an empathy bath.  When we set up the Empathy Tent out in public, for example, we start with the tent team having an Empathy Circle for a quick check in and grounding.

Co-Facilitation Support

You may want to co-facilitate with another facilitator. This can take off some of the pressure of having all the responsibility for the circle. It's helpful to have a pool of facilitators you can reach out to that may co-facilitate a circle with you.  We have a community of facilitators ready to support you. You will also make contacts in the Empathy Training.

Post-Circle Support

After an Empathy Circle, Empathy Cafe, Empathy Tent or Restorative Empathy Circle, where there are multiple breakout circles with facilitators in each one, the facilitators meet to debrief the call or event. This provides an opportunity to share experiences, challenges, successes, learnings and ask questions.

Facebook Empathy Circle Facilitator Support Group

This is a private Facebook Group for individuals that are in the facilitator training or have completed the training. Click on the link to join the group.

Links You May Find Useful


TimeBuddy.com Webpage and App for matching different time zones.


When2Meet.com Quick scheduler. One person creates the schedule of times they have available. They send the link to their buddy and the buddy also adds their available times and can quickly find a time that works for both. Do this right after you get the empathy buddy list. 


Tutorial: When2Meet Tutorial Video .

Weekly Facilitators Support Group Weekly Zoom call where you can come and share an Empathy Circle project you have. This can be an intention, idea, a plan or an actual project in process. You can come to the group to receive feedback and support from other facilitators.  Or just bring any questions, challenges, success, etc. that you would like to share. The dates are usually every second Friday and are announced on the Empathy Circle Development Email List.