32 years of a CCI newsletter

Written by Niek | 26 May 2010
Posted in CCI history

The Opening Circle (autumn 2010 edition), newsletter of the Aotearoa/ New Zealand Co-Counselling Community, announces their winter gathering at Taurewa (June 4th till 7th) in the Northern Island. Besides a photo of 'an advanced wave' (members of a recent advanced co-counselling course lead by Rex McCann, Anne Bailey and team) in this newsletter, there is also attention to some history. This contains a description of the setting up of (CCI) co-counselling in New Zealand.

The story is: 'Sometime around September, 1978 at the first get-together of Wellington co-counsellors, a newsletter was proposed and six weeks later emerged as 'FREE-FOR-ALL CO-COUNSELLING NEWSLETTER NO. 1', compiled by Allison Webber. With the comment that it '...could be the one and only edition...'.

Ros Capper reports in that no 1: ' In 1976-77 I went to the UK to experience and study group work there. I lived at Quaesitor, a centre for group work in the UK. Their brochure advertised a 5 day basic co-counselling course led by John Heron. Out of curiosity I attended this course right at the end of my 10 month stay, and life for me has never been the same since! The co-counselling concepts of peer counselling, of 'each person is their own expert', of facilitator style, of celebration of strengths as well as the electric [sic] but firmly based theory were very attractive to me. I returned to NZ shortly afterwards, unable to attend the advanced course.'
In January of the following year (1977) she wrote asking John Heron, 'to consider teaching co-counselling here' (in New Zealand); 78 people attended the basic courses and 34 the advanced courses in August/September that year in Auckland and Wellington'.
From these beginnings, 'The Opening Circle' emerged and with this Autumn 2010 issue is being distributed to many network members by email for the first time.