applied
trauma-informed
online course 2024
online course 2024
Global Social Witnessing Facilitator Training
Holding Space for a World in Transition
In an era of escalating global crises, the ability to witness and respond with presence and compassion is more crucial than ever. The Global Social Witnessing Facilitator Training offers a deep exploration into the practice of attuning to world events with an embodied awareness, fostering a culture of conscious global citizenship. This training is designed for individuals who seek to move beyond passive consumption of news and into a space of active witnessing, where presence becomes a transformative force for healing and change.
Together, we will find out how this time of instability can become an opportunity for strengthening resilience, reconnecting to our innate agency, and stepping forward with thoughtful action.
With Thomas Hübl, Willam Ury, Deb Dana and Bayo Akomolafe
The training unfolds in three phases, each building on the last. Phase I is now open for registration. This foundational phase is a prerequisite for continuing into the later stages of the training. Registration for Phase II will open in late June and will be available by application only.
A 6-module training featuring esteemed teachers such as Bayo Akomolafe, Deb Dana, William Ury, Thomas Hübl, and Kosha Joubert. Focuses on cultivating mindful attention, personal and collective presence, and the ability to hold space to help overcome polarization in the face of the unfolding realities of our world.
MODULE 1:
Global Social Witnessing –Mindfully Attending to our World
WITH KOSHA JOUBERT
WED, JUNE 11, 2025 - 18:00-20:00 BERLIN
- Understand the core principles and practice of Global Social Witnessing (GSW) as a means of engaging with global challenges.
- Develop the ability to cultivate mindful attention and presence when witnessing events or realities in the world.
- Explore the interconnectedness of personal, relational, and systemic dimensions in the practice of GSW.
MODULE 2: Cultivating our Interiority as a We-Space – Coherence and Resonance
WITH BAYO AKOMOLAFE
MON, JUNE 23, 2025 - 18:00-20:00 BERLIN
- Discover the dynamics of creating a “we-space” through shared intention, resonance, and relational presence.
- Practice deep listening and empathetic connection to enhance coherence within a group.
- Explore the transformative power of collective witnessing and its impact on group dynamics.
with Bayo Akomolafe
1. See session above
2. 24 Jun - 18:00 - 20:00 CEST/ BERLIN
3. 25 Jun - 18:00 - 20:00 CEST/ BERLIN
MODULE 3:
Cultivating my Interiority as a Witness – Resourcing, Presence, and Relating
WITH DEB DANA
WED, JULY 2, 2025 - 18:00-20:00 BERLIN
- Learn practices to develop inner resources such as mindfulness, resilience, and compassion for sustaining presence.
- Explore the role of personal awareness and emotional regulation in the process of witnessing.
- Strengthen your capacity to relate to yourself and others with openness and nonjudgmental awareness.
MODULE 4:
Exploring the Edge of our World - Growing our Vessel
WITH WILLIAM URY
WED, JULY 9, 2025 - 18:00-20:00 BERLIN
- Engage with practices that expand your capacity to hold uncertainty, complexity, and difficult emotions.
- Develop awareness of your growth edges as a witness and learn to approach them with curiosity and openness.
- Strengthen your ability to stay present and grounded when encountering the unknown or challenging realities.
MODULE 5: Growing Fertile Soil - Trusting the Impact
WITH THOMAS HÜBL
MON, JULY 14, 2025 - 18:00-20:00 BERLIN
- Reflect on the personal and collective impact of GSW and its potential to inspire change and healing.
- Develop trust in the unseen yet profound effects of mindful witnessing on systemic transformation.
- Integrate the practice of GSW into daily life as a way of nurturing a deeper connection with the world.
Integration Session
WITH KOSHA JOUBERT
WED, JULY 16, 2025 - 18:00-20:00 BERLIN
2 months
Course Duration
12 hours
Certification
Live & Recorded
Online Course
2 hours
Weekly Time Investment
Global Social Witnessing is the human capacity to mindfully attend to global events with an embodied awareness, thereby creating an inner world space that mirrors and brings compassion to these events. Rather than being mere bystanders, we learn to witness with our bodies, hearts, and minds—turning toward, rather than away from, the challenges of our time.
At the Pocket Project, we recognize that unresolved systemic and multigenerational trauma delays human development, harms the natural world, and inhibits higher evolution. True healing and peace-building begin with our ability to be present with what is happening both internally and externally. This practice cultivates a more precise and embodied sense of relatedness to world events, acknowledging that the social body is developing through all of us.
Through Global Social Witnessing, we actively co-shape events by our intentionality and awareness. This training provides a foundation for deepening our capacity to witness, relate, and respond to global events with integrity and compassion.
Basic Principles of Global Social Witnessing
June 11 – July 16, 2025
A 6-module training featuring esteemed teachers such as Bayo Akomolafe, Deb Dana, William Ury, Thomas Hübl, and Kosha Joubert.
Focuses on cultivating mindful attention, personal and collective presence, and the ability to hold space to help overcome polarization in the face of the unfolding realities of our world.
Global Social Witnessing Facilitation Skills
September – October 2025
A 6-module training led by expert facilitators including Thomas Hübl, Jens Riese, Karen Simms, Robin Alfred, and Kosha Joubert.
Equips participants with the skills to facilitate GSW spaces, build coherence within groups, and engage with conflict and emergence in transformative ways.
Global Social Witnessing Practice Phase
November 2025 – May 2026
Provides an extended period for practical integration while facilitating GSW spaces, ongoing learning, and guided support from experienced mentors, Manda Johnson, Robert Buxbaum and Kosha Joubert with Thomas Hübl.
Respect and Resource Your Inner Capacity – Recognize your limits, self-regulate, and stay resourced—building sustainable ways to engage with world events.
Move from Reaction to Thoughtful Action – Respond to global events with clarity and care—replacing urgency and shutdown with presence and discernment.
Host Dialogue Beyond Division – Hold space for differing perspectives, softening polarization and fostering connection, understanding, and resilience.
Engage in Subtle, Regenerative Activism – Practice witnessing that nurtures healing, solidarity, and the quiet transformation of collective consciousness.
Facilitate Spaces that Restore Agency and Connection – Guide witnessing processes that awaken insight, resilience, and the power to act—together.
One of the most urgent challenges of our time is the increasing polarization within societal spaces. This training equips facilitators with the ability to host spaces where multiple perspectives can be held with care, fostering dialogue rather than division. Through deep listening, embodied awareness, and compassionate witnessing, we learn how to navigate and soften polarization, allowing for the emergence of new pathways toward understanding and reconciliation. By developing the capacity to remain present with differing viewpoints, we support a culture that moves beyond fragmentation into deeper relationality and collective wisdom.
When we fail to fully embody and process the events we hear about, we lose our ability to relate deeply. A desensitized social body lacks compassion, resilience, and regenerative power. This training invites participants to reclaim the witnessing consciousness within culture—an essential step toward self-correction and collective healing.
In the face of issues like climate change, social injustice, war, and systemic trauma, Global Social Witnessing equips us to hold space for difficult realities while fostering greater collective coherence. As we refine our ability to relate to global events, we co-create a more conscious and compassionate world.
Thomas Hübl
Thomas Hübl, PhD, is a renowned teacher, author, and international facilitator who works within the complexity of systems and cultural change, integrating the core insights of the great wisdom traditions and mysticism with the discoveries of science. Since the early 2000s, he has led large-scale events and courses on the healing of collective trauma.
He is the author of Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma—and Our World and Healing Collective Trauma: A Process for Integrating Our Intergenerational and Cultural Wounds. He has served as an advisor and guest faculty for universities and organizations, as a coach for CEOs and organizational leaders, and is currently a visiting scholar at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.
Deb Dana
Bayo Akomolafe
Bayo Akomolafe, PhD, rooted with the Yoruba people in a more-than-human world, is the father to Alethea Aanya and Kyah Jayden Abayomi, the grateful life-partner to Ije, son and brother. A widely celebrated international speaker, posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, public intellectual, essayist, and author of two books, These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak, Bayo Akomolafe is the Founder of The Emergence Network, a planet-wide initiative that seeks to convene communities in new ways in response to the critical, civilizational challenges we face as a species. He is host of the postactivist course/festival/event, ‘We Will Dance with Mountains’. He currently lectures at Pacifica Graduate Institute, California. He sits on the Board of many organizations including Science and Non-Duality (US) and Ancient Futures (Australia).
William Ury
William Ury is a co-founder of Harvard’s Program on Negotiation and a globally recognized expert in negotiation and mediation. He is the author of Getting to Yes, one of the world’s best-selling books on negotiation, and currently serves as a Distinguished Fellow at the Harvard Negotiation Project.
For over 35 years, William has advised and mediated in complex conflicts worldwide, ranging from labor disputes such as the Kentucky wildcat coal mine strikes to ethnic conflicts in the Middle East, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union. He has worked as a trusted mediator in high-stakes environments and has trained tens of thousands of individuals—from corporate executives to diplomats and military officers—in negotiation and mediation skills.
William Ury is renowned for his ability to bridge divides, foster understanding, and create pathways to peace in even the most challenging situations.
Kosha Joubert
Kosha Joubert serves as CEO of the Pocket Project. She holds an MSc in Organisational Development, is an international facilitator, author, coach and consultant, and has worked extensively in the fields of sustainable development, curriculum development and intercultural collaboration.
Kosha grew up in South Africa under Apartheid and has been dedicated to the healing of divides and collective trauma ever since. She has been learning with Thomas for 15 years. She has served as a host and mentor for almost all of Thomas Hübl’s online courses, co-moderated two of the Celebrate Life Festivals and was a co-host of the 2019 and 2020 Online Summit on Collective Trauma.
Phase I of the training is now open for registration. Registration to Phase II & III will open subsequently.
The training unfolds in three phases, each building on the last. Phase I is now open for registration. This foundational phase is a prerequisite for continuing into the later stages of the training. Registration for Phase II will open in late June and will be available by application only.
Scholarships
We are offering 75%, 50% and 25% scholarships for the Global Social Witnessing Facilitator Training 2025 to participants from crisis areas, people of colour from the ‘Global South’ and indigenous leaders.
Scholarships
We are offering 75%, 50% and 25% scholarships for the Global Social Witnessing Facilitator Training 2025 to participants from crisis areas, people of colour from the ‘Global South’ and indigenous leaders.
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