Linda Wolf - Creator of teen talking circles - Interview by Sue Van Der Hout
confident 
hopeful optimistic positive assured dynamic full of energy new ideas secure bold self-reliant successful
Mission: To educate, inspire, empower young women and men; foster partnerships between the genders, generations and cultures; and support youth in positive self-expression and social action for a just and sustainable world.
We give youth a safe space to tell the truth and practice Speaking and Listening from the Heart
What are the special needs of girls and at what time are they most vulnerable?
Girls are vulnerable at all ages of their lives, however most girls are most vulnerable at puberty and throughout their teen years due to the degree that they are objectified as sexual objects and feel disempowered in a highly patriarchal world. This experience is heightened and varied due to class and race, power and privilege. There are many special needs girls’ have at this time; certainly feeling seen and valued in their fullness as human beings is most important as they become mature females in the world. Marion Woodman, a close personal advisor recently mentioned the phrase "mature feminine" in a conversation. She defines this as a woman who has healed from the wounds of patriarchy in her life. And I would add, is healing. She also defines the "mature masculine" as a man who has healed the wounds of patriarchy in his life.
What is the magic of a circle in a teen´s life?
Circles, by their very nature on non-hierarchical. Ours intend to give teens a safe space or a safer than usual place, to tell the truth. A sacred space where they can let go of the posturing, the false fronts, the tough guises, and feel connected, accepted, not judged, and witnessed being authentic. When young people feel safe to show up and be real they can drop their defenses, share their wounds, grow, change, dream, and feel empowered to make a difference in their own lives and in the world. When teens feel truly listened to they not only feel like they matter but they hear themselves and can make choices that come from the inside. Thru deconstructing their own issues in "community," in circle, they see that they are not alone and they realize that their issues are not disconnected from global issues that are affecting many others and the planet, herself. Then despair turns to hope and hope to actions.
What inspired you to start this life project? Has the path changed? How has it changed you?
I was inspired by my young daughters, Heather and Genevieve, who were 7 & 10 years old in 1993, when I got the idea to write Daughters of the Moon, Sisters of the Sun. I was afraid for them to become teens. I didn’t want them to go through the kind of pain I did. I wanted to write something that pulled together the best information and greatest wisdom from all the authors and workshop leaders who had helped educate me as a young adult and to heal my own wounds. I wanted to write a book that girls would read and pass among themselves, not another book to make adults feel comfortable about teen girls’ lives. I wanted it to tell the truth. I thought I was doing it only for them, but very soon realized that I was also doing it for me.
My colleague and co-author, Karen Hughes, and I decided to bring together a small focus group. We ended up with 13 teen girls, diverse in age and cultural background. We thought we’d meet with them for 10 weeks, one day per week after school. But once the group formed and met a few times it became clear that the circle itself was extremely important in and of itself. The girls told us they really didn’t have a place where they could talk like this. So, we decided to put the book on hold and simply do circle.
From 1993 – 1995 we met weekly, tape recording and photographing every session. We invited guests to come speak with the girls; women like Carol Gilligan, Riane Eisler, Vicki Robin, Byllye Avery, and Marion Woodman –women whose work inspired us. We invited mothers, grandmothers, body builders, poets, teen moms, activists; women from all walks of life came as guests to share their lives with us. Eventually, we invited the boys who were driving the girls to circle, which spawned a teen guy’s group as well. Finally, after 2 years we gathered all our research and hunkered down to write our book, which was released in 1997, by New Society Publishers. And as soon as it came out, we were inundated with emails and letters asking us how we did it; how did we get teens to come every week to talk like this? And could we teach others? Many people requested we train them so that they could do the same thing in their communities. Our Facilitator’s Training programs grew from these beginnings and continues today.
Over the past 13 years, Daughters Sisters Project became a nonprofit organization now called Teen Talking Circles and we have added programs for teen guys, Brothers Sons; programs for youth activists, Global Youth Allies. We have branch "offices" around the US, and abroad; and continue to offer Facilitator Trainings as well as circle retreats for adult women to learn and practice the skills that we use in circle with teens, such as Compassionate Listening. With Neva Welton, we’ve published two additional books; Global Uprising: Confronting the Tyrannies of the 21st Century — Stories from a New Generation of Activists; and Speaking and Listening from the Heart: The Art of Facilitating Teen Talking Circles.
Being part of Teen Talking Circles, and doing Compassionate Listening has continued to facilitate my own healing tremendously. Even today, I still co-facilitate a local girl’s circle, and often my daughters, now 19 and 22 years old, work with me as facilitators and trainers. I feel deeply grateful to all the young people and adults who allow me to enter into their personal lives and be in circle with them. They are my teachers and through them I continue to heal and grow.
For more information about TTC, their books, trainings and retreats, see the following websites:
http://www.teentalkingcircles.org
http://ttcpbooks.mollyguard.com
http://yelapacircle6.mollyguard.com
07.11.2006
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