COURAGE COUNCIL
A group offering for people who are courageously navigating their experience of OCD.
Join us!
Submit your application now.
The purpose of Courage Council is to create a space for you to connect with your own wisdom, embodiment, and integrity, held within the container of community.
Welcome. You're here!
You are immensely courageous, just by considering taking a seat in this circle. A commonality in this group is the shared experience of OCD.
The process of holding council with oneself generates inner safety. Experiencing safety is the fertile ground where self-trust grows. As you cultivate inner safety and trust, you can expand out authentically, offering your presence and gifts to your communities and the world.
Courage Council is a supportive and nurturing community where you can openly share your personal journey with OCD.
No matter if you are at the beginning of OCD therapy or have been on this journey for many years, the nature of the OCD experience often ebbs and flows over the course of one’s life.
It's common to feel shame, guilt, secrecy, and self-blame, especially in the presence of obsessional doubt and the spiral of obsessions and compulsions. Liberation from the grip of doubt is a process. For some people it's often a painful and isolating journey. This is why we gather together. We aren’t meant to do this alone.
Our gatherings incorporate here-and-now experientials and offer immediate opportunities to experiment and risk new ways of being with others, yourself, and the experience of OCD. The extent to which you share your personal journey, thoughts, and reflections will be determined by you. We will delve into the heart of compassion by engaging in mind-body-heart practices (sound, gentle movement, mindfulness), self-reflection exercises, and group sharing. These are all designed to nourish your well-being.
Courage Council are facilitated by Dr. Millen, licensed psychologist and founder of Courageous Roots Institute.
Courage Council provides a space for us to come together, share our experiences, and empower one another in our journey as we remember our innate wholeness.
What Folks Are Saying…
“Doing two rounds of Courage Council changed my relationship to OCD, but it also changed my relationship to my self. I made more progress over the course of those few months than I have in years of therapy. Cannot recommend enough.”
“Courage Council, and its previous iteration in Compassion Circles, opened me to a sense of community that was based in curiosity, reciprocity, and mutual understanding. OCD can feel so isolating, and Courage Council is the one place where I feel like I can open up about that experience honestly and not receive coddling or judgment. That is in great part thanks to Andrea's facilitation style as well as the members of our group. I also developed more bravery around sharing my experiences with others outside of the group because the Council helped me to reduce the sense of stigma I often feel about this mental illness. In witnessing others with shared experiences show up authentically, I felt more able to do so myself."
"Courage Council was a journey I am grateful to have been on. It pushed my past my comfort zone to engage in deep and meaningful conversations with people who started as strangers and in the end became dear friends. I highly recommend the process to anyone who is feeling they need a push to reach further growth or to feel connection with people who share similar stories."
"Courage Council is a warm community that has helped me learn to be vulnerable and authentic with others. I cherish my time in the circle and already miss our sessions a week after it concluded!"
"I had my doubts about joining the Courage Council but it has truly supported me in so many ways. It forced me to step out of my comfort zone and taught me that showing up as just me is enough. Hearing others stories and witnessing their courage has given the word compassion a whole new meaning for me. A meaning that embodies mindfulness, presence, and connection."
"Courage Council have shown me for the first time that my mind is not isolated in its processing, and in fact, there are others like me who share my struggles. Much of OCD tries to convince us not to share our shame, but I actually found that the more we shared, the lesser the burden. That wouldn't have been possible without the intentional community we built, which allowed for a depth of vulnerability I had never experienced before. Further, Andrea's gentle guidance and reassurance provided us a North Star toward which we could orient in the moments we felt preoccupied or overwhelmed. Even on days when energy was low or vulnerability felt hard to reach, I always walked away knowing that I wasn't alone in my experience of OCD."
*Courage Council was previously named “Compassion Circles”
Group Requirements:
You must reside in Oregon.
Prior to joining this group, a free initial consultation / screening with Dr. Andrea Millen is required.
BIPOC & LBGTQIA+ affirming. This group welcomes individuals of all genders and identities, ages 18 and over.
Please note that this is not a structured OCD treatment group. It is necessary that you have already received, or are currently receiving, OCD-specific treatment before becoming a member. This group may be a wonderful adjunct to individual OCD therapy.
It is a closed group and participants are committed to attending all sessions unless unavoidable or pre-planned.
For in-person meetings, the group will determine whether masks are required or optional.
You Can Expect:
Dr. Millen will compassionately draw the group's attention to feelings within the group and toward other members, individually and in subgroups
awareness of opportunities for and fear of new/innovative ways of being
opportunities for and expectation of each member participating with their mind/heart/body, working at their own pace
engagement in various techniques, methods, movement/embodiment practices, art making, self-reflective journaling/prompts, experiments, at your own pace
opportunities to practice and integrate what you've learned in individual OCD therapy
Recommendations:
To get the most out of Courage Council, here are some recommendations as you consider joining us:
a willingness to focus on what is happening in the here-and-now during the group gatherings (this is an incredible opportunity that supports general mindfulness, and especially OCD/doubt specific practice!)
a willingness to broaden your awareness of counterproductive, fixed, or stuck patterns that are OCD-related and/or more broad (e.g., interpersonal)
seeking and taking opportunities to try out innovative, new behavior and ways of being
arriving five minutes early to ground and center
Meeting Details:
Dates & Times
TBD as the final seats are filled for the January - April 2024 round.
*Group meetings are a hybrid of in-person in Portland, Oregon and virtual.
Cost:
$540 for 8 sessions (1.5 - 2 hour meetings)
Payment Plans are available.
Sliding Scale available for BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ group members, please see section below.
*Courage Council is limited to 7 group members.