Healing Centered Group Coaching Certification
Healing Centered Group Coaching Certification
For beginners who want to lead circles. Learn to design and facilitate a one-hour healing centered group coaching session for groups of up to 15 people, rooted in ancestral and Indigenous ways of gathering and designed for and centered on leaders of color.
- Wednesdays · March 17, 2027 to July 21, 2027
- 6:00 to 9:00 PM Eastern / 3:00 to 6:00 PM Pacific
- Online
- 16 live classes
- 70 hours, including 10 mentor coaching hours
- 10 to 20 participants
- $3,999 for the first cohort ($1,000 off)
Why group coaching
Our communities heal in circle. We need more people who can hold one.
76%
of founders report feeling lonely, and only 43% feel supported in their role.
23%
of Black workers and 22% of Hispanic workers say they do not feel they belong at work. Healing circles create the belonging many of us are missing.
80%
of Black women in leadership say they often feel burned out.
Sources: Foundology, Founder Mental Health Snapshot 2024 (founders overall); American Psychological Association, 2023 Work in America Survey; McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.org, Women in the Workplace 2025, via Essence.
The program
Learn to hold a circle where everyone belongs
Long before coaching had a name, our communities gathered in circles to talk, decide, heal, and celebrate. This program teaches you to bring that wisdom into group coaching. Over four months, you learn the 20 Healing Centered Group Coaching Competencies one or two at a time, in order, and practice each one in a circle of five.
Practices drawn from Indigenous peacemaking circles, Ubuntu, Harambee, and other ancestral traditions are credited to the peoples they come from and taught with care, honoring and never appropriating.
This program is for you if you are
- A new or aspiring coach who wants to coach many people at once.
- A nonprofit, faith, or community leader who already gathers people and wants the skills to hold a circle well.
- A supervisor or educator who wants to bring group coaching to your team, students, or staff.
- An entrepreneur ready to add group coaching programs to your business.
Connection to Healing Centered Coaching®
The model, held by the whole circle
Every group session in this program moves through the same one-hour arc of the Healing Centered Coaching® model, with the circle's collective wisdom at the center.
- Pause · 5 minA collective pause with permission, and a welcome that honors land and ancestors
- Ground · 15 minGroup agreements, a check-in round, and the session theme with each member's goal
- Align · 25 minQuestions to the whole circle, themes reflected back, and the circle coaching itself
- Act · 10 minEach member names a simple first step, with peer accountability as community care
- Integrate · 5 minTakeaways, a check on success, and a closing practice for body, mind, or spirit
Program at a glance
Four months, one Wednesday a week
16
Live classes
One 3-hour class a week, with a 15-minute grounding break
70
Total hours
48 live hours, 12 self-guided hours, and 10 mentor coaching hours
20
Group coaching competencies
Introduced in order, with step-by-step facilitation guides
6
Observed sessions
3 feedback pods and 3 one-on-one reviews, all with written feedback
10
Mentor coaching hours
7 Mentor Circles and 3 one-on-one sessions
2
Final evaluations
A one-on-one performance evaluation at the ACC level, and a recorded group capstone
Dates and classes
Wednesdays, March 17, 2027 to July 21, 2027
All classes meet 6:00 to 9:00 PM Eastern (3:00 to 6:00 PM Pacific), including a 15-minute grounding break. Self-guided lessons are completed anytime before each class.
| Date | Class |
|---|---|
| Module 1 · Pause: Gathering in Circle | |
| Wed, Mar 17, 2027 | Class 1. Opening the Circle |
| Wed, Mar 24, 2027 | Class 2. Agreements of the Circle |
| Wed, Mar 31, 2027 | Class 3. The Collective Pause |
| Wed, Apr 7, 2027 | Class 4. Presence With the Whole |
| Module 2 · Ground: Rooted Together in Safety and Spirit | |
| Wed, Apr 14, 2027 | Class 5. Safe Harbor for Many |
| Wed, Apr 21, 2027 | Class 6. Holding What Arises Together |
| Wed, Apr 28, 2027 | Class 7. Rooted in the Collective Body |
| Wed, May 5, 2027 | Class 8. The Facilitator's Stand |
| Module 3 · Align: Listening to the Circle | |
| Wed, May 12, 2027 | Class 9. Listening to the Whole |
| Wed, May 19, 2027 | Class 10. Questions for the Circle |
| Wed, May 26, 2027 | Class 11. Collective Wisdom |
| Wed, Jun 9, 2027 | Class 12. Many Voices, One Circle |
| Module 4 · Act and Integrate: Moving Together | |
| Wed, Jun 23, 2027 | Class 13. From Collective Insight to Action |
| Wed, Jun 30, 2027 | Class 14. Accountability in Community |
| Wed, Jul 14, 2027 | Class 15. The Full Circle Session |
| Wed, Jul 21, 2027 | Class 16. Community Celebration & Teach Back |
No class within two days of a U.S. federal holiday, Easter, Eid al-Fitr, or Eid al-Adha. This program skips the weeks of Memorial Day, Juneteenth, and Independence Day.
Teaching staff · Founder and lead faculty
Leslie Avant-Brown, MPA, MCC
Leslie is a Master Certified Coach, the International Coaching Federation's highest credential, and the creator of the Healing Centered Coaching® model. Before becoming a coach, she built a career in leadership development, evaluation, and capacity building, and she teaches every live class in the Institute's certification programs.
Her CCRW Coaching Model, created for foster and probation youth transitioning out of state care, earned an ICF Prism Award Honorable Mention. She has developed coaching models that help young survivors of sexual exploitation lead advocacy movements, created a city-wide coaching framework for the City of Oakland's Department of Violence Prevention to support gun violence prevention staff, and founded an ICF-accredited coach certification program. Today she coaches high-achieving changemakers, who often work in isolation, toward clarity, alignment, and purpose, drawing on deep experience in executive leadership, education, nonprofits, and youth work.
Leslie holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Michigan. She is a Silver Star member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and she loves laughing and spending time with her wife, family, and friends.
Joining Leslie: Practice Studio co-facilitators and Mentor Circle coaches, all credentialed Healing Centered Coaches who hold ICF's Mentor Coach Specialization. Names are announced before each cohort begins.
Investment
Healing Centered Group Coaching Certification
$3,999first cohort tuition
Regular tuition $4,999. Founding students save $1,000.
- Five-payment plan: Spread $3,999 tuition over five payments of $800. Employer sponsorship is also available.
- Refunds: cancel 30 or more days before the first class for a refund less a $500 processing fee, or 14 to 29 days before for 50% less the fee. No refunds within 13 days of the start or after classes begin; substitutions are welcome before launch.
- Attendance: up to 15 class hours can be made up, and extensions of up to 60 days are available case by case.
- Before you enroll, please read the Certification Program Policies, including the Participation Agreement. An electronic copy of the agreement is provided at enrollment.
- Small on purpose: 10 to 20 participants, so every student is seen.
- Applications close March 3, 2027. You may be invited to a short conversation with Leslie.
- I am applying for ICF Level 1 accreditation. Students in this first cohort will be retroactively eligible for ICF credit once the program is approved.
Start with a conversation.
Tell me what you are looking for: coaching, a circle or training, certification, mentoring, or a partnership for your team. You will hear back within two business days.
Considering a certification program? Read the Certification Program Policies.
