Facilitating Under Fire
Date: September 17 & 24 and October 1 & 8, 2026
Time: 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM, Pacific
Location: Online Zoom
Fee: $350 CAD
Registration closes September 16, 2026.
If cost is a barrier, get in touch and we can look at payment options and pricing that supports your sustainability and mine.
Facilitating groups is rewarding—and sometimes it’s tough. Facilitating Under Fire is a practical, reflective workshop for facilitators who find themselves navigating conflict between participants that shifts the tone of the room, emotionally charged moments, or comments and behaviours that are sexist, racist, homophobic, ableist, or otherwise impact dignity and belonging.
This workshop focuses not on “perfect responses,” but on how you show up when things get hard. Participants will explore the Facilitator’s Stance—a way of being that helps regulate groups under pressure, maintain clarity and care, and intervene with thoughtfulness rather than reactivity. We’ll examine how our presence, values, and nervous systems shape what becomes possible in moments of tension.
Through discussion, reflection, and real‑world scenarios, facilitators will build confidence in responding to harm, holding boundaries, and supporting accountability while staying connected to themselves and the group.
Whether you work in learning spaces, community settings, or organisations, this workshop offers tools to help you bring the best of you to moments that most need steady, ethical leadership.
In this workshop, you’ll explore:
Navigating conflict between group members without escalating harm
Responding with care to sexist, racist, homophobic, ableist, or dignity‑impacting behaviours
Understanding the Facilitator’s Stance and its role in group regulation
Intervening in the moment while holding values, safety, and humanity
Building resilience for facilitators working in complex group dynamics
How to create a plan for yourself to prepare, recover, and learn from to further build your skills and readiness to work with any group.
About Leonie Smith and The Thoughtful Workplace
Leonie has almost 30 years of experience leading groups through discovery, problem solving, and projects. What I bring to facilitation are skills in creating doable agreements and plans and a commitment to welcoming the fullest expressions of all. My approach is informed by my vocation, which is to support people, especially those who come from traditionally and historically marginalised groups, to show up in their full humanity in the places that they live, work, and play. I do this through my commitment to principles of nonviolence, practices of belonging, and a vision of creating human-centred workplaces and communities.
I am certified in Nonviolent Communication and Sociocracy and am a facilitator of systems constellations.