20 Relational Culture & Undoing Individualism -- Mark Fairfield

03/20/18 • 51 min

Irresistible (fka Healing Justice Podcast)

This week we’re talking with psychotherapist Mark Fairfield about the central role of connection in our lives and lethal individualism. We learn about relational culture, factors for resilience, his work supporting caregivers in the AIDS movement, how bullying is a euphemism, and failure.

Download the corresponding practice (“Sharing Resonance”) to learn an amazing exercise to help build connection in your life and your community.

----

AFFIRMATIONS

Each week we feature community voices uplifting people, organizations, and communities that embody the values of healing justice. Submit your own personal shout-out to spread love on the airwaves here: https://healingjustice.typeform.com/to/YjvuU2

This week’s AFFIRMATIONS come from:

Mary Ann thanking the Women in Power Community in the UK & the FRIDA Young Feminist Fund, and Marcia uplifting Siwatu-salama Ra in Detroit (email [email protected] to join Siwatu’s Freedom Team). Thank you both for sharing your commitment to your communities.

----

ABOUT OUR GUEST: MARK FAIRFIELD

Mark was the Founder and Executive Director of The Relational Center, a nonprofit community organization that exists to rescue and preserve the important social ties humans depend on for health and well being. He is a leadership coach, consultant, and psychotherapist. His experience in ACT UP helped him understand how movements with strong emphasis on collaborative action and wider-thinking, can catalyze vitality and wellbeing by supplying a social infrastructure that encourages people to look after one another.More about Mark at http://www.markfairfieldlcsw.com/ , learn about The Relational Center in LA at www.relationalcenter.org , & learn more about Relational Uprising training for organizers at http://relationaluprising.org/
----

JOIN THE COMMUNITY:

Social media: Instagram @healingjustice, Healing Justice Podcast on Facebook, & @hjpodcast on Twitter

This podcast is 100% volunteer-run. Help cover our costs by becoming a sponsor at www.patreon.com/healingjustice

THANK YOU:

Editing by Yoshi Fields
Mixed and produced by Zach Meyer at the COALROOM
Intro and Closing music gifted by Danny O’Brien
All visuals contributed by Josiah Werning

Download the corresponding practice (“Sharing Resonance”) to learn an amazing exercise to help build connection in your life and your community.

----

AFFIRMATIONS

This week’s AFFIRMATIONS come from:

----

ABOUT OUR GUEST: MARK FAIRFIELD

JOIN THE COMMUNITY:

Social media: Instagram @healingjustice, Healing Justice Podcast on Facebook, & @hjpodcast on Twitter

This podcast is 100% volunteer-run. Help cover our costs by becoming a sponsor at www.patreon.com/healingjustice

THANK YOU:

Editing by Yoshi Fields
Mixed and produced by Zach Meyer at the COALROOM
Intro and Closing music gifted by Danny O’Brien
All visuals contributed by Josiah Werning

Previous Episode

19 Practice: The Sing-Down with Flobots (Jonny 5 & Brer Rabbit)

In this practice, you’ll learn how to facilitate a group game called the SINGDOWN. This exercise is designed by Jonny 5 & Brer Rabbit of Flobots to reconnect us with the power of collective song by immersing us in a lighthearted experience of collective singing. Follow along with the facilitator guide Jonny 5 wrote for us here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-WUwdQ6qQtFap00yhYWnZMpmmijJisT3ywfkSOPmNbw/edit?usp=sharing

Download the corresponding conversation (episode 19) titled “Songs for the Streets” to learn more about how this can translate into powerful songs for direct action. We talk about the role of artists in leadership, the Flobots’ late mentor Dr. Vincent Harding, the role of music in embracing and holding the range of emotions in our movements, comic books and creativity, and crafting our social justice spaces to be places that people deeply want to return to.

RESOURCES:

Facilitator guide for leading the singdown: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-WUwdQ6qQtFap00yhYWnZMpmmijJisT3ywfkSOPmNbw/edit?usp=sharing
Listen to song recordings & peep Flobots’ ‘Songs for the Streets’ songbook at http://www.flobots.com/singdown
Check out Flobots’ latest album, NO ENEMIES: http://www.flobots.com/music/
Their podcast is called Jonny & Brer’s Unnamed Friendcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonny-brers-unnamed-friendcast/id1285472158?mt=2
This exercise is often facilitated at Momentum movement building trainings as part of a module Stephen designed called "When Did We Stop Singing?" You can sign up for their email list at www.momentumcommunity.org

ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Jonny 5 (James Laurie) & Brer Rabbit (Stephen Brackett) are Denver-based MCs that make up the band Flobots, as well as educators and community leaders. Their recent album, NO ENEMIES, is influenced by stories shared by their longtime mentor and Southern Freedom Movement historian and professor the late Dr. Vincent Harding, and inspired by their grassroots work hosting workshops, classes and keynote speeches about using collective song to build social movements. More at http://www.flobots.com/

JOIN THE COMMUNITY:

Social media: Instagram @healingjustice, Healing Justice Podcast on Facebook, & @hjpodcast on Twitter

This podcast is 100% volunteer-run. Help cover our costs by becoming a sponsor at www.patreon.com/healingjustice

THANK YOU:

Editing by Yoshi Fields
Mixed and produced by Zach Meyer at the COALROOM
Intro and Closing music gifted by Danny O’Brien
All visuals contributed by Josiah Werning

Next Episode

20 Practice: Sharing Resonance with Mark Fairfield

In this practice, you’ll learn an exercise called “Sharing Resonance” from psychotherapist Mark Fairfield. It is a framework for building relational culture and dismantling individualism in our relationships and groups. This episode is more of a training and intro to how to share resonance, so you can listen on the go and learn the practice wherever you are... and then take it into relationship and practice it with one or more others. We especially recommend starting with groups of 3-5. Follow along with a useful handout about it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LujM-mwh3jtnt2_wPnlzUN7QhjX_L9zg/view?usp=sharing

Download the corresponding conversation with Mark Fairfield (episode 20) titled “Relational Culture & Undoing Individualism” to learn more about about the central role of connection in our lives. We learn about relational culture, factors for resilience, his work supporting caregivers during the AIDS crisis, how bullying is a euphemism, and failure.

ABOUT OUR GUEST: MARK FAIRFIELD

Mark was the Founder and Executive Director of The Relational Center, a nonprofit community organization that exists to rescue and preserve the important social ties humans depend on for health and well being. He is a leadership coach, consultant, and psychotherapist. His experience in ACT UP helped him understand how movements with strong emphasis on collaborative action and wider-thinking, can catalyze vitality and wellbeing by supplying a social infrastructure that encourages people to look after one another. More about Mark at http://www.markfairfieldlcsw.com/ , learn about The Relational Center in LA at www.relationalcenter.org , & learn more about Relational Uprising training for organizers at http://relationaluprising.org/
--

JOIN THE COMMUNITY:

Social media: Instagram @healingjustice, Healing Justice Podcast on Facebook, & @hjpodcast on Twitter

This podcast is 100% volunteer-run. Help cover our costs by becoming a sponsor at www.patreon.com/healingjustice

THANK YOU:

Editing by Yoshi Fields
Mixed and produced by Zach Meyer at the COALROOM
Intro and Closing music gifted by Danny O’Brien
All visuals contributed by Josiah Werning