The ConnectWellEd Journey
The ConnectWellEd Journey:
Sequential friendship skills trainings for young adults (and the dedicated humans who support them!)
Connecting well with other human beings requires a wide variety of skills—skills that can be taught, practiced, and effectively applied in our friendships and beyond.
The learning environments in which we cultivate these skills matter. At ConnectWellEd, we continuously ask, How can we make our pedagogy Engaging, Experiential, and Evidence-based (3E)? This 3E approach undergirds all of our work.
So what do we offer? The ConnectWellEd Journey below is our signature set of 3E friendship skills trainings for young adults: Each builds on the next! If you’re interested in accompanying professional development, we offer that as well. We also encourage you to check out our Frequently Asked Questions page, learn about how each of our trainings is customized, and contact us to discuss a potential partnership.
The ConnectWellEd Journey.
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Start Here: "Lean on Me" Training for Young Adults
Our foundational introductory training, “Lean On Me” is an experiential, interactive dive into the 21st century world of young adult friendship: How to make, maintain, and nurture friendships one moment at a time. The “Takes One to Know One” exercise is central to this training.
Like all of the stops on the ConnectWellEd journey, each Training will include initial community-building and purpose setting before doing an exploration of research on friendship using a variety of engaging pedagogical techniques such as polls, storytelling, written reflection, and discussion. Then students will dive into a choose-your-own adventure (CYOA) “application of learning” period in which they select a relevant self-directed activity from a menu of options. We’ll close out with a reflection circle and gift-giving (ConnectWellEd swag!)
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Next Stop: "It's All About Trust" Training for Young Adults
As Lennon Flowers and Jennifer Bailey explain, “Relationships move at the speed of trust.” After we’ve explored the nuts and bolts of friendship in the “Lean on Me” Training, the next step is “All About Trust”, where we dive into how to concretely apply Dr. Brené Brown’s B.R.A.V.I.N.G. trust-building framework to our lives, and especially to our friendships. B.R.A.V.I.N.G. is an acronym for the seven interrelated components of trust that Dr. Brown has surfaced through years of research.
Like all of our trainings, “It’s All About Trust” will be an opportunity for young adults to access their own inner wisdom, learn from each other, connect with us, and explore relevant research through thought-provoking exercises and conversations. The “Marble Jar” exercise is central to this training.
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Onwards: "Variety is the Spice of Life" Training for Young Adults
In an increasingly polarized world, building friendships across lines of difference is critical to well-being, democracy, and communal healing. Friendships across lines of difference—differences in perspectives, religious backgrounds, family structures, gender, racial identities, and the list goes on—also keep life interesting, not to mention fun! Because trust-building is at the heart of these friendships, the “It’s All About Trust” training is a prerequisite for “Variety is the Spice of Life,” our third stop together on the ConnectWellEd Journey.
The “Variety is the Spice of Life” training is designed to hone in on specific self-reflection and communication skills that are foundational to building friendships across lines of difference. These are skills that often do not come naturally. The “Listening With All the Channels” exercise is central to this training.