Facilitation is a practice
Two training options to help you grow your facilitation skills.
Let’s build your facilitation practice so you can lead with clarity and heart.
Our world needs more people who can hold space when conversations get hard, who can lead meetings that are actually productive, and who can listen in ways that make others feel seen and understood. In a time when polarization often replaces dialogue, we need facilitators who don't simplify complex issues, but instead help groups stay with discomfort long enough to surface the deeper truths beneath disagreement. I teach facilitation skills that foster curiosity over certainty and connection over control so that communities, teams, and organizations can move forward together, not apart.
Looking to have a stronger impact in your groups through facilitation?
Facilitation Skills Training
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The Power of Presence in Facilitation: From Worried to Confident
A two-week hybrid training to help you facilitate with more presence and confidence in any group setting.
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The Facilitator's Path - February 2026
A deeper dive into facilitation skills development
The Power of Presence in Facilitation: From Worried to Confident
Because how you show up changes everything.
Whether you're stepping into a facilitation role for the first time or refining a practice you've been developing for years, The Power of Presence in Facilitation: From Worried to Confident offers a practical, grounded path toward greater confidence, connection, and clarity.
Dates: August 27 – September 10, 2025
In-person sessions: August 27 & September 10 from 1–4pm
Location: Bayou Room, Carrefour de l’Isle-Saint-Jean, Charlottetown
Tuition: $497 + HST
Enrolment is limited to 18 participants to support connection, personalized coaching, and shared learning.
You’ll gain tools to steady yourself under pressure, respond in the moment with more trust and awareness, and invite deeper engagement from the groups you serve.
“Undergoing the Power of Presence not only helped me to be more present when facilitating, but my confidence in navigating, holding space, and managing the room was greatly impacted.
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Who it’s for
This program is for anyone in a guiding, leadership, or facilitation role whether you're an emerging leader, a seasoned facilitator, or someone who’s called to hold space in your work or community. It’s especially designed for people who care deeply about showing up with integrity and impact in dynamic group settings.
This is for you if…
You lead groups or teams and sometimes feel like your presence disappears under pressure
You’ve done facilitation work and want to show up with more confidence and intention
You crave practical frameworks and the inner shift to feel grounded in the moment
You want to feel more calm, credible, and trustworthy when things get unscripted
You’re looking for a more sustainable, less exhausting way to lead and hold space
What you’ll walk away with
This isn’t just about learning new skills, it’s about transforming how you show up. After this program, you’ll:
Feel more grounded and confident even when things don’t go to plan
Know how to return to presence when you get thrown off
Be seen as calm, trustworthy, and capable especially in tough or emotional moments
Reduce the tendency to over-function or fix things prematurely
Lead from your center, with tools that help you stay steady and clear
Respond more skillfully to strong emotions, silence, resistance, and uncertainty
“Paula led our group through a variety of experiences that grew our understanding of what it is like to hold space for people and how to encourage deeper reflection in groups. Through focused coaching, I was able to reframe a recurring challenge and move forward with greater confidence.”
Megan Burnside, Program Facilitator, Women’s Network of PEI
What’s included
The Power of Presence includes a balance of in-person group learning, self-paced reflection, and personal coaching, held over two weeks in late summer to prepare you for the busy fall season.
✅ Two in-person sessions in Charlottetown
August 27 & September 10, 2025
Bayou Room, Carrefour de l’Isle-Saint-Jean
✅ Online learning & support between sessions, including simple practices, reflection prompts, and ways to stay connected with your cohort
✅ One private 30-minute coaching session tailored to your real-life facilitation challenges
✅ Group size: up to 18 participants: enough for rich dialogue and diversity, small enough for personal support and a close-knit feel.
A personal note
I’ve been facilitating for over 25 years, and I know what it’s like to care about the groups you lead and the work you do. You want to show up well but anxiety, doubt, or overwhelm can get in the way. I used to over-prepare and push through. Now, I come back to myself, connect with myself, and trust the group. That shift changed everything.
People sometimes ask how I stay grounded. The truth is, I don’t always. When the world feels heavy, I cry, I get upset, I feel. Presence isn’t about staying calm; it’s about staying connected. And it’s a practice.
The Power of Presence is an invitation to lead from that place: grounded, real, and human.
Ready to join The Power of Presence?
Registration closes August 20, 2025 and nearly half the seats are already taken.
If this sounds like the kind of support and growth you’ve been looking for, apply now.
Up to 18 participants. Join us to build your presence before the busy fall season.
The Facilitator’s Path
Lead from the center. Respond with confidence.
I’m looking forward to next year’s cohort of The Facilitator’s Path! While the dates are still to be determined, it will be offered—so be sure to include it in your learning and budget plans for 2025-2026.
Apply now to express your interest in the program, and you'll be the first to know when the dates are announced.
Location: Prince Edward Island
Through group sessions, online learning, coaching, and a personal project, The Facilitator’s Path will introduce you to the role of a facilitator, as well as the knowledge and skills facilitators need. You’ll explore the world of the facilitator and practice different aspects of facilitation - creating an inclusive learning environment, clarifying the purpose, designing and guiding the process, and managing the group dynamics.
The Facilitator’s Path is a 3-month program designed to help facilitators deepen their confidence and gain concrete tools to make an even bigger impact in the communities they serve. On this learning path, you’ll learn to thrive as a facilitator by tuning in to yourself and trusting your inner guidance. You’ll be able to skillfully facilitate using a variety of methods with confidence.
Whether you’re a new or seasoned facilitator, I can support you.
The Facilitator’s Path will make your job easier. It’s a learning journey designed to help you develop the tools, techniques, and confidence to guide groups through learning and discussions, manage difficult dynamics, and turn dialogue into meaningful action.
This program can help you:
Build trust and engagement: Master the art of building trust and connection in face-to-face and virtual settings, ensuring your participants feel valued, heard, and motivated to contribute.
Facilitate collaborative discussions: Experience how to guide conversations through differing perspectives, manage emotional responses, and balance multiple stakeholder goals to create productive, inclusive discussions.
Inspire action and accountability: Learn techniques to move from conversation to decision-making, ensuring that your facilitation leads to clear actions, accountability, and progress.
Cultivate your innovative spirit: Practice techniques and gain tools that inspire creative thinking, foster collaboration, and enable continuous innovation.
Embody the power of presence: Cultivate the ability to be in the here and now as you facilitate without judgement and in an open-ended state of presence.
The Facilitator’s Path includes:
Self-paced online learning
Group sessions and Coaching
Practice, Reflection and Resources
As a facilitator, you know how hard it can be to:
Create an environment that is safe for people to have differences of opinion
Be creative while maintaining a focus on the event outcomes
Determine the right tools to support the group to move from conversation to action
Work across sectors, balancing different priorities and maintaining momentum
Assume your authority with generosity and ease
Balance structure and the agenda with what is emerging in the moment
Stay present and responsive while keeping an eye on the direction and outcomes
The Facilitator’s Path is a 3-month program that is cohort-based and self-paced. This means that while all participants will start at the same time and learn together, you can choose your own pace for individual work.
Email and coach support ends after three months; however you’ll have lifetime access to the program materials in my online learning platform. This means that if you want to go faster or slower, you can, and you can reuse the materials anytime.
That said, I recommend you take advantage of the coaching and support available over the 3-month period. These include:
✅ A dedicated coach to support and guide you through your journey with three coaching calls.
✅ Feedback on your assignments.
✅ Support by email as needed.
✅ A hybrid format that includes access to:
A virtual orientation session
Four in-person learning sessions in PEI
An online learning platform
A small learning team with your peers
✳️ Bonus: a personalized daily practice for presence
Experiential Learning at its Core
This isn’t just theory. You’ll practice facilitation techniques on a project of your choice, work through real-life scenarios, and get feedback from peers and the facilitator.
Whether you’re an experienced facilitator looking to take your skills to the next level or newer to the field and eager to gain practical experience, The Facilitator’s Path will meet you where you are. It’s ideal for those in the public service, municipal government, community sector, and business who are facilitating groups, building teams, and supporting communities.
This program is designed for leaders or facilitators who:
Have a project or event that they facilitate
Are seeking advanced tools to design creative processes and manage complex group dynamics
Want to improve their ability to turn discussions into action
Want effective and creative facilitation strategies to guide teams and groups
Tentative course start date: February 2026
Tuition: $2500 + HST per person
Guarantee: I want you to enjoy and benefit from The Facilitator’s Path. As we all know, sometimes things aren’t the right fit or the right time. For that reason, for any cancellation made three weeks or more before the program start date I offer a full refund.
I am a professional Integral Coach with a special place in my heart for well-being, facilitation, and social impact. I know what it’s like to facilitate: with curiosity as my guide, I have spent the last 25 years working as a professional facilitator with diverse groups, communities and organizations locally, nationally, and internationally.
I have come to understand that facilitation is more than an unstructured, fun bag of tools and techniques. Rather, it’s a way of being in the world that’s integral, impactful, and supported by structure and personal presence. At its heart, it creates space for belonging and sustainable change.
This is more than a training course — it’s a transformational learning experience. By enrolling in The Facilitator’s Path, you’ll gain the knowledge, experience, and confidence to lead any group toward connection, learning, collaboration, and meaningful action.
“Paula encouraged and supported me to grow in both skills and confidence as a facilitator. She is the most generous and thoughtful teacher I've ever had. I would highly recommend her courses to anyone interested in growing as a facilitator.”
— Alix MacLean
Stories of Personal Change
“I recently completed The Facilitator's Path training program and it exceeded my expectations. Paula was knowledgeable and engaging, providing practical tools and techniques that I could immediately apply. The hands-on exercises and real-world scenarios were incredibly valuable. I now feel more confident in my ability to facilitate meetings and workshops effectively. I highly recommend this program to anyone looking to enhance their facilitation skills!”
— Anastasia Preston