Weekend Workshop led by Certified Trainer, Michael Kolb and Trainer Candidate, Tony Cuseo.
If you're still new to Radical Honesty, a Weekend Workshop is the perfect place to explore a more honest YOU (with the help of some new honest friends)!
Tired of feeling alone, disappointed, and frustrated in your personal and professional relationships?
Fed up with dishonesty and fakery?
Hungry for authentic connection with brave people who want to cut the bullshit and get real?
Take a dive into self-exploration and honest self-expression with the tried and true process of Radical Honesty in this Weekend Workshop.
What is Radical Honesty?
Radical Honesty is a method for authentic communication. It’s also a way of being in the world.
Primarily, Radical Honesty allows us to cut through the bullshit stories we sell ourselves and others. Instead of performing our typical sales pitch, we tell the truth instead.
We express what is present for us in the here and now – be it fear, anger, appreciation, or whatever else shows up in the moment.
Telling the truth takes guts. It isn’t for the faint of heart. And in our experience, it’s worth it.
Why tell the truth?
We in the Radical Honesty Community are all recovering liars. We chose to give up lying and to tell the truth instead because lying wasn’t working for us. We thought pretending we weren’t mad, hurt, or sad, and pretending we were happy and grateful instead, would get us love and connection, but it didn’t.
Out of desperation, we took a chance and started telling people what we really thought and felt. To our surprise, a good chunk of the time, telling the truth ended up creating the love and connection that we longed for all along.
When we told the truth, people tended to love us more. Who knew?
What will happen at this workshop?
At its core, Radical Honesty is a noticing practice.
We contend that despite what you’ve been sold, noticing is far more important and far more valuable, than thinking.
The ability to distinguish between thinking and noticing – being able to tell the difference between your mind’s interpretations of “reality,” and your own grounded, observable, experience in the moment – is the key to freedom, connection, and love.
We will lead you through a series of lectures, directed conversations, paired exercises, small group exercises, hot seat work, and meditation, all of which are aimed at helping you practice grounding in noticing rather than stories and interpretation. Once you’re grounded in noticing your own experience, you’ll begin sharing your noticings out loud with others.
This is the basis for intimacy. Reporting out loud, moment to moment, what’s true for you, and being present to others who are revealing their present moment experience as well, is all it takes.
It doesn’t sound like much does it? The truth is it isn’t. It ain’t much. And, it ain’t easy.
The problem is most of us have been brainwashed into believing that our mind’s interpretation of reality is reality. We’ve also been sold the idea that pretending to be nice, sweet, and loving, even when we feel pissed off, is the way to get love and give love.
It turns out the opposite is true.
When you’re grounded in noticing instead of thinking, and you’re revealing what’s actually true for you moment to moment, love, connection, freedom, creativity, and a bunch of other things most of us tend to enjoy show up. And the even better news is that they show up all on their own, without any forcing or pretending on our part.
What if I’m scared of telling the truth?
Join the club! As we said, telling the truth can be scary. Being real is often accompanied by unpleasant sensations – tension in the jaw, heat in the chest, heart racing, headache, you name it. Radical Honesty is built on the principle that what you resist, persists. And what you experience fully, comes and goes.
When you resist feeling the tension in your jaw and resist your thumping heartbeat, those sensations tend to persist. The same is true for emotions. The more you resist being mad, or sad, or jealous – the more you resist saying out loud what’s true for you, the more you stay stuck in those feelings.
Conversely, if you allow yourself to feel your feelings and express them, and be with the sensations that follow, those sensations will intensify at first, then slowly fade away. Paradoxically, the more you allow yourself to experience yourself just as you are, even when the experience is uncomfortable, the less you end up suffering.
That’s our experience, anyway. And, it’s what we trainers are here for. It’s our job to support you through any and all feelings and sensations that arise. We’ll coach you through unpleasant sensations, as well as pleasant ones, which are also hard to be with at times.
Sometimes love, appreciation, and pleasure are just too much to bear!
What you can expect from this Weekend Workshop:
The reinvigoration that comes from dropping your pretending and opening up to those around you
An intentional context in which to express yourself in ways that you normally hide
Heightened awareness of your own experience from moment to moment
Guided practice expressing yourself simply and directly
Is this workshop right for me?
The practice of Radical Honesty is for you if you’re looking to experience more freedom in your life, and if you want to let go of shame, fear, and attachment to approval. This workshop is also up your alley if you’re exhausted at the thought of pretending and playing make-believe any longer.
If you yearn for deeper love, connection, and intimacy, and you’re wanting to heal your relationships and find forgiveness, you’ll be in good company. This workshop is for anyone who is interested in honesty and personal growth.
If you have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder (or similar) or suffer from severe PTSD, please contact mak.honesti@gmail.com to see if this workshop is right for you. It is possible that you may benefit from 1-on-1 work before participating in a workshop.
In this workshop, we will learn and put into practice the foundational Radical Honesty Distinctions, including Noticing vs. Imagining, the Awareness Continuum, and expressing Resentments & Appreciations. We work with whatever arises in the moment, whatever you bring to the group.
If you’re struggling in a relationship, trapped in your mind, needing encouragement or support, wanting real-world practice with real-world examples, or seeking to build community with other honest folk like yourself, this is workshop is for you!
Workshop Agreements (required for participation)
In order to create safety and an honest context for us to play and experiment in, we require all participants and Trainers to agree to the following agreements. We will make space to discuss each agreement in detail at the beginning of the workshop. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact mak@radicalhonesty.com.
I agree to tell the truth.
I agree to support others in telling the truth.
I agree to not touch anyone without consent.
I agree to the rule of confidentiality.
I agree to come to all sessions on time and ready, and to stay until they are complete.
I agree to ask for what I want.
I agree to get more than I give.
I agree to be coached and do the exercises.
This workshop is for newbies and experienced Radical Honesty practitioners alike. We will cover the foundational Radical Honesty distinctions and get some experiential practice in applying those distinctions in our lives from moment to moment.
Even if you've already participated in a multiple Radical Honesty events, our workshops are designed to be experiential, placing the bulk of the focus on deepening your practice, more than learning new ideas.
Location:
This non-residential workshop will take place in New York City, New York. We are currently securing a location for the workshop. The address will be shared with participants so they can find a hotel or AirBnb in the vicinity.
Schedule:
Friday, August 25: 7pm - 9pm
Saturday, August 26: 10am - 7pm
Sunday, August 27: 10am - 5pm
We will take a 1-hour lunch break each day. You are welcome to bring your own lunch, have it delivered, or, get food from a nearby restaurant.
Group size:
8 - 14 participants + 2 RH Trainers
Accessibility:
(COMING SOON)
Refund Policy:
No refunds.
If cancelation notice is given at least 30 days before the workshop, your registration is transferrable to a friend or to a future Radical Honesty event with Mak or Tony. Transfer credits expire 1 year from the start date of the workshop you register for.
Price:
Super Early Bird: $355 (until June 17)
Early Bird: $405 (until July 25)
Regular Admission: $450 (after July 25)
BIPOC / Trans / Disability Scholarship: $295
WHAT’S INCLUDED?
Intro to Radical Honesty (Friday 7pm - 9pm)
Weekend Workshop (Saturday 10am - 7pm & Sunday 10am - 5pm)
Support Call with the Trainers (in the weeks following the workshop)
Email Group - keep in touch with your fellow participants for support and practice.
LANGUAGE
The workshop is conducted in English. French and Spanish support are available, if needed.
WORKSHOP LEADERS:
Michael Alan Kolb & Tony Cuseo
Mak has a B.A. in Psychology and is a co-founder of the Radical Honesty Institute. He is committed to helping people develop the skills needed to live life out loud, to mend and build (and sometimes end) meaningful relationships, and to ground themselves in experiential reality. He is particularly interested in the problems of existentialism, couples work and non-traditional relationships, and dealing creatively with anger and conflict. He lives and works in Costa Rica where he is co-founder of Cascada Elysiana Eco-Lodge & Retreat Center.
“It is difficult to transition into adulthood in a world full of adolescents. This practice of Radical Honesty has been the most important work I've done in my personal journey of growing up and I'm hungry to surround myself with others who want to embark on this journey with me. There's a whole lot of road left for us to travel.” -Mak
Tony Cuseo is a Radical Honesty Trainer Candidate, and has co-led weekend workshops, and facilitated Radical Honesty practice groups. He has a BA in Communications from Chapman University and certifications in Embodied Counseling and Sexological Bodywork. He is passionate about creating art, music, and love.