25 Hour Certification for Senior Human Service Leaders
The Depolarizing Leadership Certification is a transformative **25-hour - Retreat and 6-module program designed specifically for senior leaders and transitioning leaders in the human service sector. It combines retreat and healing practices with practical leadership tools to foster more resilient, balanced, and human-centered leadership in complex organizational environments.
This certification recognizes that effective leadership today goes beyond technical skills or traditional authority. Leaders must embrace paradox, integrate personal well-being with professional demands, and learn to lead through tensions rather than avoiding them.
Mission
Our mission is to cultivate a new generation of human service leaders who excel in organizational effectiveness while prioritizing their own well-being. Leaders who complete this certification will be prepared to inspire positive change, foster sustainability in themselves and their teams, and nurture a culture of curiosity, self-awareness, and communication.
Key Components
Retreat & Healing
- Nature Immersion: Curated land-based experiences that ground leaders in renewal.
- Mindfulness Practices: Tools to enhance focus, manage stress, and strengthen emotional intelligence.
- Storytelling & Indigenous Wisdom: Honouring story as a vehicle for connection and transformation.
Practical Tools for Communication
- The COUCH Approachâ„¢: Communication through Clarifying, Orienteering, Uncovering, Contributing, and Honouring.
- Personal Competence Reflectionâ„¢: Frameworks for self-awareness, values alignment, and professional growth.
Connection & Productivity
- Trauma-Informed Facilitation: Leading with respect, safety, and humanity.
- Leadership Statement Coaching: One-on-one coaching to articulate personal leadership statements.
- Wisdom in the Room: Integrating peer experience, tools, and insights into shared learning.
- Module 1 - Connection Tension: Deeply Personal & Inherently Collective. Retreat-based, exploring identity, interdependence, and authentic presence.
- Module 2 - Expansion Tension: Confidence & Humility. Catalytic leadership and recognizing polarized leadership.
- Module 3 - Communication Tension: High Standards and Gracious Forgiveness. Holding accountability while leading with compassion.
- Module 4 - Application Tension: Teacher & Learner. Valuing contributions and learning through ambiguity and surge capacity.
- Module 5 - Solidification Tension: Stubborn and Open-Minded . Balancing conviction with curiosity in organizational accountability.
- Module 6 - Honour and Friendship Developing and presenting personal Leadership Statements to solidify learning and legacy.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this certification, participants will:
- Develop strategies to navigate paradoxes inherent in leadership (e.g., confidence & humility, personal & collective, vision & blind spots).
- Apply trauma-informed, reflective, and communication frameworks to strengthen organizational culture.
- Cultivate personal resilience and well-being practices that sustain effective leadership.
- Craft a personal leadership statement that embodies their values, purpose, and legacy.
AECEA Professional and Student members get 15% off training through the Imagine Institute for Learning (IIFL). Log in to your account for the discount code!
Location
Virtual
Date & Time
Thu, 29 Jan '26 9am – 4pm MST
Fri, 30 Jan '26 9am – 12pm MST
Thu, 26 Feb '26 9am – 12pm MST
Thu, 26 Mar '26 9am – 12pm MDT
Thu, 23 Apr '26 9am – 12pm MDT
Thu, 28 May '26 9am – 12pm MDT
Thu, 18 Jun '26 9am – 12pm MDT
For more information and to register, go here.