During this unprecedented era of rapid change and chaos in the world, the light and wisdom of spiritual leaders, teachers, and guides are needed now more than ever.
Much is being called from us by the individuals and communities we serve. That’s why prioritizing self-care and nurturing our own well-being isn’t a luxury—it’s essential for staying grounded, balanced, connected, and energized.
The ASI listens to and understands the unique personal needs of our member community. That’s why we’ve created an innovative approach to peer support specifically designed with you in mind.
Our commitment is underscored by the successful completion of two pilot programs to learn best practices. What has emerged is a distinctive experiential format that provides extraordinary benefits for participants!
Peer Support Circles are available for ASI members only. Space is limited and group size is intentionally small to ensure a comfortable and intimate experience.
The schedule for each Peer Support Circle is determined by two main factors: a day and time that suits the majority of participants’ availability, along with a few short questions in the registration form that allows us to create the best group composition.
Meeting 1
Week of September 14
Meeting 2
Week of September 28
Meeting 3
Week of October 12
Meeting 4
Week of October 26
Meeting 5
Week of November 9
Meeting 6
Week of November 23
Meeting 7
Week of December 7
Meeting 8
Week of December 21
A Peer Support Circle with the ASI is a confidential sanctuary where you leave your professional roles aside, drop defenses, and speak from the heart with courageous vulnerability and honesty.
These gatherings are lightly facilitated. Every two weeks for 90 minutes, you’ll meet face-to-face online with your designated group of 4-5 fellow ASI members.
Peer Support Circles are designed, through research to:
Peer Support Circles offer you:
If you are drawn to this oasis for candid expression and heart-centered connection and can commit to attending all six circles, we’d love to have you join us!
Spiritual leaders need to be supported in the self-reflective journey of living in ever-increasing integrity with their personal values while being of greatest service to their students and clients. We now know that the collective practices of deep listening, loving inquiry, honest feedback, and authentic sharing naturally encourage new and higher standards of integrity in spiritual leadership. In the experience of the ASI, unconscious misuse and abuse of power by spiritual leaders is often a consequence of those leaders not being sufficiently aware of their own needs and not knowing how to respond to them outside of their profession.
Normalization of Peer Support
Our goal in the ASI is to provide spaces where peers can safely, openly, and vulnerably share and receive support. Gathering spiritual leaders together in small groups of peers where a new quality of relationship is sensitively guided will offer a new model of peer support appropriate to a broad community of spiritual leadership. We believe that quality peer support for spiritual leaders must be normalized within the culture of spirituality if we are to create new and higher standards of spiritual integrity in our profession.
Our Commitment
At ASI, our mission revolves around supporting the ongoing development of spiritual leaders (i.e., teachers, counselors, coaches, guides, mentors, healers, transpersonal psychologists, etc.), and we are committed to providing innovative and proven tools that positively impact both the leaders themselves and those they serve.
It’s important to acknowledge that even with the high ethical standards most of us aspire to, spiritual leaders can face challenges involving complex trade-offs, nuanced gray areas, and ambiguity.
We, as members of an ASI Peer Support Circle, pledge to uphold this Circle Covenant to the best of our abilities.
CIRCLE PROTOCOLS
WE WILL:
• Attend every gathering except in the case of a genuine emergency.
• Be on time and prepare inwardly a few minutes beforehand to be fully present by shifting from “doing” to “being.”
• Participate from a quiet space, sober and free from distractions.
• Take personal responsibility for ourselves and our experiences and use self-regulation to manage our thoughts, emotions, and behavior.
TRUST & SAFETY
WE WILL:
• Maintain the confidentiality of what is shared and anonymity of all members.
• Offer our respect, acceptance, compassion, attunement, and presence.
• Refrain from interrupting when others speak or engaging in private side conversations through chat.
• Provide requested feedback in a kind, supportive, and non-judgmental manner, and accept only what inwardly resonates when receiving requested feedback.
OPENNESS & VULNERABILITY
WE WILL:
• Leave our professional role(s) aside and share from our raw humanness.
• Keep the focus on ourselves and our inner experience when we speak.
• Communicate from the heart with courageous vulnerability and honesty.
• Share our needs, desires, challenges, and feelings only to the degree that we are comfortable.
ATTUNEMENT & PRESENCE
WE WILL:
• Be empathetic witnesses who offer attunement and presence to others in silence.
• Give our undivided attention to people when they share, and wait to speak until it’s our turn.
• Hold whatever arises with sacred reverence when another person talks.
ONLINE ETIQUETTE
WE WILL:
• Keep our mics muted unless we are speaking and silence our phones.
• Turn our webcams on and ensure our faces are clearly visible.
• Refrain from eating during gatherings.
Throughout the second ASI Peer Support Pilot, participants were asked to provide feedback through online surveys, and one-on-one interviews were conducted with the facilitators of each of the peer support groups.
Here are the key findings from the post-pilot survey, reflecting feedback from 27 participants:
First Pilot Key Findings
ASI has engaged in researching peer support since 2021, when we launched the first peer support pilot designed to offer a quality peer support structure for a selected group of members of the ASI community. In the initial round of peer support groups, spiritual leaders of many lineages, religious denominations, traditions, and healing modalities gathered in a space of trust and safety where they experienced:
At the start of 2024, ASI launched the second pilot of the Peer Support Research Program. The findings are detailed below.
Throughout the pilot, 37 participants formed seven groups, each consisting of 4-6 peers. The program took place from January to May 2023, with groups meeting at least eight times. Four groups decided to continue their meetings beyond the official conclusion of the pilot, and one of these groups wishes to continue indefinitely.
It is worth mentioning that our first pilot also saw some groups extending their meetings beyond the official program duration, and one group has continued indefinitely. Their feedback was not included in the data collection for the second pilot to prevent the success stories from the first pilot from skewing the findings of the second pilot.
Throughout the second pilot, participants were asked to provide feedback through online surveys, and one-on-one interviews were conducted with the facilitators of each of the peer support groups.
The key findings from the post-pilot survey, reflecting feedback from 27 participants, are located in Participant Feedback (purple color bar) directly above.
The results underscore the significant impact of the ASI Peer Support Program Pilot 2 and the positive influence it had on our community members. It is also evident from our findings that matching the right peers and providing training and support for group facilitators significantly contributed to the success of these groups.
Each group had the autonomy to explore professional-related themes or create a space for personal vulnerability and honesty. It’s interesting and exciting to note that receiving personal support was valued more highly and more frequently than learning business skills from each other.
We extend our gratitude to all who contributed to the success of this program, including our team of volunteers who established a supportive online platform, offered training, and monitored ongoing participant needs. We look forward to further enhancing and expanding our peer support initiative for the ASI community.
There are several Peer Support Circle Facilitator positions available for the groups starting in September 2025 and beyond. This is a volunteer opportunity that comes with meaningful benefits and perks, detailed below.
Facilitator Role Summary:
As a facilitator, you will play a vital role in fostering a safe and supportive listening space for you and your colleagues. You will both lightly guide your group and actively participate in it. Peer Support Circles meet every two weeks for 90 minutes. Each immersive, online, face-to-face gathering consists of 4 to 6 people, including the facilitator and a technician who has a dual role of hosting the online platform and being a Circle participant.
Responsibilities:
Personal Qualities:
Requirements:
Benefits and Perks:
How to Apply:
You can apply to become a Peer Support Circle Facilitator directly on the Peer Support Circle Registration form located at the bottom of this web page. Under DISCOVERY QUESTIONS, click on “Yes” that you are interested in being a facilitator. Qualified candidates will be contacted for the next steps.
Introduction:
There are several Peer Support Circle Technician positions available for the groups starting in September 2025 and beyond. This is a volunteer opportunity that comes with meaningful benefits, detailed below.
Peer Support Circle Format:
Peer Support Circles meet every two weeks for 90 minutes. Each immersive, online, face-to-face gathering consists of 4 to 6 people, including a technician and a facilitator who lightly guides the group and actively participates in it. Peer Support Circles are not recorded.
Each participant is allotted an equal amount of time to speak in succession. The speaking duration for each attendee will range from 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the total number of participants. A visible clock (available on Zoom) helps members keep track of their speaking time independently.
Role Responsibilities:
Requirements:
Benefits:
How to Apply:
You can apply to become a Peer Support Circle Technician directly on the Peer Support Circle Registration form at the bottom of this web page. Under DISCOVERY QUESTIONS, click on “Yes” that you are interested in being a technician. Qualified candidates will be contacted for the next steps.
“Joining a peer support circle was an incredibly powerful experience.
I was able to shift to an inner focus of ‘being’ and freely express myself
with caring colleagues who offered me acceptance and compassion.”
HAVE A QUESTION?
Contact peersupport@spiritual-integrity.org
