Becoming ProSocial

The October course enrolment is now closed. There will be another offering in January. Please register your interest and we will notify you when the course page is live.

This guided learning journey will introduce the basics of the ProSocial method as an applied change process and welcome participants into our growing global ProSocial Commons community. This course provides weekly peer-group meetings to discuss, explore and deepen the work. Participants will be supported in identifying and working on their particular collaborative needs and goals.  

Course Live Sessions

Becoming ProSocial will be running two fully virtual cohorts to serve a variety of schedules and global timezones. Each participant can select Cohort 1 or Cohort 2 depending on the dates and times that work best. Both cohorts will follow the same course content and curriculum.  The times below should display in your local time zone. Please note that, at this time of year, there may well be time shifts.  Clicking on each event will allow you to download the event into your calendar.



How can we build more trust and collaboration in the groups and networks we care about?

How can we work together to make the difference we are striving for?



We will work through the first 7 modules of our Becoming ProSocial course together. The main objective of this experience is to:

  • Practice psychological flexibility and listening in community
  • Experience the prosocial community of practice for the 7 weeks we are together
  • Empower us all to improve our groups and communities

The ProSocial Model

The ProSocial model is designed to enhance self-awareness, responsiveness and collaboration by making use of ideas drawn from cultural evolutionary theory, Elinor Ostrom’s Nobel prize-winning design principles for groups, and the contemplative and behavioral sciences.

You will:
  1. Reflect upon and expanding your ideas about yourself as a leader 
  2. Learn new ways of having more prosocial conversations,
  3. Deepen your awareness of how your interior world helps or hinders your effectiveness in collaborative relationships
  4. Learn practical and efficient methods for bringing groups together around a shared vision and values
  5. Learn an evidence backed and scalable approach to making the key agreements you need to support collaboration
  6. Discover how to converge on the most helpful collective actions for achieving your group's vision
Write your awesome label here.

Grow
Personally

Enhance your capacity to be present and responsive to your needs and values

Help
Groups

Learn and practice the basics of a new, evidence-based and very practical method for enhancing trust and collaboration in groups

Create Support Networks

Join a cohort of peers tackling similar challenges and are willing to serve as an ongoing support network

Build Trust and Collaboration

Develop skills and gain access to tools to improve collaboration within your group(s)

Here's what students from the last course said:

Becoming ProSocial is chock full of useful concepts and tools. It is presented beautifully, using a full suite of an online learning portal: videos, documents, quizzes, downloads. There is also a cohort experience to further the learning. The library of take-aways will take me a long time to fully assimilate into my practice, yet some tools I will start building into my client engagements immediately.  
Mark
Leadership and Philanthropy Coach (PCC, CAP), Consultant, Facilitator, and Author, Generosity Path

I most liked the practical frameworks and the flexibility that was inherent within them to adapt them to my own individual group. It has definitely helped me take on complex projects with multiple stakeholders with more confidence and understanding of the systems at play. I also liked meeting people from diverse backgrounds and groups through the course live calls.
Alex C
Senior Clinical Coordinator, Royal Far West 

Interested in Becoming ProSocial? 

Sign up for more information, updates, and exclusive offers:

Thank you!

You are also invited to reach out to one of our team members to discuss your goals and any questions you may have, and discuss if Becoming ProSocial is right for you:

Course Modules

Payment Levels

Standard Enrollment

$300
This payment level covers the full cost for ProSocial World to administer the course to one person

‍Supporting Others to Attend

$450
This payment covers the cost for one person and contributes towards our scholarship fund for those who cannot afford full tuition

Scholarships

Limited Scholarships Available
We’re committed to accessibility. If you are from a marginalized group, part of a developing region, or not in a financial position to cover the full tuition, please complete our scholarship application:
Our team

Meet our Team

Paul Atkins
Co-Founder ProSocial World
Paul is an author, researcher and facilitator trainer. He is a Visiting Associate Professor with the Crawford School of Public Policy (ANU). His research is focused on interventions to reduce stress while enhancing relationships, wellbeing, perspective-taking, and cooperation in groups and organizations. He is co-founder of ProSocial World, a not for profit organization focused on enhancing cooperation and trust in purpose-driven groups globally. He has applied ProSocial in contexts as diverse as private sector organisations, political parties, schools and the United Nations.
Anna Castonguay
Anna Castonguay is co-founder of Awakening Lands, a learning and support network for facilitators exploring community and landscape healing practices, and supports nonprofit collaboratives in identifying and pursuing strategic initiatives. She teaches at Daemen University's Department of Behavioral Sciences and sits on the board of various nonprofits focused on the environment and conservation. Anna is passionate about disseminating the philosophy of prosocial to others in order to bring about cultural change.
Viveka Ramel
Clinical psychologist, behavioral scientist and sustainability practitioner
Viveka is a licensed clinical psychologist in California, USA, teacher, and consultant with private practices in San Francisco. She specializes in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), compassion and mindfulness-based interventions, climate psychology, and prosocial practice and theory. She offers lectures and workshops on psychological and behavioral dimensions of the climate crisis, and consults with organizations and groups seeking to apply and integrate climate awareness and action, prosociality, psychological flexibility, mindfulness, and mental sustainability into their cultures.
 To learn more, please see sevitar.com.

Odette Lassonczyk
Born in Germany in 1963, I embarked on my psychology journey at a time when the field was just gaining recognition. After completing my undergraduate studies in Germany, I pursued an MSc in Organizational Psychology in the UK, drawn by the vibrancy of the academic world. Post academia, I ventured into consulting, a path I temporarily left to embrace motherhood. In the 90s, I returned to Germany and trained as a psychotherapist, which allowed me to balance professional endeavors with family life.
Today, I seamlessly integrate my expertise in organizational and therapeutic contexts, dedicating my career to deepening our understanding of human behavior. My mission is to empower individuals and organizations alike to connect deeply, foster healing, and contribute positively to our world.
Annika Lonak, MD
Annika Lonak is a clinically trained neuroradiologist with an emphasis on pediatric neuroradiology. She has a deep interest in evolution and development of neural systems and behavior. She works as a senior consultant at the university of Basel (Switzerland), where she is responsible for the educational program for residents in neuroradiology. She constantly works to improve education, learning-conditions, training and leadership using a prosocial and systemic lense combined with evidence based didactical methods to foster learning and cooperation in groups.


Maike Baumann
Maike Baumann is a psychologist, psychotherapist and conflict mediator based in Potsdam, Germany. She is particularly interested in the development and change of personality over the lifespan and the associated psychology of emotions, as well as human interaction and communication. She works as an independent trainer, coach, speaker and psychotherapist and is the managing director of a company specialized in corporate change processes and systemic leadership. In her daily work, she supports individuals, teams and companies in successfully dealing with challenges and projects outside their daily routines. Her approach is characterized by her particular resource orientation and unconditional appreciation of all stakeholders in the process, with the aim of consolidating prosociality and appreciation as natural cornerstones of operational communication and interaction. Maike studied Psychology, General and Theoretical Linguistics and Philosophy of Religion and is the author of various publications on forgiveness in coaching, Schema Coaching andon topics of organixational communication and conflict prevention.‍

Interested in Becoming ProSocial? 

Sign up for more information, updates, and exclusive offers:

Thank you!

You are also invited to reach out to one of our team members to discuss your goals and any questions you may have, and discuss if Becoming ProSocial is right for you: