Frequently Asked Questions about the Radiant Mind Course

Can I participate in the workshop component of the course in different locations? (read)

How many people are there in each study group? (read)

How does the online component of the course work? (read)

How much time do I need to commit to the course each week? (read)

How do I handle business trips or vacations I plan during the course? (read)

What does it mean to successfully complete the course? Does this mean I can fail? (read)

Can I receive Continuing Education Credits for the Course? (read)

Can I get credit at other institutions upon successfully completing this Course? (read)

Are stipends or scholarships available for students? (read)

I’m not a psychologist or therapist? Can I still enroll? (read)

How will the course benefit me if I’m not a helping professional? (read)

Does the course qualify me to practice as a nondual therapist? (read)

Who can enroll? (read)

I am in therapy. Can I still enroll? (read)

Is it essential that I have access to a computer to complete the Course? (read)

I don’t own a computer. Can I have the written materials mailed to me? (read)

Can you fax the written materials for the course, and can I submit my assignments by fax? (read)

Do you recommend any particular telephony equipment? (read)

What happens if I withdraw part way through the course? (read)

If I withdraw part way through the course, can I pick up in a subsequent year where I left off? (read)

Will I have to pay the full fee if I resume in a later year? (read)

Is it possible to complete the first four months of the course in one year and thencomplete the second five months in a subsequent year? (read)

What are the pre-requisites for enrolling in the course? (read)

How much does the course cost? (read)

How do I register? (read)

Can I participate in the workshop component of the course in different locations? (top)

Yes. You can attend workshops at any of the locations.

How many people are there in each study group? (top)

Four or five people are assigned to each study group.

How does the online component of the course work? (top)

Every two weeks you’ll receive a project. This consists of a preamble and a set of experiential exercise. You work on the exercises, individually, with other course participants, and with partners, friends and colleagues. Students and the instructor create a dynamic, collaborative learning space.

How much time do I need to commit to the course each week? (top)

The amount of time you need depends on several individual factors. On average you should plan on spending around 8 hours of formal involvement each week. Some projects invite you to be mindful of tendencies and conditioned way of being during the day.

How do I handle business trips or vacations I plan during the course? (top)

In order to complete the course you are required to fully participate in the entire course. This means staying in contact with your community of support and submitting report on some of the experiential exercises. However, some latitude is also built into the course. For example, the bi-monthly assignments often have a required and optional component to them. This gives you room to adjust the time commitment in order to account for the contingencies that you will encounter.

What does it mean to successfully complete the course? Does this mean I can fail? (top)

The course is not about succeeding or failing. The course is about gaining new skills and capacities to enhance your personal and professional life. The course is successfully completed by participating in the workshops, engaging in the conference calls, submitting the relevant reports on time and being open to feedback and guidance offered by the instructor.

Can I receive Continuing Education Credits for the Course? (top)

At this point in time we are submitting the necessary paperwork for CECs.

Can I get credit at other institutions upon successfully completing this Course? (top)

At this point we cannot offer credit for successfully completing this course but we are exploring this with various Universities, Institutes and Colleges.

Are stipends or scholarships available for students? (top)

If you are enrolled as a full-time student we may be able to offer a reduction in the course fee. Please contact us if you are in this position.

I’m not a psychologist or therapist? Can I still enroll? (top)

You certainly can. We encourage the participation of anyone who is serious about their psychological and spiritual wellbeing. The course is designed to educate people in this new approach to living, from the viewpoint of offering this perspective to others, cultivating it within ourselves, and being better able to receive nondual teachings and instructions wherever these are available.

How will the course benefit me if I’m not a helping professional? (top)

The course is essentially educational. You do not need to be a helping professional to benefit from the course. You can expect to make improvements in many areas of your life through completing the course—relationships, work, and your own spiritual development.

Does the course qualify me to practice as a nondual therapist? (top)

The course is not designed to formally qualify people to practice as nondual therapists. The course is designed to contribute to the psychological and spiritual development of participants. Psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, and other helping professionals can expect the course to complement, expand and enhance their existing forms of practice.

Who can enroll? (top)

The course is designed for helping professional and people who are interested in taking responsibility for their own wellbeing and happiness. In a typical program about half of the participants are helping professionals – psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, social workers, somatic therapists. The other half come from a very broad profile of lifestyles and professions – managers, writers, information technology, advertising, and so on.

We have discovered that learning of all participants is enhanced by bringing together a people from a range of personal, professional and cultural backgrounds. The value of this broad-based profile becomes especially obvious in the shared exercises and conference calls. Helping professionals value the opportunity to trial and refine their skills with other course participants. Other participants value the opportunity to join in a group of trained and well motivated professionals.

I am in therapy. Can I still enroll? (top)

If you are working with a therapist on a regular basis (seeing your therapist at least once a month) we will need a letter from your therapist that notes his knowledge of your participation in this program.

Is it essential that I have access to a computer to complete the Course? (top)

Access to a computer is a requirement for participating in the course. The course is based on email communication.

I don’t own a computer. Can I have the written materials mailed to me? (top)

Given the efficiency of computer and internet technology, this isn’t practical. Regular mail services are too slow and not sufficiently reliable to ship material to the international community participating in the course.

Can you fax the written materials for the course, and can I submit my assignments by fax? (top)

The written materials (including reading materials) for each project can run into many pages. Also, your assignments need to be sent to three other participants. The volume of material and movement of many participants throughout the year makes it impractical to rely on fax transmission.

Do you recommend any particular telephony equipment? (top)

The ideal arrangement is a phone with a headset. This is what we use. This requires a phone with a jack to take a headset. They can be purchased for around $120. The headset will cost around $30. Next best is a hands-free phone. This will let you look through your papers and also enter a contemplative space with the instructor. Sometimes the quality of hands-free phone is poor. So watch out for this. A regular phone that you hold to your ear will also work, though it is not ideal, mainly because it doesn’t invite the exploration of shared silence that is important aspect of Radiant Mind.

What happens if I withdraw part way through the course? (top)

We are committed to your successful completion of the course. We will work with you to address any difficulties or problems that arise during the course. As much as possible we will attempt to incorporate these difficulties into the course so that the course can be a resource for managing routine problems and interruptions. However, it can happen that for different reason people are unable to complete the course. If you need to withdraw please contact us as soon as this begins to become apparent.

If I withdraw part way through the course, can I pick up in a subsequent year where I left off? (top)

Our commitment is for you to successfully complete the course. We will work with you to this end. However, it does happen that for different reason people are unable to complete the course and need to withdraw you will need to resume either at the beginning or half way through, depending on when you withdrew.

Will I have to pay the full fee if I resume in a later year? (top)

You will not have to pay for the full fee.

Is it possible to complete the first four months of the course in one year and then complete the second five months in a subsequent year? (top)

The course is eight-months long. We do not recommend that you spread your participation over two or more years but it is possible to split the first and second half of the course over two years.

What are the pre-requisites for enrolling in the course? (top)

There are no formal pre-requisites beyond having a genuine commitment to your own psychological and spiritual development, and are willing to share and work in a collaborative environment.

How much does the course cost? (top)

This depends on whether you pay in full prior to commencement of the course, or choose to pay in two installments. If you pay upfront the fee is $2250. If you pay in two installments the total fee is $2750.

How do I register? (top)

Complete the registration form together with a check, payable to Peter Fenner and send to Radiant Mind, PO Box 9121 Asheville, NC 28815, or pay using the PayPal link.