Council 3 Training: Living Council
with Irasha Talifero and Tom Nolan
November 20 - 22, 2026
Council Training 3 is an extraordinary opportunity to deepen one’s relationship to council, exploring the more complex contours of facilitating council circles. This training is recommended for those who have participated in Council 1 and 2 training respectively, and ideally have a year or more of experience participating in and facilitating councils. As this program is intended for advanced council/circle facilitators, it will draw on the experiences of each cohort member — and support each participant’s continued growth and evolution as a council facilitator.
In this 3-day training you will:
- Explore ways to heighten perception and receptivity
- Deepen the skill of “witnessing” by “reading the field”
- Develop the art of “streaming” — moving from head to heart/gut intuition
- Understand the role of “transference” in council settings and learn tools to handle it as a facilitator
- Explore leadership qualities
- Investigate partnerships
- Further develop self-care and group care
- Learn new and different council modalities.
If you have any questions about program logistics or content, please email us at contact@topainstitute.org.
Itinerary
- Friday November 20, 2026 6:30pm-8:30pm
- Saturday, November 21, 2026 – 8:30am-4:30pm
- Sunday, November 22, 2026 – 8:30am-4:30pm
Price:
$400.00 Early Bird (before Sept. 30)
$475.00 Regular Price
Scholarships
We have needs-based scholarship funds designated to support access to our courses for those facing financial barriers. With each course, we aim to support as many people as possible with the funds. To this end, we are not asking for any financial records, but simply asking all who are in need to respond to a few questions. If you would like to apply for scholarship or have questions, please email alea@topainstitute.org.
Food
There will be light refreshments and snacks with the course (coffee, tea, simple snacks, etc.). Participants are expected to bring a bag lunch for Saturday and Sunday and provide their own food for all other meals. There is a refrigerator and camp stove available for use, and personal camp stoves are prohibited. Participants must bring their own cooking and eating utensils, including pot/pan, cup, forks etc.
Accommodations
Overnight accommodations are complimentary with our trainings. You can choose from the following options (*subject to availability):
- Solo campsite
- Sleeping pad in shared yurt
- Twin bed in a shared yurt
Participants may camp or share a yurt for up to two evenings (Friday and Saturday) on the land. Participants must provide all their own bedding and gear if staying overnight on the land.
Please select your accommodation type during your registration under “Optional Items”.
Topa Institute has drinking water, flush toilets, hot showers, a shared refrigerator, and leveled campsites available. For those wishing to camp on the evening of Friday, November 20th, please plan to arrive between 3pm and 6 pm. Personal camp stoves are not permitted.
Alternatively, the following hotels @ 9-minute drive from Topa Institute:
- Casa Ojai Inn, https://ojaiinn.com/
- Hummingbird Inn, http://hummingbirdinnojai.com/
- Capri Hotel, http://www.caprihotelojai.com/
Transportation
Participants are responsible for getting to and from the course. You can find driving directions using this Google Maps link. Parking is available onsite.
Facilitators
Irasha Talifero has lived in the Ojai Valley since 1976 and has cultivated a wealth of local connections. She moved to Ojai to have and raise her son, Snowshadow Talifero, who is now a local hero — a fireman who protected the ridge that Topa Institute now calls home during the Thomas Fire. The same year Irasha arrived in Ojai was the first time she went up to the ridge above what is now the Besant Hill School, then the home of Human Dimensions Institute West. She soon began volunteering and gardening on the site, planting some of what remains there…
Learn more about Irasha Talifero
Tom Nolan is a council trainer, musician, and family man. He taught council for 36 years at the Crossroads School in Santa Monica, where he worked in several positions. He has been a council consultant and trainer for Snap, Inc., and has seeded council programs at several California schools. He has co-led many council trainings at the Ojai Foundation, now Topa Institute. As a musician, he has been running the Tom Nolan Band for over thirty years. He co-leads the RAGTAG Band, which started playing in his driveway during the pandemic. He is married to Peggy O’Brien, who chaired the…
Learn more about Tom Nolan