Ancestral Healing Practitioner Training:
Cohort Eight, 2024-2025

Ancestral Medicine is an organization that encourages the embodiment of animist values and practices in ways that are culturally healing, non-dogmatic, and accessible to people of diverse means, ancestries, and geographies. We are not a non-profit, NGO, spiritual community, or consensus-based organization; we are a business incorporated in the U.S. state of North Carolina that aims to be sustainable, to care well for our staff and the participants in our offerings, and to further cultural healing. Our six Core Values (https://ancestralmedicine.org/core-values/) are: Animist, Anti-supremacist, International, Accessible, Courageous, and Kind. For more on our team see: ancestralmedicine.org/about.

Our team is committed to facilitating and guiding the Ancestral Healing Practitioner Training and the related Ancestral Medicine Practitioner Network (https://ancestralmedicine.org/practitioner-directory/) in professional and values-driven ways. Training and policy details are below and also in the Ancestral Healing Practitioner Training Manual. All trainees accepted in the program will be provided with the Ancestral Healing Practitioner Training Manual by no later than one week before our first of two orientation meetings in late September/early October and also agree to the terms and conditions therein by their participation in the program and execution of this document. In practical terms, you’ll have a chance to read over the manual and ask any questions about what’s in there before the training starts but we don’t share it until closer to the time of the training as it’s full of the detailed contents of the training steps themselves.

During and after the training process, practitioners and trainees are encouraged to participate in ongoing educational and community opportunities through the Ancestral Medicine Practitioner Network; however, active involvement in the Network is not required to maintain certification. Post-training requirements consist of an approximately 10-minute report-in every two years along with fulfillment of modest continuing education requirements every two years (roughly ten hours) to further one’s professional development and stay current with the emergent practice.

What follows are the ten elements in the public Code of Ethics (in bold). Below each is an elaboration in regular font excerpted from the training manual. This is followed by a statement in italics about how each applies to the training process. Please acquaint yourself with these values and agreements, as we are a values-based organization and each serves to establish a safe, connective, and culturally welcoming training.

Ancestral Medicine leadership neither seeks to define nor presumes to require personal well-being for practitioners, and yet being of service tends to call for some combination of physical, mental, emotional, relational, spiritual, and cultural wellness. In the context of the ethics guiding the practice of Ancestral Lineage Healing, this includes living from a stance of self-responsibility by acknowledging when any area of personal imbalance or suffering is impacting one's ability to be of service and then taking steps to account for these impacts by securing relevant support and making necessary changes.

The ancestors are the collective wisdom of the species and central to the practice of Ancestral Lineage Healing. Practitioners maintain healthy ongoing relationships with their blood lineage ancestors, honor what is wholesome and life-affirming about family, and stay open to growth, change, and new possibilities for their practice and service in the world. They work from an ethic of service and humility that includes reflection on one's motivations for offering ancestral healing services, and they respect and support both their living clients and the ancestors of those they serve.

Cultural maturity and skillfulness arise gradually over years of historically honest and vulnerable engagement with one's ancestral legacies, identities, and unresolved traumas as they manifest through body, life circumstance, and society. From this foundation of personal and ancestral healing, practitioners commit to proactively celebrate and honor their clients and their clients' ancestors in ways that call for ongoing study of history and systemic injustice, refinement of multi-cultural facilitation skills, and the courage to recognize and lean into growth edges.

Ethical conduct is essential for meaningful service and for the success of ancestral healing as a larger movement. Practitioners agree to proactively tend to matters of consent, power, and healthy boundaries; to work within the scope of practice for ancestral healing practitioners; to utilize ongoing supervision and professional consultation when called for; to practice personal and professional honesty regarding one's sources, credentials, and identities; and to honor the guidelines and agreements of one's organizational role (e.g., supervisor, event leader, course supporter) if also serving in those capacities.

Practitioners also agree to model respectful and reliable conduct with those who seek their support by being punctual and dependable, honoring payment agreements, and presenting with an appearance, demeanor, and sobriety appropriate to their roles and settings. This includes welcoming constructive feedback from clients and colleagues and seeking to foster goodwill and positive outcomes when concerns arise.

Guiding ancestral healing sessions, talks, circles, or related offerings places practitioners in positions of power and leadership that call for empathy, restraint, awareness of impact, and willingness to patiently and humbly engage concerns. Conversely, when those in the Practitioner Network inhabit relationships of less structural power (e.g., mentee, trainee, contractor, guest presenter at another's event) they commit to communicate clearly and to bring vulnerability and openness to learning.

With respect to involvement in the Ancestral Medicine Practitioner Network this includes honoring shared agreements and expectations, speaking up in direct and generative ways as needed, and respecting the humanity of colleagues, staff, and organizational leadership.

Ancestral healing practitioners may choose to offer ancestral healing services for community, students, clients of other services, friends, and family, or they may decline when presented with these opportunities. When choosing to enter into any type of dual or multiple relationships related to ancestral healing, proactively navigate relational complexity, utilize collegial support, make referrals as needed for the well-being of their clients. Entering into these complexities is never an excuse for misuse of power and/or sexual energy by forwarding personal agendas or becoming intimately involved with clients.

Practitioners engage awareness of audience and cultural impact when teaching, guiding group ritual, and promoting their services. Practitioners remember that they may make a referral or decline any request for services at any time, and they do not participate in coercion, obligation, or manipulation surrounding practices of ancestral healing.

Practitioners engage awareness of audience and cultural impact when teaching, guiding group ritual, and promoting their services. Practitioners remember that they may make a referral or decline any request for services at any time, and they do not participate in coercion, obligation, or manipulation surrounding practices of ancestral healing.

Conflict is inevitable and can be healing and in service to the greater. Conversely, unaddressed conflicts can erode the foundation of mutual trust and goodwill among colleagues and clients. Proactive means of conflict resolution include commitment to self-reflection, an ethic of self-responsibility, the courage to bring concerns directly to those involved in ways that encourage positive resolution, and the willingness to understand impact and stay open to making repairs. With respect to Ancestral Medicine and the practice of Ancestral Lineage Healing, practitioners agree to utilize established organizational channels for conflict resolution.

When conflicts arise, honorable means to remedy conflict are used by our network. These include seeking direct resolution between yourself and any party involved when at all possible, avoiding slander when seeking support, showing up for what follows when you choose to raise concerns, favoring live interaction (e.g., video conference or phone) over written communication, and utilizing professional support when needed to increase the chances of good outcomes. The conflict resolution process expressly precludes use of social media or other public forums to resolve a conflict.

Serving others in this approach to ancestral healing calls not only for mastery of the Ancestral Lineage Healing process but also cultural awareness and humility, ritual facilitation skills, emotional intelligence and heart, and the ability to maintain a successful professional practice. Practitioners agree to stay open to feedback on opportunities for growth and refinement and to seek personal and professional support as needed. This includes engaging in introspection and caring for any places of stubbornness, avoidance, cultural bias, or unresolved pain that could impede one's ability to learn and develop as a practitioner.

The human ancestors, like the living, are inseparable from and dependent on networks of kinship that include our Earthly kin and the greater vastness through which we travel. Ancestral healing practitioners seek to interrupt harmful human arrogance, supremacy, and isolation by cultivating an ethic of interrelatedness and respect for others in their personal lives, in their service with clients, and as colleagues furthering the work of ancestral and cultural healing.

Taken from the public informational page about the training on our website (https://ancestralmedicine.org/practitioner-training/). Please read over “The Nuts and Bolts” and also the FAQ at the bottom of the public page for useful information about the training:

Foundational to this training is the personal transformation that results from partnering with your ancestors as mentors and colleagues. During the training you will deepen your capacity and skillfulness as a ritualist, and develop practical healership skills.

This training is nine-months long, and is anchored by three Practice Intensive periods which run four-to-six weeks each. In the periods between intensives, there’s a lighter schedule of required teachings. This format provides trainees with space to effectively study and practice each element of the training.

To complete the training/certification process, you must engage with all required foundational elements, be in active collaboration with mentors and supervisors, and provide documentation for 40 public client sessions (these 40 sessions do not all have to be completed during the nine-month training period). In addition to the 40 public sessions, the required elements are: three practice intensives, roughly 20 required 90-minutes teachings (demo sessions, cultural teachings, etc), at least 12 exchange sessions with other trainees, and individual and group mentorship sessions.

Practice Intensive Weeks | Four to six weeks, three times, over the nine months

During each Practice Intensive period, pre-recorded teachings and demonstrations are released weekly and trainees then guide the practices introduced with live supervision from certified practitioner/supporters. These practice exchanges are then followed by live discussions led by either Daniel or by Shannon Willis, Ancestral Medicine’s Ritual Director. During the four to six week Practice Intensive period, you should expect to dedicate at least six hours per week for study, practice, and discussion. A number of international time zone options will be available for scheduling the weekly live practice exchanges.

Interim Weeks Overview

Between Practice Intensives, there will be a variety of required teachings (roughly one per week). We recruit speakers and assemble materials with great care to provide you with the richest learning experience possible. During interim periods, participants will also meet in small groups with their mentors and mentorship pod and should expect to dedicate at least three hours a week to training and practice.

After the second Practice Intensive, participants who are caught up with study and prepared to proceed will further develop their skills through supervised ancestral healing sessions with clients. This happens in the form of individual mentorship, live observation, and group supervision.

Cohort Eight orientation and the first Practice Intensive will begin in late September/early October 2024. For exact dates see: ancestralmedicine.org/cohort-eight-training-schedule. Here is the basic overview:

• - Late Sept / Early Oct: Orientation sessions for Cohort Eight.
• - Late Oct - Early Dec 2024: Practice Intensive One – Ancestral Lineage Healing
• - Dec 2024 - April 2025: Interim One – Teachings for Expanding into the Method
• - April - May 2025: Practice Intensive Two – Cultural Layers and Client Challenges
• - May - July 2025: Interim Two – Public Practice and Supervision
• - July 2025: Practice Intensive Three – Deepening with Ancestral Healing Practices

1) Ancestral Medicine, Inc. (AM) disclaim responsibility for any consequences suffered by any student or client or from their students or clients, including in any course of study or healing arts practice that trainees might take on after studying with AM. By signing below, I agree to indemnify AM harmless from any and all loss or damage AM might suffer as a result of any claim, demand, cost or judgment arising out of a trainee’s study with AM. Common English: If others experience harm from you in the course of your practice, Ancestral Medicine is not legally responsible for your actions. We strongly encourage all practitioners to have their own professional liability insurance.

2) Should circumstances arise that were not previously known in which it becomes apparent that AM can no longer back a mentee/trainee/practitioner, through a violation of any of the Code of Ethics or through any other not-already-specified need to end the mentorship relationship, AM reserves the right to revoke certification, cease mentorship, remove the individual from internal communications, and end all organizational endorsement. Common English: Just as any mentee/trainee/practitioner can step away from involvement, it’s also true that Ancestral Medicine can break contact and endorsement and set a boundary at any point.

3) The Agreements and Understanding set forth, and any and all claims or causes of action (whether in contract, tort, or statute) that may be based upon, arise out of, or relate to these Agreements and Expectations, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of North Carolina, without regard to its conflict of laws principles. Common English: If there is a need for legal action, that will occur in the state of North Carolina.

Initiating a Payment Plan. Upon acceptance to the Practitioner Training, you have 30 days after being invited to initiate a payment plan (or confirm a scholarship payment plan if seeking a scholarship).

Several different payment plan options are available. We depend on your contractual commitment to continue making payments until financial obligations are complete. Payment plan set-up, which includes the first installment, must be completed 30 days from acceptance and no later than September 30, 2024.

All payment plans are automatically debited monthly. In the event of pre-emptive cancellation from your side, the contract will be broken. If you wish to increase payments or otherwise adjust your payment plan, please just be in touch.

Payment Methods. Payment can be made through our website by credit/debit or Paypal.

Tuition. Cost for the full training is $7,500 USD. A courtesy reduction of $500 USD is available for those who are able to pay in full within three months of registration.

If life conditions change for you in ways that make fulfillment of your obligations impossible, you agree to proactively communicate with our team to try to understand what options may be possible.

If you need a cost reduction and/or scholarships funds from Ancestral Medicine, this gets worked out on a case by case basis. We still expect those who receive cost reduction and/or scholarship support to honor all other agreements in this document surrounding payment.

Refunds.Refunds requested for withdrawal from the training program will incur a $400 fee any time before October 16, 2024. Ancestral Medicine will have no obligation to grant any refunds after this date.

Ancestral Medicine may grant a full or partial refund pursuant to its sole discretion if it is able to enroll a replacement participant in sufficient time for them to join the training; however, Ancestral Medicine will have no obligation to seek or accept a replacement participant.

Non-Completion of Training. In the unlikely event you and Ancestral Medicine part ways after the first retreat and before the training completes, we will proceed as follows:

• - If you choose to leave, we still expect you to pay for the training. You will be responsible for completing all payments for tuition according to your payment plan. If financial agreements are broken, Ancestral Medicine reserves the right to pursue legal action.
• - If we ask you to leave the training before October 16, 2024, we’ll issue a full refund minus a $400 processing fee. If we ask you to leave any time after the first retreat begins, full payment for the training is expected.

Our team is made up of caring and reasonable people and we reserve the right to make exceptions to these agreements on a case by case basis.

By signing here, I agree to follow all agreements, understandings, and policies in this document.