This course is designed to support our instructors in expanding their teaching portfolios by building skills and confidence in marketing their Guided Autobiography workshops. Sarah White, GAB Trainer and Facilitator, will be leading this class.

About the Course:

This six-part online workshop is designed for GAB instructors who want to feel more confident and intentional in how they promote their Guided Autobiography offerings. Over six weeks, participants will be guided step-by-step to build a personalized six-month Marketing Action Plan using a provided template. With structured support and examples, you’ll develop an Elevator Pitch and create practical marketing materials you can immediately put to use. By the end of the course, you’ll have a clear roadmap so you no longer feel, “I just don’t know where to start” or “I just don’t know what to say.”

Course Details:

Title: Marketing Your GAB Workshops: 6-Month Action Plan

Dates: Fridays, January 9–February 13, 2026 (6 weeks) • 8:00–10:00 AM Pacific Time

Format: Online workshop via Zoom

Fee: $300

Who is it for? GAB instructors who want to gain more confidence and clarity in marketing their Guided Autobiography workshops

Registration is limited to 10 participants.

Contact Sarah White to reserve your seat or to learn more.

This course is designed to support our instructors in expanding their teaching portfolios and helping participants reflect deeply on their personal journeys. Lily Bengfort and Leigh Morrow, GAB Trainers and Facilitators, will be leading this class.

About the Course:

A life portfolio represents the accumulation of your time, energy, and personal experiences. The workshop offers a space for participants to reflect on intangible assets—relationships, skills, and experiences with family, friends, and the community. Through guided exercises and structured reflection, participants will assess how their life investments align with core values and life aspirations. Life transitions are considered opportunities for realignment and growth, and the course supports participants in creating a personal plan toward greater fulfillment, purpose, and meaning. This course will guide participants through evaluating past and ongoing personal investments, letting go of commitments that no longer serve, and identifying new opportunities for growth and fulfillment—all grounded in experience and personal values.

Course Details:

Title: Life Portfolio: Life Reimagined Certification

Dates: Fridays, January 9th–February 13th, 2026 (6 weeks) • 10:00 AM–12:00 PM Pacific Time

Format: Online certification course

Fee: $450

Who is it for? GAB instructors wishing to teach or incorporate these practices

All student handouts and extra teaching resources are included.

Space is limited.

This course is designed to support our instructors in expanding their teaching portfolios with an offering for students interested in family stories, personal history, and genealogy. Heidi Thorsen and Sarah White, GAB Trainers, will be leading this class.

About the Course:

This six-session, 2.5-hour instructor-only course equips Guided Autobiography facilitators to teach family-history writing with depth and skill. Participants will explore how context—era, geography, and culture—shapes family stories, how roles and values move across generations, and how rituals and artifacts reveal identity. The course also provides essential craft tools to help writers bring relatives to life on the page, develop a strong narrative voice, and shape meaningful, resonant stories.

Completion prepares instructors to teach Shaking the Family Tree within their own programs and communities.

Course Details:

Title: Shaking the Family Tree Certification

Dates: Wednesdays, March 18–April 22, 2026 (6 weeks) • 10:00 AM–12:30 PM Pacific Time

Format: Online certification course

Fee: $450

Who is it for? GAB instructors wishing to teach or incorporate this curriculum into their class offerings

All student handouts and extra teaching resources are included.

A portion of the proceeds supports the Birren Center.

This course is designed to support our instructors in expanding their teaching portfolios by exploring how food, flavor, and sensory memory can deepen autobiographical writing. Janet Ferguson, GAB Instructor and Facilitator, will be leading this class.

About the Course:

Tasting the Past – Flavors of Memory invites both experienced and emerging Guided Autobiography facilitators on an imaginative journey into the kitchens, gardens, and dining tables of memory. Across five lively two-hour sessions, participants will experiment with prompts inspired by Birren’s classic life themes and learn how to adapt them for a range of settings—from traditional GAB courses to intergenerational storytelling projects and “legacy recipe” books.

Expect a rich blend of creative play and Birren-based practice, all within a small, supportive group dedicated to writing, remembering, and sharing. This is storywork at its most human: nourishing, connective, and full of discovery.

Course Details:

Title: Tasting the Past – Flavors of Memory

Dates: Mondays, November 17, 24, December 1, 8, and 15, 2025 • 9:00–11:00 AM Pacific Time

Format: Online workshop

Fee: $125

Who is it for? GAB instructors wishing to explore the use of food and sensory memory in autobiographical writing

Special 20% discount for Community Hub subscribers.

Spaces are limited to seven participants.