Foundations of Facilitation Trainers and Staff

Who is REiD Mihalko?
Who is Marcia Baczynski?
Who is Betty Martin?
Who is Len Daley?
Who is Andrew Barnes?

Who is REiD Mihalko? Creator and Founder of Cuddle Party, FOF and Certification Trainer

I'm one of America's leading experts in the fields of intimacy, affection and touch. I'm most widely known as the co-creator and spokesperson for this global social-phenomenon known as Cuddle Party. Part communication workshop, part "social laboratory," Cuddle Party is fulfilling on my mission to teach men and women how to live more self-expressed, more fulfilled, healthier lives through welcomed, affectionate touch. Three main points make up the core message of my educational work:

1. Touch is a basic human need that people must meet in order to live healthy, happy, fulfilling lives.

2. In today's modern world, most people arent getting enough touch.

3. An abundance of welcomed touch and affection is possible through better communication skills, skills that most of us weren't taught growing up.

By focusing on these points, I hope that my efforts are changing the way people view and think about touch, especially sustained, affectionate physical contact, also known as "cuddling!" My interest and expertise in touch, intimacy and affection grew out of a unique journey: I amassed an extensive knowledge of the martial arts as a young adult (two black belts and a brown belt). Eventually I became increasingly interested in how to put people back together rather than how to hurt them. My curiosity led me to ten years of study (and still going!) in massage, yoga, and other alternative methods of healing. This coincided during college with a foray into one of the world's oldest therapeutic professions: I started bartending! My empathic nature, love of people, and sense of humor made me a perfect fit for the social needs of bar life (as well as my love for Bailey's in my coffee).

After fifteen years and hundreds of thousands of conversations about people's relationships and sex lives, I quit bartending to pursue a career in what I realized was my passion: intimacy, sexuality, and how it all fits in with people actually living their lives. I set out to work with people and their relationship needs, counseling them in how to create more fulfilling lives. I also began designing workshops and educational programming to foster this work. In my interactions with educators and healing practitioners and in working with laypeople, I began to see a common thread: a near-universal lack of healthy touch. Even the massage thereapists weren't getting their touch needs met! If they were suffering from lack of touch, what about everyone else?...

The idea for Cuddle Party was soon to be born! In the three years since launching Cuddle Party with Marcia Baczynski, I have personally cuddled over two thousand people, have trained and certified facilitators from all over the world to run Cuddle Parties, and have appeared on television, on radio and in print in more than fifteen languages and twenty-three countries world-wide. I believe that understanding one's needs for touch, and creating the safety and structure to get those needs met, are the building blocks for healthier, more self-expressed lives. I belive that an individual, when they realize that their feelings of skin hunger are normal and learn the skills and ways to get their needs fed in healthy, nutritious ways; that they can create a better world for themselves. And this goes for everybody. In creating a better world for ourselves, we create a better world for all of us, a better world, period. It only sounds crazy because we're not taught to think we can ~really~ change the world. Well, I think we can, and I'm doing it one hug at a time! Will you come join me? : )

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Who is Marcia Baczynski? Co-Creator and Co-Founder of Cuddle Party, FOF and Certification Trainer

Marcia Baczynski is an extraordinarily talented workshop designer and facilitator, teacher, coach and leader who is passionate about providing the world with better tools for relationships and sexuality and empowering people to use them. An expert in gender dynamics, sexuality and interpersonal communication, she combines a keen analytical ability with warm personal skills to provide her clients and students with an experience of being seen, being validated, learning something new and feeling smarter for it.

In her work with couples and singles, she helps clients to identify what they want out of their relationships and how to create it. As co-creator of Cuddle Party, Marcia has worked with thousands of people, teaching them about boundary-setting, non-sexual intimacy, and effective interpersonal communication.

Marcia is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where she studied public relations, history and women's studies. She has been a Barbara Sher Success Team leader, a guest lecturer on sex and gender at CUNY, and featured speaker at dozens of conferences on relationships and sexuality. From a young age, Marcia has been heavily involved in volunteer work, participating in projects as diverse as the 1996 Olympic Games, HIV education and awaremess, boat-building for kids in alternative schools, and the Burning Man arts festival.

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Who is Betty Martin? FOF and Certification Trainer, FOF Board Member, Focus on FOF Intellectual Property

Betty spent her childhood in a large family and her youth in experimental communities, learning about people in more groups than she can count. Founding a co-housing community with countless hours of meetings taught her the value of excellent facilitation. Now she enjoys helping others learn the skills she picked up along the way.

Betty graduated Chiropractic College in 1976 and practiced for almost 30 years, including several body-mind integration modalities. She has taught Peer Counseling for teens and adults, Educational Kinesiology and other bodywork for professionals, sexuality workshops for women, gender empowerment for both women and men, and boundary and communication workshops of many flavors, including Cuddle Parties.

She now has a private practice as a relationship and intimacy coach in Seattle, and continues to offer mentoring and workshops for other hands-on professionals, focusing on boundaries, communication and professional standards.

Betty has been facilitating Cuddle Parties for 4 years, and has served on the Cuddle Party Board of Directors for 3 years, including teaching the Foundations of Facilitation workshop and the Cuddle Party facilitator certification program.

She is also the proud mom of 3 adults and the grandma of a 4 year old. They are a very cuddly bunch. http://www.SacredExploration.com

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Who is Len Daley? Executive Director, EDUCO, Inc., FOF and Certification Trainer

Leonard (Len) Daley
DOB: May 13, 1944
Certified Cuddle Party Facilitator #001, Spring 2005
ReiKi Practitioner since 1981, ReiKi Master 1987
Licensed Massage Therapist (AL #129) professional since 1974
USAF Officer, 1967-1977
MA, Psychology, University of Detroit, 1971
BA, Psychology, Honors Program, University of Detroit, 1966

Len has helped people as a counselor and consultant for over 40 years.

He created and taught a 16 hour Stress Management Course for the Montgomery Police Academy, for several years, through the Montgomery Mental Health Association. He served on the Professional Advisory Board of the MHA for over 25 years.

During his ten years of service in the USAF, he taught Leadership, Ethics, and Problem Solving at Squadron Officer School which is part of the Air University, and worked as a Human Factors Project Officer on Minuteman and many other systems.

Adding bodywork to his skills, he has practiced massage professionally since 1974. He has trained over 150 apprentices practicing in AL and around the world. He has served as the Education Chair and as Chapter President of the American Massage Therapy Association – AL Chapter. As a ReiKi Master he incorporates the movement disciplines of T’ai Chi and Qi Gong, Yoga, and Breath Work to assist people to meet their needs and manage their stress. He is known for his very pragmatic approach, and his ability to tailor his instruction to meet the individual needs of his students. Since 2004 he has supported our Veterans teaching T'ai Chi and "Motion Is Lotion" at the VA Pain Clinic in Tuskegee, AL.

Len is Owner and Director of Holistic Resource Information, Montgomery, AL, and the Executive Director of EDUCO, Inc., the Non-Profit Corporation dedicated to the educational, research and charitable aims represented by Cuddle Party's philosophy and mission. He is also the lead trainer for the Virtual Training Option of the Foundations of Facilitation Training.

Who is Andrew Barnes? FOF Trainer for Cuddle Party in Australia

For more information about our wonderful Australian Cuddle Party Facilitator (#oo45) and FOF Trainer see More about Andrew He also serves as a world wide advisor on the Cuddle Party/Foundations of Facilitation Board of Directors.