Belfast — A five-part online professional development program, “Past Trauma, Current Relationships: Integrating Nonviolent Communication and Interpersonal Neurobiology,” will be offered May 10–14 through the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in Belfast. This online program runs from 9–11:30 a.m. each day. The fee is $195 per person.
The comprehensive program will benefit participants from a variety of fields, including for-profit and nonprofit sectors, education, health care, criminology and social services. The goal of this interactive program is to explore how early-life experiences, including traumas such as adverse childhood experiences affect how we relate to people now. While this is a professional development program, many participants have stated its benefit to their personal lives in addition to their professional lives.
Participants will gain clarity about how the brain responds to challenging situations and will experience new insights into choices leading to authentic honest relationships. This lively, interactive program will aid participants in strengthening and building connections even during conflict, using neurology to understand and increase our ability to self-regulate and be a constructive person, partner, community member, coworker and citizen.
Program instructor Peggy Smith (M.A.) has more than four decades of teaching experience. Smith earned a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and is a certified trainer with the International Center for Nonviolent Communication. A co-founder of the Maine NVC Network, Smith is at the forefront of bringing empathic thinking and communicating to the midcoast Maine region. Since 1991, Smith has studied with Zen teacher and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh and is a dharma teacher within his tradition.
Past participants of this program have said, “I’m very grateful to have added to and strengthened my Nonviolent Communication skills and understanding and made some connections between Nonviolent Communication and neurobiology that I can use in my therapy practice and personal life.” Others noted that the course helped them “think more carefully about communicating effectively at work and with loved ones, including practicing compassion for others at work through trying to understand their basic needs.”
For information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Michelle Patten at um.fhc.pd@maine.edu or 207-338-8002. For more information about upcoming professional development programs or to register, go online. Early registration is recommended as spots are limited. A limited number of need-based scholarships are available for people who live or work in Knox or Waldo counties.