Registration is open for an online professional development program, “Helping to Calm Strong Emotions with Resonant Language.” This four-day workshop, part of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s professional development program, will be held from 4-5:30 p.m. every Wednesday from Sept. 13 to Oct. 4.
Participants will learn practical strategies for helping calm strong emotions in themselves and others. Verbal and somatic strategies will also be demonstrated to deescalate strong emotions during conflict, explore brain activity when trauma is activated and show the practical power of resonant language. These techniques can be easily learned and readily employed to dispel tension during customer service interactions, reduce workplace friction, mitigate conflict between students and minimize stress with family and friends.
This program is designed to benefit people who work with youth, including childcare providers, ed techs, educators, guidance counselors, school administrators, social workers, teachers; frontline workers; people who work in service industries; municipal workers; and parents and guardians.
Program facilitator Peggy Smith, who holds a master’s degree in literacy and language arts from the University of Pennsylvania, is a certified trainer with the International Center for Nonviolent Communication with over four decades of teaching experience. A co-founder of the Maine Nonviolent Communication Network, Smith is at the forefront of bringing empathic thinking and communicating to midcoast Maine.
A stable internet connection and the ability to participate in these synchronous sessions as they are happening is required. Participants will receive a certificate of completion, and 0.6 CEUs/6 contact hours are available, upon request. The program cost is $175 per person.
For more information or to request a reasonable accommodation, visit the program website or contact Kimberly Lai, um.fhc.pd@maine.edu or 207-338-8002.