NVC & Relationship Skills Practice Group - 6 week series

Do you want to experience more connection, more support and more understanding in your RELATIONSHIPS? Do you want to feel heard and considered? Do you want to feel more comfortable and secure in relation to others? We can’t change others but we can express ourselves more effectively. We increase our chances of receiving a helpful response when we express ourselves from the heart with Self aware clarity.Join Mary Claire, LICSW and Aliona for a welcoming and enlivening practice that can transform your experience of communication in relationships. In this group we will practice communication in relationships using mainly Non-violent Communication (NVC) skills, a communication practice developed by Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D. It gives us a new way of thinking and speaking and listening that make our communications more clear and effective. Practicing in a group allows for faster integration and personal growth. Together we co-create a comfortable online community, in which we learn and practice listening well, expressing our feelings and needs and making requests without assumptions, judgements or demands. It also gives us an opportunity to connect with others more deeply. We meet on Wednesdays at 5:30-7:30pm on Zoom during October 21 - December 3 (no group Thanksgiving week) These sessions are weekly gatherings, generally with a small to medium size group (4-8 people or so), where you can develop your communication and empathy skills in a warm and accepting confidential setting. We (Mary Claire and Aliona) teach NVC communication and provide guidance along the way, and participants practice by doing role plays of real life relationship challenges where at least one person is using NVC skills. These are dynamic engaging sessions, which often include laughter and definitely involve authentic connection with others. We meet on Zoom and usually use break out rooms for some of the practice depending on the size of the group. We understand scheduling conflicts may arise. Our hope is that you attend as consistently as possible so that you can build on your practice effectively. It’s fine to enter the group at any point as it is a practice group. Review of NVC concepts is an ongoing part of the experience. Recommended learning: Marshall Rosenberg’s book: Nonviolent Communication, A Language of Life and or watching the video attached below. If you can’t read or watch all of it in advance that’s ok. You will catch on. https://www.youtube.com/watchv=UEqmZ2E1o64 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEqmZ2E1o64] To Register: RSVP here, and you will get our contact info for zoom link and payment. The cost of each group is $35. We have a sliding scale ($10 -$35) based on what you can honestly afford. You may also use Health Insurance to bill as a group therapy to your insurance. Since WePay is stopping working with Meetup in a few weeks, we will collect payments once you contact us. Leaders: Mary Claire DeHaven, LICSW is a licensed psychotherapist working in private PRACTICE IN MIDDLEBURY VERMONT. She has been working as a therapist for 32 years and specializes in Internal Family Systems. She has also studied Nonviolent Communication among other modalities for both personal and professional use for many years. Mary Claire is interested in awareness PRACTICES AND IS A CERTIFIED KRIPALU YOGA TEACHER. She is a lover of nature, hiking, biking and singing. She is married and is a mother of a young adult. Mary Claire brings a warm, curious and playful energy to her work with people. Aliona works with individuals and groups, facilitating healing, processing, discovery and growth, and is a founder of Smiling Spaces, an organization that fosters joyful, balanced well-being through mentoring in emotional awareness, self-love and practical connecting skills. Aliona is also an artist, a dancer, a writer, an educator, an avid explorer, a global citizen, an amateur volleyballer, a skeptical researcher, a reluctant programmer, a lifelong student and a silly goose.