Compassionate Listening
Communication Trainings and Peace-making Services
At Sacred Groves we believe that….
direct, authentic and compassionate communication is essential for healthy relationships, families, communities and our global village. As a community we foster good communication by participating in ongoing trainings and practice sessions to cultivate skills in listening and speaking from the heart. The following services are our way of supporting others who want to learn from their conflicts and develop heartfelt listening and speaking skills. Our intention is to create a more peaceful world for our children and our children’s children.
Compassionate Listening–Introductory Intensive
Become a more powerful peacemaker in your family, community and workplace. Explore the Five Core Practices of Compassionate Listening:
* Holding Compassion for Oneself and Others
* Suspending Judgment
* Maintaining Balance in the Heat of Conflict
* Listening with the Heart
* Speaking from the Heart
Compassionate Listening is a practice that reaches deep into the heart of discord or disconnection, teaching people to listen with a different “ear” to those around them. Its powerful tools help transform the energy of conflict into opportunities for understanding, intimacy at home, healthy relations, productive teamwork, and positive action. It is a practice that provides a road-map to what sages from all ages and cultures have taught: cultivating the wisdom of the heart is the key to real peace “from the inside out.”
Sacred Groves is a unique, healing place, ideal for doing this heart-opening work. Lodging at Sacred Groves or nearby Holly Lane Gardens will be available for an additional cost for those who live at a distance from Bainbridge Island. Lodging options range from camping to a fancy private room at the B & B. Please contact us for more information. Meals (dinner Saturday, brunch Sunday and snacks) are included in the cost of the training.
This Intensive will provide many opportunities for personal sharing within the context of structured exercises. Come with an open heart, willing to share your stories and practice new skills with a small group of dedicated learners and listeners.
Suggested donation for the workshop is $175-200which includes lunch Saturday and Sunday. If you want to stay overnight at the Groves and have breakfast Sunday here, $250. If this amount is a hardship, let us know and offer what you can afford. We’re negotiable.
Pre-registration is required so register on-line OR contact Therese by phone or e-mail to make arrangements.
Introduction to Compassionate Listening
Upon Request
Learn more about this powerful peace-making practice called “Compassionate Listening.”
Couples Counseling using Compassionate Listening
Therese offers herself as a coach and facilitator for couples who are having difficulty listening to each other and speaking from the heart. Compassionate Listening skills are taught and practiced during these private sessions. Therese creates a safe container for each person to speak openly as well as listen compassionately. She helps each person understand when she/he is triggered and how to interrupt reactive responses that result in separation and distance. Through her coaching, couples have moved into deeper intimacy, more harmony and enhanced personal growth through the relationship.
Listening Council
is a unique model for conflict resolution and peace-making, applicable for couples, families, friends, work environments, and organizations. At its core, it is about creating a ‘container’ for deep, full-hearted listening for those in conflict or in challenging situations. Because our conflicts –whether inner or outer–affect others in our families and communities, the support and compassion of these others can be a healing force for the evolution and resolution of the situation. “Listening Council” was co-created with Brian Berman of Berman Healing Arts in 2001-2002 and has been used successfully in a variety of settings ever since. Contact
Compassionate Listening
The Compassionate Listening Project (TCLP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and empowering individuals to strive for peace through the cultivation and practice of powerful listening skills. Thérèse is a Certified Facilitator with The Compassionate Listening Project and has been integrating its tools and teachings into her community healing work for several years. She believes that Compassionate Listening can strengthen our sense of community, help resolve personal and domestic conflicts and reduce the fragmentation and isolation of our modern world.
