Is this you?
As you grow in your practice of mindfulness and communication, you realize that communicating differently is only the beginning of how you can transform your relationship to yourself and others. You experience layers and layers of perspective and understanding as your practice deepens. You feel a readiness to integrate new understanding, discover new ways of being, and learn more about the nuance of relating.
You are willing to engage from a vulnerable and authentic place to contribute to others and receive from others. You know this sometimes means pushing through psychic blocks and tolerating the discomfort of being seen and known at new levels.
How does Mindful Compassionate Dialogue (MCD) & Attachment Theory come together?
In this intermediate class series we will weave together MCD and attachment theory. Bringing these together we will learn new ways to see through reactivity; find feelings, needs, and requests; and create profound healing experiences.
While we can’t recreate the infant/caregiver attachment experience as adults, there is a lot we can do to create emotional security as adults and enjoy the gifts of that. MCD provides an ideal doorway to create healthy attachment as an adult. Empathy is key ingredient for emotional attunement so needed for secure adult relationships. At the same time, honest expression maintains the clear lines of responsibility and healthy differentiation also necessary for adult relationships.
What to Expect?
Understanding Concepts:
We will begin by learning the basic concepts and vocabulary of attachment theory. You will have an opportunity to look at your own relationship experiences through the lens of attachment. You will discover how your attachment experiences have created unconscious habits of relating. Adult attachment research has identified three basic patterns of relating. You will get a chance to see which of these three most matches your own patterns of relating and how this shows up in daily life.
Experiencing the Attachment System:
Once you have a way to name your experience, you will be guided more fully into it. With a variety of mindfulness exercises, you will get know various dimensions of your experience as your attachment system is activated. This will include: body sensations, impulses, images, defenses, thoughts, feelings, needs, and shifts in energy. As you become more and more familiar with your own unique attachment system, you will find it easier to meet yourself with compassion and stay grounded even in the midst of strong reactions.
Healing & Transformation:
Research relative to mindfulness, empathy, and attachment is very clear about our ability to heal and learn new ways of relating. Through a safe and structured process each person will be able to engage in experiential exercises that contribute to healing and transformation.
What will you get from the series?
- An intimate and meaningful experience with group of people dedicated to living awake compassionate lives
- A new understanding of relationships in your life and how you navigate them
- Practice and skill in mindfulness and connecting compassionately with yourself and others
- Healing and transformative experiences
- A deeper sense of being at home and grounded in your own body
LaShelle Lowe-Chardé is passionate about helping people express their deepest values in their relationships and creating clarity and connection with self and others.
She began her professional career with a master’s degree in school psychology. In addition to nine years in public schools, she spent several years facilitating group healing work for adolescent youth labeled “at-risk”. During that same time she led leadership and teamwork trainings for businesses and organizations around Portland, Oregon.
Along the way she found Compassionate/Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and began training with Marshall Rosenberg and other internationally known NVC trainers. She immediately knew that Compassionate Communication was the missing piece. It offers a deep and broad yet simple understanding of human nature along with a concrete set of tools to help us act and live from a place of clarity and compassion. For LaShelle, Compassionate Communication is the hands and feet of spirituality. In 2006, she was certified as a NVC trainer.
In addition to certification in Nonviolent Communication, she has completed a three year training in Hakomi - Body Centered Therapy and introductory trainings in Emotionally Focused Therapy and with the Gottman Institute.
In 2004, she founded her business, Wise Heart (www.wiseheartpdx.org). Since that time she has served as a trainer, private coach, and mentor for the learning and practice of Compassionate Communication and mindfulness. LaShelle teaches locally as well as through video conferencing online. She has offerings for couples, women, and the general public in addition to trainings for local nonprofit organizations. Her offerings focus on combining NVC with mindfulness and a subtle understanding of reactivity and relationship skills.