Phases of the Moon, the newsletter of the Maine NVC Network
Volume Six, Issue Four:
Announcing an NVC Curriculum
developed at the Maine Coastal Regional Reentry Center
Our newsletter appears approximately once a month. Our purpose is to contribute to the NVC learning of people who have taken at least an NVC Level 1 workshop, and help us stay connected as we endeavor to deepen a culture of peace within ourselves, our families and the world. We believe a Level 1 offers so many new ways of thinking that additional support for learning and integration could be helpful.
We endeavor to make each edition informative, connecting, inspiring and fun. Please let us know how the newsletter might contribute to your NVC well-being.
Contents
- Feature: Have You Missed Us? by Peggy Smith, CNVC certified NVC trainer
- Upcoming Trainings
- Poetry Corner
- Monthly Empathy Circle
- Paid Announcements
Have You Missed Us?
by Peggy Smith, CNVC certified NVC trainer
Have you wondered why you haven’t received a Phases of the Moon newsletter since March? Our newsletter team has been occupied with many opportunities in life – involving family, housing, and expanding needs-based consciousness in our region. Our biggest news is the uploading of an NVC curriculum being offered for free from our team, Peggy Smith & Betsy Terrell.
For over five years, Nonviolent Communication has been offered as part of the educational programming at the Maine Coastal Regional Reentry Center (MCRRC) in Belfast, Maine. MCRRC is a residential reentry center designed to give incarcerated men the skills and experience they need to live successfully as positive citizens and employees after they transition back into their home communities. The men are provided a variety of treatment, educational and vocational opportunities, focused upon reducing recidivism. The facility can house up to 32 adult men, all of whom are required to meet certain criteria to qualify. These qualifications include being within eighteen months of release and being at a moderate to high risk of recidivism.
When the program began in 2010, a local NVC enthusiast, Michael Shell, suggested to the program director that NVC be added to the weekly educational offerings. Michael pioneered the program for about six months. I agreed to take over when he left the area. Over the years I have crafted a curriculum, which is now being shared online.
The NVC class structure is two hours a week for ten weeks. It has become a required course within MCCRC’s educational offerings. After three years, I changed the course title from Nonviolent Communication to Courageous Communication. The men sometimes resisted taking a course in nonviolent communication, because they said they were not violent, or they were not convicted for violent offenses. I was inspired by the work of Daryne Rockett, a clinical social worker at a Maine Veterans' Center who incorporates NVC and Mindfulness and calls her classes Courageous Communication. It takes immense courage to take responsibility for our lives and to make choices that change engrained habits. We believe the NVC journey is indeed a journey of courage and freedom.
The curriculum is designed to be used by teachers and facilitators already fluent in NVC. It can be used in other incarcerated situations or in any teaching situation (though I'd suggest changing some of the examples). It is organized into ten sessions, and each session includes an overview and instructions, as well as all handouts to be used during that session. I offer the entire curriculum here, free, as an example of how NVC is providing a presence in our community. One graduate of the MCRRC class has gone on to participate in the Maine NVC Integration Program and now helps teach the Courageous Communications class at the Reentry Center. His memoir, documenting how NVC helped him transform from a life of addiction and violence to becoming a peace-maker and guide, is scheduled to be released in early 2016. Over the next year we would like to feature stories about situations where NVC is sprouting, growing, possibly even blooming. Do you have stories you are willing to share? Please let us know so we can include them for the benefit of all. We want to increase our knowledge of the variety of ways NVC is affecting our regional communities. |
Courageous Communication
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Peggy Smith is a certified trainer with the International Center for Nonviolent Communication, a co-founder of the Maine NVC Network and principle editor of Phases of the Moon newsletter. Peggy has shared NVC with residents at the Maine Coastal Reentry Center for five years. She also shares NVC in a variety of other settings, including schools and hospitals. Peggy is the lead trainer for the Maine NVC Integration Program.
Upcoming Trainings
Trainings listed here are in the Maine region. If you wish to list an event, please follow our guidelines for submission. Please note that both certified and non-certified trainers, (who are willing to follow certain requirements of the Center for Nonviolent Communication), may be leading the posted trainings. Listing here does not imply endorsement by the Maine NVC Network of the trainer or the event.
October 3-4, Lewiston, ME
Clear & Compassionate Communication
taught by Leah Boyd / FMI
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October 17-18, Bangor, ME
From Conflict to Connection: Discovering Nonviolent Communication
with Peggy Smith / FMI
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Nov. 6-8, S. Portland, ME
From Conflict to Connection
taught by Peggy Smith
details and registration
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November 20-22, Bar Harbor, ME
Living in Compassion: Touching Beauty, Restoring Wholeness
with Robert Gonzales
FMI with online registration Printable flyer with mail-in registration form
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December 9-11
Transforming Addictive or Criminal Behavior –
What Neuroscience and NVC Have to Offer
with Sarah Peyton
FMI / Online Registration
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10 month program beginning September 11-13, Saco & Alfred, ME
2015-2016 Maine NVC Integration Program
Do you yearn to shift NVC from an intellectual understanding to a way of being?
If so, this program is for you:
effective, supportive and close to home.
Details and registration
Read what some current and former participants have to say about the Integration Program.
Poetry Corner:
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Invitation to
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Paid Announcements | |
Clarity Services, LLC
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Open Communicationwelcomes individuals and couples, who want NVC-based support, to meet with them at their new office in Belfast, ME
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