Elizabeth Locana

Language of Report: 
English
Year of Report: 
2009
Share My Report With: 
General Public
A. Approximately how many training days did you have this year?: 
50
B. Briefly list the groups and organizations you worked with this year as a trainer.: 

Junior Doctors, NHS Consultants, The Cambridge Examination Board, Cambridge University, Buddhist

C. Approximately how many people did you offer NVC training to this year?: 
500
D. What are you celebrating about your training experiences this year? What was significant for you? What touched your heart?: 

A highpoint of the year was hearing a student of mine on a modular course saying, 'I've realised that I can't change other people; I can only change myself."

E. Would you share some difficult experiences you had while training this year and how you handled them?: 

I conducted a mediation which had been successful for the two people concerned, because they had found ways to see each other as people with human tendencies, rather than as enemies; but it was challenging, because they had needed to face their own tendencies, and the pain that the interactions had caused them. At the very end, when we were all three happy but tired, one of the people made a friendly comment to the other. However, it fell into the very same 'blind spot' that we had been tackling during the mediation. The other person was in despair: 'After all this work, she says THIS!'. Her reaction upset the speaker hugely. We did a little work together, but it was dark and the building was going to be locked up soon. I had an unsettled night, wondering how to manage it. I was able to arrange one-to-one meetings with them both for the following afternoon. There, we did very good work together, looking at what had happened at the end. To my amazement, both were much more positive. It was as if those moments of connection during the mediation – which had seemed to fly out of the window at the last minute - really had made an impression on a deeper level. Both were happier to discuss the area, and felt supported by the meeting. There have been no problems in the half year that has passed since.

F. How do you teach the spiritual basis of Nonviolent Communication in your workshops and training programs? : 

Communication is always possible – because connection is always possible. That is because in reality, we are always interconnected. NVC is a practice which helps us to realise the truth of interconnection. With our increasing experience of being interconnected comes increasing wisdom, understanding and compassion.

G. Please describe your social change goals...: 

To inspire every individual whom I work with to realise their own potential to make choices in the world which will benefit themselves and others.

H. Please describe your efforts to create, or join, an NVC circle or organization.: 

I am an active member of the NVC-UK group, and supported the people who set up a wonderful new site as best I could. I also meet and discuss my spiritual practice (which includes NVC) with others on a regular basis.

I. Summarize participants’ evaluations, and how their feedback resulted in new learning or growth for you this past year.: 

Very positive feedback on my models, clarity and understanding of what i teach. Fun, interactive and engaging. Always more to learn on how to make a workshop flow, especially when using a course handbook, so that I keep a combination of live flexibility in the moment, and elegant use of the resources.

J. What are your current growing edges or challenges as a trainer that you will be working on in the future?: 

Increasing confidence and assuredness as I meet a new group, trusting in my own experience of the NVC process, without needing to have people agree with it; acknowledging any response as coming from a person's own experience of 'where they are now' and respecting their views as part of their whole experience. With the ever-increasing ability to empathise with others, whatever their view, comes a greater confidence and acceptance that I - and the world - can hold contradictions and opposites as a natural part of how things are.

K. If you found opportunities to work with other trainers this year, please share the most meaningful experiences for you.: 

My co-trainer and I had a wonderfully rich time looking into our own communication. This meant we were living and breathing the NVC process together, and are able to come even more fully from our experience when we assure people that it is possible to connect and re-connect, even in difficult and painful moments.

L. Is there anything else you would enjoy sharing with the CNVC network?: 

My thanks to everyone in the CNVC network for support whenever I've asked a question, or been in touch.
I'm particularly enjoying exploring the resonance of NVC with Focusing, in which I am now a certified trainer. I was the first person in the world to certify in both! I feel very chuffed with that - and happy that others are now also being certified in both too.

Posted Tue, 2010-08-03 01:29 by Elizabeth Locana

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