Robert Gonzales is returning to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern California from September 11-14, 2008. For this 3-day intensive, we have rented both levels of a large rustic cabin situated on the Twain Harte Lake. Participation in the intensive is limited to 18 participants in order to maximize the experience.

Twain Harte, named in the late 1920′s after Mark Twain and Bret Harte, is located in the historic gold-rush area of California. At an elevation of 3800′, the area is dense with aromatic cedar and ponderosa pine. The Twain Harte Lake is a small lake which, temperature-wise, should still be good for swimming in mid-September. There will be no life-guard, so you will be swimming at your own risk.

In order to offer this gathering at an affordable price, we ask that everyone participate in food preparation (don’t panic; it’s easier than it sounds). Generally, two people will coordinate the preparation of one meal. If this sounds like too onerous a task, we have an alternate plan in which you can contribute an additional $100.00; this will go toward a scholarship and the recipient will take your place on the cooking roster. Clean up is not assigned; folks pitch in to make it happen.

The intensive will begin with dinner at 6:00 PM on Thursday, September 11th followed by the opening session with Robert from 7:30 PM-9:00 PM (the time of the first session may change slightly to accommodate needs). Thereafter, we will have sessions all day long with breaks for meals and a longer break in the afternoons. The retreat will end on Sunday, September 14th between 12:00 noon and 2:00 PM (depending on Robert’s schedule).

The cost of the retreat is $500.00 per person. To hold your place, please make the check out to Cindy Tucker and send your deposit of $150.00 to:

Cindy Tucker
22846 Fuller Road
Twain Harte, CA 95383

The balance of the fee, $350.00, is due in full by August 11th. If you find that you are unable to attend the retreat and you cancel prior to August 11th, your deposit, minus $50.00, will be returned to you. If you cancel after August 11th, you will forfeit your deposit; the remainder of the balance, if you have paid it, will be returned to you only if we are able to fill your space. Please be aware that we have structured the money this way for two reasons: 1) we value the richness of an intimate experience with Robert and 2) we value financial accessability for the participants. By limiting the number of participants, the attendance of each person is important to the financial viability of the retreat.

Approximately 1 month prior to the event, a food preference questionnaire will be sent to you. Food partnership assignments will be made approximately 3 weeks prior to the event. Other logistical information will be sent out at that time.

If you are flying into the area, we may know of people with whom you can hitch a ride to the foothills. Twain Harte is about 2 ½ hours from the San Jose, Oakland and Sacramento airports. Flying into San Francisco will add an additional 1 hour of traveling time. To coordinate a ride, please check with us prior to reserving your airline ticket.

We have a few local folks who would love to attend this event. If you would like to contribute to a scholarship fund, we would gladly receive it. Any amount helps….

Prerequisite NVC Experience: Please note that this is not a beginner’s event. A strong working knowledge of the foundations of NVC is required. If you are unsure if you have the necessary basic understanding and skills, please call Cindy Tucker.

If you have questions that we have not addressed, you are welcome to call me: Cindy Tucker at 209 586-8916.

If you would like to be notified when further information is available, please email registrar@wholeheartedcommunication.com.

About Robert

Robert Gonzales received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 1989. He met Marshall Rosenberg and was introduced to Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in 1985; he has been offering NVC training in some form since 1986.

As a Certified Trainer for the Center for Nonviolent Communication, he has been a trainer for many NVC Intensive International Trainings; he is a past assessor in North America for certifying trainers for the Center for Nonviolent Communication Additionally, he is one of a team of four NVC trainers with the NVC Training Institute, offering in-depth and continuing NVC training in the United States and Europe.

Robert opened the Prescott Center for Nonviolent Communication in Prescott, Arizona in June, 2000 (http://prescottnvc.org). He is currently President of the Board of Directors for the Center for Nonviolent Communication.

Robert’s passion is in the spirituality of NVC. He sees NVC both as a process that helps people connect more authentically with themselves and others, and as a spiritual practice and way of living.

When we are in conflict, we are connected in a certain kind of way; we just don’t like the nature of that connection. Additionally the quality of this connection typically doesn’t lend itself to mutually satisfactory solutions. Using Nonviolent Communication (NVC), you can transform conflict into valued connections. The purpose of this workshop is to provide you with skills to facilitate the transformation of conflicts into easeful-flowing, connected conversations, which result in mutually satisfying resolutions.

Join John Kinyon and Ike Lasater to learn to facilitate emotionally charged conversations anywhere, anytime. When you are “triggered,” learn to reconnect with yourself first, and then support others to reconnect with themselves. Next, learn to use your skills to foster rapport so that each is heard to their satisfaction. From this place of mutual understanding, you will be able to nurture a collaborative search for resolutions that satisfy all concerned.

Sitting in the mediator’s chair tends to encourage personal growth in that it requires returning to the present, again and again. This workshop will hone your NVC skills of†empathic presence, reflection, translation,†and of making†clear and doable action language†requests in the present tense. You will have the opportunity to practice these skills in role plays by sitting in the mediator’s chair facilitating conversations between two disputants. You will have the chance to receive invaluable feedback from those playing the disputant roles and from those observing; and you will have an opportunity to learn by playing the role of disputant as well.

For those who have been in similar trainings with Ike and John and who have been practicing this training approach, there will be opportunities during the workshop to receive feedback on your coaching

About Ike Lasater

Ike Lasater draws upon a wealth of experience in his approach to needs based mediation, facilitation and trainings. This experience includes trying lawsuits for twenty years – with hundreds of settlement conferences and mediations; co-founding and growing a law firm, that specialized in complex multiparty, document intensive, commercial and environmental cases.

Ike has extensive training in Nonviolent Communication with Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D. and others, and he has facilitated workshops based on Nonviolent Communication in California, Texas, New York, Virginia, Ohio, Arkansas, Montana, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Ike has served as a member of the board of directors of the Center for Nonviolent Communication 1999-2005 and currently is a member of the board of directors of the Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California. He served for approximately 20 years on the board of the Lawyers’ Club of San Francisco. He co-founded the Yoga Journal and participated in the founding of, and served for many years on the board of directors of, the California Yoga Teachers Association. He is on the mediation panel for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Ike’s experience also includes over three decades of marriage and parenting of three now adult children (who seem to enjoy interacting with their parents); long term practice of aikido, Zen meditation, and yoga. Ike co-founded Words That Work.

Read more about Ike, and his journey from Lawyer to NVC Mediator at his Words That Work web site.

About John Kinyon

John is a master communicator and conflict resolution specialist. He is a leading trainer and facilitator internationally in the process of Nonviolent Communication, which is being carried out in over 65 countries around the world. John has worked in the field of interpersonal communication and conflict since 1992, resolving conflicts and offering communication skills and principles to thousands of individuals and groups around the world. In 2002, he provided Nonviolent Communication training to Afghan tribal elders along the Pakistani border.

John facilitates communication training and conflict resolution with individuals, groups, and organizations and works closely with NVC founder Marshall Rosenberg as a co-trainer at 9-day international intensive retreats. John was trained as a clinical psychologist and has started three businesses. He also has a long study of spiritual practice and principles of nonviolence. John’s vision is a world where the norm is for people to be meeting their needs and resolving conflicts through mutual, respectful understanding and searching for ways to meet the needs of all concerned. He lives with his wife and three children in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information about John and his work visit www.jbksolutions.com.

Schedule:

Saturday
Morning session: 9:30am – 12:30pm
Lunch break: 12:30 -1:45pm
Afternoon session: 1:45 – 5:00pm

Sunday
Single session: 9:30am-1:00pm

Minimum experience: Bare Essentials of Wholehearted Communication or equivalent.

Event location:
Mountain Women Resource Center
19900 Cedar Road North
Sonora, CA 95370
Map Link
Note: The Mountain  Women’s Resource Center is located in a newly developed area whose streets are not shown properly on online maps. So, follow the directions to turn (R) at Cabezut Road, go a short block and turn (R) onto Cedar Road (this looks more like an alley than a street). Do not go to the N Cedar Road that is marked on the map.Within 100 yards, the road turns to the right again. The Mountain Women’s Resource Center is the 2nd building on the (L). There is a sign in front saying Mountian Women’s Resource Center.

Registration:
To hold a space, email registrar@wholeheartedcommunication.com. Please include the name of the workshop for which you wish to register, your name, address and phone number. If you have questions, call Cindy Tucker at 209-586-8916.

Regarding the cost of this workshop, we are inviting you to participate with us in an experiment. Here’s how it works:
From the proceeds of the past year’s events we have accumulated enough money that we can pay for this workshop in full, allowing you to attend free of charge. When the workshop is done, we will ask you to consider contributing to the creation of future workshops. It’s up to you how much you give or whether you give anything at all. If you choose not to join us in this experiment, you can pay $150 and be done with it.

Here is our thinking behind this experiment:
Our primary goal is to create NVC learning opportunities for everyone who has a desire to learn. To do this we need to generate money or other ways of covering our costs. When you decide how much to give –maximum $200 minimum $0– we ask you to consider your own resources and needs as well as ours and those of others who would benefit from this work. We, also, ask you to include such needs as peace of mind, inspiration and contribution as well as financial needs. Your presence itself is a gift to others participating, your using what you learn is a gift to those with whom you share, and your financial contribution would extend to someone in the future what we are offering to you today.

Regarding food for Saturday’s lunch: We will provide a vegetarian soup (Mung bean) and a Thai Shrimp-Rice soup along with bread, a non-wheat alternative, fresh veggies and hummus.  We’ll also have fresh fruit and a dessert.  The food is a gift of a several of the attendees.  We will also have coffee and various hot teas.  If this menu doesn’t meet needs for you, please plan to bring your own brown bag.

Mountain Women’s Intensive Retreat
Taught by Miki Kashtan
August 16 – August 19, 2007

The Mountain Women’s Intensive Retreat is a three-day gathering of up to 18 women that takes place every August in Twain Harte, CA, in the Sierra Foothills.

Led by certified trainer Miki Kashtan, co-founder of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication, the intensive is unique for its familial setting and sense of relaxed connection among the women. The participants stay together in a rented house, cook for one another throughout the three days, share sleeping spaces, take walks together and make occasional trips to a nearby lake beach. The main  focus of our time together, however, is connection, healing, and deep integration of NVC consciousness, fostered through group time, one-on-one deep-empathy sessions with Miki, as well as through daily, small empathy groups with one another.

Twain Harte: Twain Harte is a town of 2800 permanent residents located in the foothills of the Central Sierras. At 3800′ elevation, Twain Harte was developed as a resort area in the late1920s and was named after the two authors Bret Harte and Mark Twain. There is a small but lovely lake for swimming in town; we will have tickets available. The entire area is one of beauty and history. Laura Ingle’s home which was the basis of the TV series The Little House on the Prairie is nearby as well as Mark Twain’s cabin. Driving time from the East Bay or Sacramento, during best traffic times, is approximately 2 ½ hours.

Accommodations: We have rented a cabin in Twain Harte. Linens and towels are NOT provided.

On site sleeping accommodations are as follows (some local people will be sleeping in their own homes): There are three bedrooms, one of which is Miki’s. The other two bedrooms are basically wall-to-wall beds (one queen and 2 twins). Think “slumber party.” There is also deck that is lovely for sleeping outdoors on air mattresses (bring your own). There are three full bathrooms. If you have any special needs, we’ll try to accommodate your sleeping requests. Please consider bringing ear plugs if you are bothered by noises (snoring, for example).

The schedule: This schedule is a tentative one (except for Thursday night) and may be changed by the group to meet more needs.

Thursday:
Arrival anytime after 3:00 PM.
Dinner: 6:00 PM
Opening session: 7:30-9:30 PM

Friday and Saturday:
Breakfast: 8:00 AM
Morning session: 9:30 AM-12:00 noon
Lunch: 12:00 noon-1:30 PM
Break (with or without small empathy groups) 1:30-4:00 PM
Afternoon session 4:00-6:00 PM
Dinner: 6:00 – 7:30 PM
Evening session: 7:30 to 9:30 PM

Sunday:
Breakfast: 8:00 AM
Morning session: 9:30-12:00 AM
Lunch: 12:00 -1:00 PM
Closing session: 1:00-2:30 PM

Meals: We will prepare the meals on site; each person will be ask to partner with someone else to assist in the preparation of one meal. Clean up will be on a volunteer basis. The food will be simple, wholesome, and organic wherever possible. Upon receipt of your deposit, you’ll be sent a  questionnaire regarding your food choices/preferences. Approximately, two weeks prior to the event, you’ll be sent directions to the cabin, a list of items you might want to bring, your meal assignment and partner.

Maximum number of participants: The maximum number of participants, including Miki, is 18. We are imagining that limiting the number of participants will meet needs for intimacy, connection and learning.

Logistics: The retreat tends to fill up with past year’s participants, but sometimes a few spots become available due to cancellations. Please let us know of your interest so we can put you on our waiting list, and bear in mind that you are not likely to hear back from us (after initial confirmation) until close to the event. We request a deposit ahead of time, and have a sliding scale to guide your financial choices. However, the final decisions about how much money each participant will contribute occur on the last day of the retreat, and have been a satisfying experience for all concerned.

Registration: To hold a space, email registrar@wholeheartedcommunication.com. Please include the name of the workshop for which you wish to register, your name, address and phone number. If you have questions, call Cindy Tucker at 209-586-8916.

Requested Donation: $350 – $500
Please see the statement on money on our Frequently Asked Questions page.

When we are in conflict, we are connected in a certain kind of way; we just don’t like the nature of that connection. Additionally the quality of this connection typically doesn’t lend itself to mutually satisfactory solutions. Using Nonviolent Communication (NVC), you can transform conflict into valued connections. The purpose of this workshop is to provide you with skills to facilitate the transformation of conflicts into easeful-flowing, connected conversations, which result in mutually satisfying resolutions.

Observing others mediate, spending time in the mediator’s chair and receiving feedback will fuel your learning in this workshop. You will learn from the other participants: what worked for them and what didn’t – not in a theoretical sense, but viscerally what shifted them and what didn’t. Additionally, the coaching you will receive as you are implementing your new skills has been refined in over 400 hours of similar NVC mediation trainings.

In the workshop, you will rotate through the roles of NVC mediator, disputant and observer. As you do so, you will develop mediation skills, expand NVC fluency and grow personally. All participants will practice translating judgments into feelings and needs and receiving feedback from the other participants.

About Ike Lasater

Ike Lasater draws upon a wealth of experience in his approach to needs based mediation, facilitation and trainings. This experience includes trying lawsuits for twenty years – with hundreds of settlement conferences and mediations; co-founding and growing a law firm, that specialized in complex multiparty, document intensive, commercial and environmental cases.

Ike has extensive training in Nonviolent Communication with Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D. and others, and he has facilitated workshops based on Nonviolent Communication in California, Texas, New York, Virginia, Ohio, Arkansas, Montana, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Ike has served as a member of the board of directors of the Center for Nonviolent Communication 1999-2005 and currently is a member of the board of directors of the Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California. He served for approximately 20 years on the board of the Lawyers’ Club of San Francisco. He co-founded the Yoga Journal and participated in the founding of, and served for many years on the board of directors of, the California Yoga Teachers Association. He is on the mediation panel for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Ike’s experience also includes over three decades of marriage and parenting of three now adult children (who seem to enjoy interacting with their parents); long term practice of aikido, Zen meditation, and yoga. Ike co-founded Words That Work.

Read more about Ike, and his journey from Lawyer to NVC Mediator at his Words That Work web site.

Schedule:

Saturday
Morning session: 9:30am – 12:30pm
Lunch break: 12:30 -1:45pm
Afternoon session: 1:45 – 5:00pm

Sunday
Single session: 9:30am-1:00pm

Minimum experience: Bare Essentials of Wholehearted Communication or equivalent. If you are interested in this course but don’t have the required basic training, please contact Cindy Tucker (see below).

Event location:
Mountain Women Resource Center
19900 Cedar Road North
Sonora, CA 95370
Map Link

Registration:
To hold a space, email registrar@wholeheartedcommunication.com. Please include the name of the workshop for which you wish to register, your name, address and phone number. If you have questions, call Cindy Tucker at 209-586-8916.

Regarding the cost of this workshop, we are inviting you to participate with us in an experiment. Here’s how it works:
From the proceeds of the past year’s events we have accumulated enough money that we can pay for this workshop in full, allowing you to attend free of charge. Because we have found that attendance is more predictable when people pay a deposit, we are asking that everyone send a $25 deposit with their registration. When you arrive, we will give you back your deposit check. When the workshop is done, we will ask you to consider contributing to the creation of future workshops. It’s up to you how much you give or whether you give anything at all. If you choose not to join us in this experiment, you can pay $120 and be done with it.

Here is our thinking behind this experiment:
Our primary goal is to create NVC learning opportunities for everyone who has a desire to learn. To do this we need to generate money or other ways of covering our costs. When you decide how much to give –maximum $200 minimum $0– we ask you to consider your own resources and needs as well as ours and those of others who would benefit from this work. And we ask you to include such needs as peace of mind, inspiration and contribution as well as financial needs. Your presence itself is a gift to others participating, your using what you learn is a gift to those with whom you share, and your financial contribution would extend to someone in the future what we are offering to you today.

Please mail your deposit check for $25 to:

Cindy Tucker
22846 Fuller Rd
Twain Harte, CA 95383

Regarding food, please let us know if you prefer to bring a brown bag lunch or share in food that we will provide (organic turkey sandwich or vegetarian alternative). If you will be sharing food with us, please “place your order” by Wednesday, April 25th and consider contributing an additional $5.

Turn It On… Turn It On Again (Part 2):
The Practice of Maintaining an Open Heart
Taught by Francois Beausoleil
October 21, 2006
10:00 – 3:30 PM

For the 2nd part of  “Turn It On… Turn It On Again”, we will look again at how we can translate judgments of others, while focusing more this time on how to translate judgments of ourselves; we’ll see how we can open our hearts to ourselves.

I’ll bring a new piece concerning situations when we’re judging, not necessarily some specific persons or ourselves, but the situation itself, or a large group of persons. So: How to translate judgments of
a situation.

We’ll explore anger; I expect to spend quite a bit of time around this topic.  How to empathise with an angry person?  What to do when WE are angry? What to expect from an Angry person?  How to resolve it and get the juice from a situation involving anger?

We’ll play around empathy, self-empathy and expression and will put our attention on your everyday challenges. And more!

(You’re welcome to join us even if you didn’t attend Part 1 of Turn It On… Turn It On Again).

Francois Beausoleil lives in Montreal. As a percussionist, he performed with the Cirque du Soleil for 5 years. To see a sample of his current music, go to www.malambo.ca or www.ImagesAudioMtl.com.  In addition to being a musician, Francois has completed the year-long BayNVC Leadership training program and is currently an assistant trainer in the Leadership 2006 program. To top it all off, Francois is studying for his masters degree in business administration (MBA). Francois brings to his work a unique blend of creative energy and love of precision that is both inspiring and fun. He is currently working to make a worksheet available on the Internet that is based on the subject of this workshop so that people everywhere might avail themselves of it’s healing power.

Schedule:

Friday
6:30-9.30 PM: Introduction to Wholehearted Communication

Saturday
10:00 AM – 3:30 PM: Workshop (lunch will be provided)
3.30 PM – 5.30 PM: Informal session of questions and discussions
6:00 PM: Optional dinner with people

Sunday
11:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Francois will be available for individual sessions or mediations. A financial contribution is on a voluntary basis. This is a wonderful opportunity to apply the healing power of NVC to some of our most painfully-held experiences. You may sign up for a session with Francois prior-to or after the daylong workshop.

Minimum experience: Introduction to Wholehearted Communication or equivalent. If you are unsure, please call.

Event location:
137 S. Sheppard St.
(converted garage on right side of medical office building)
Sonora, CA 95370
Map Link

Registration:
To hold a space, email registrar@wholeheartedcommunication.com. Please include the name of the workshop for which you wish to register, your name, address and phone number. If you have questions, call Nancy Balkenbush at 209-533-0548.

Requested Donation:
$5 – $25 (Intro)
$10 – $50 (Turn It On… Turn It On Again)
Please see the statement on money on our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Please note: We will be videotaping Francois presentations. The resulting videos will be used by Francois in the process of becoming a Certified NVC Trainer and will be seen only by his NVC Certification Assessor.