Necessary Trouble: Nonviolent Communication for a World that Works for All
With Leonie Smith, Catherine Strickland and Meenadchi
May 15 - 20, 2022
If you have a vision of creating a world that works for all, and have struggled in realizing this vision – you are not alone. Join us for this rare opportunity to explore tools of nonviolence and Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in a way that lifts and respects the experience of Black, Indigenous, People of Colour.
This program is open to everyone – we welcome a mixed race group to explore different perspectives, dynamic tensions, and how the tools of NVC can help. This is nonviolence communication through an anti-racist and anti-oppressive lens. We extend a special invitation to Black, Indigenous, People of Colour who are curious about learning NVC in a way that centres their experience.*
Do you struggle to maintain connection when you are in conflict?
- Have you ever been surprised at someone’s reaction or hurt feelings about something you said that you thought was an “innocent” comment or question and longed to find a way to reconnect?
- Do you long to connect with people with different perspectives but find yourself lost as to how to navigate those relationships?
- Do you long to step up and contribute to creating a world of radical inclusion and compassion?
- Do you long to offer a path forward that prioritises deep connection, even when there are substantive differences?
This practical, skill-building program will teach you how:
- To make room for full and authentic expression
- To offer and receive hard-to-hear messages that support trust-building and real partnership in collaborative decision-making
- To understand how your positionality (your own personal history and sense of place) can impact how you are experienced and received by others with different positionality.
- To address harm that arises from your words and actions in a meaningful way.
Learning Outcomes:
- We will learn and explore nonviolent communication through an anti-racist and anti-oppressive lens
- Learn and practice self-empathy as a decolonizing tool
- Explore, through somatic expression and constellations, blocks to connection to ourselves and others
- Learn how not to give up on yourself in dialogue
- Gain strategies to disrupt systemic racism by sharing your truth in ways that hold everyone with care
- Learn how to use nonviolent communication to move from the stuck-ness of shame and blame to creating real change that is responsive to real needs
- Explore how to recognize when communities are recreating the toxic cultures that they are working to dismantle and to create strategies to bring the community back into alignment with its core values
*For BIPOC individuals who feel moved to attend and are not able due to financial restrictions, Necessary Trouble Collective has scholarships available. Please contact leonie@necessarytroublecollective.com
Schedule
A detailed schedule will be available 1-2 weeks in advance of the program. View sample schedule here.
Terms & Conditions
You may find our terms & conditions here.
Health & Safety
Learn more about Hollyhock’s current health and safety policies here.
Meet Your Facilitators
About the Presenters
Leonie Smith
Leonie Smith is a first generation Canadian of Jamaican heritage working at the intersection of nonviolence (which is about recognising and welcoming the full humanity of all people) and anti-racism, anti-oppression (ARAO). She is the principal at her consultancies, The Thoughtful Workplace and Necessary Trouble Collective. In her work she provides practical tools to turn […]
Learn more about Leonie SmithCatherine Strickland
Catherine Strickland (she/her) is a white settler living on the unceded territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish),and Səlí" lwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Catherine spent 20 years as a professional climate change policy and program manager, analyst and researcher before suffering a debilitating brain injury in 2010. She was also the […]
Learn more about Catherine StricklandMeenadchi
Meenadchi (pronouns: Meenadchi/they) is a facilitator and somatic practitioner whose work centers the softness of our shadows as we deepen into our light. Meenadchi's movement work began first as a performer and dancer, shifting into the mental health and trauma sector through suicide prevention, rape crisis advocacy, and daily functioning/skill-building for folks with serious mental […]
Learn more about MeenadchiCategories : Cortes Island, Liberation, May, Professional Training, Social Innovation