A series of 5 one-day workshops to explore your relationships.
Are you struggling in your relationship? Has it lost some of the spark that it once had? Or is it in crisis? Do you need to take a fresh look at it? Has it just ended, and are you wondering what happened? Do you sense that it could give you both so much more than it currently does?
If you have answered “yes” to any of the above questions, then our relationship workshops are for you! We have designed 5 one day workshops during which you can explore and learn about key issues and dynamics in relationships, including:
Why arguments are unavoidable in relationships, the patterns they take, and how to resolve them.
How and why we ‘marry our unfinished business’.
How to stop missing and start connecting in communication with our partners.
The number one issue in relationships, for men and for women.
How to establish the natural flow of emotional and sexual energy in a relationship.
Daren De Witt and Anna Finlayson, relationship counsellors and Nonviolent Communication trainers, are running an ongoing series of 5 one day workshops on relationships. The days will be held at two monthly intervals. Each day will be self-contained, so you can attend for one day only, or attend the whole series. We envisage these days as being useful to you to deepen your understanding of the dynamics of relationships and why certain patterns may be recurring throughout your relationship history. You may come with your partner or on your own.
Click on the links below or scroll down, to read more about the individual workshops:
Quote from a participant on a previous relationship workshop run by us:
"Thank you for Saturday’s training day. It was like taking a homeopathic potency remedy that has a far reaching and powerful healing effect and a significant contribution to taking our relationship to the next level. I would highly recommend the day to couples and individuals." C. Shaw. (Feb 2008)
Workshop 1: The Path of Relationship
Our culture tends to promote a consumer attitude to relationships. When they are going well we enjoy them. When difficulties occur, it must be because we are not with the right person after all, so we are encouraged to throw out the person / relationship and get a new one! In reality, Relationship is a path and an opportunity for growth. And difficulties are an inevitable part of the journey. On this day, we will explore the particular steps and stages on the journey of Relationship, learning about the obstacles we are likely to encounter, and how we can learn from them. We will also gain a glimpse of the view from the summit! The day will include practical exercises to help you explore your current or past relationship.
Workshop 1 Date: Sat 26th July 2008 Location: London
Cost: £100 per person (15% discount for couples booking together)
To book: Contact Anna or Daren at NVC Resolutions (see top of column on the right )
Workshop 2: The Patterns of Relationship
Have you ever thought “We’ve been here before!” in your relationship? Perhaps when a familiar issue raises its head again? Well most likely you have! In our relationships we fall into distinctive ways of relating, certain kinds of ‘patterns’. On this day we will explore what these patterns are, how they are manifesting in your relationship, past or present, and what you can do to become more conscious of them and start to resolve the issues that underlie them.
Workshop 2 Date: Sat 4th October 2008 Location: London
Cost: £100 per person (15% discount for couples booking together)
To book: Contact Anna or Daren at NVC Resolutions (see top of column on the right)
Workshop 3: Past Influences / Present Relationship
Have you ever heard the expression “We marry our unfinished business?” Energetically we can’t help but be attracted to someone who mirrors some of the issues that are unresolved from our past, including issues we never even knew we had! On this day we will explore why and how this happens. You will also have the chance to look at what ‘unfinished business’ you and your partner (present or past) might be bringing into your relationship. We will give you practical exercises and tips to work with this material.
Workshop 3 Date: Sat 6th December 2008 Location: London
Cost: £100 per person (15% discount for couples booking together)
To book: Contact Anna or Daren at NVC Resolutions (see top of column on the right)
Workshop 4: Communication from the Heart in Relationship
It is when communicating with our partners that the challenge of relationship often seems most apparent, partly because masculine and feminine styles of communication are so different. On this day we will explore what we and our partners most want from communication, and how we can create deeper intimacy between us through communicating truthfully and with awareness. We will begin to become conscious of the stories we may have about ourselves and/or our partners that are often a barrier to the deeper connection we are seeking. The day will include practise of practical skills to enhance your communication in your relationship.
Workshop 4 Date: Sat 7th February 2009 Location: London
Cost: £100 per person (15% discount for couples booking together)
To book: Contact Anna or Daren at NVC Resolutions (see top of column on the right)
Workshop 5: Sexuality and Spirituality in Relationship
On the surface we seem to be living in very sexually liberated times. Contraception has dramatically altered attitudes to sex, and maybe as a reaction to past times, when sex was viewed as sinful, the graphic depiction of sex is now commonplace. But what does true sexual freedom mean? Are we truly comfortable with ourselves and our partner sexually? And has something been lost? We believe a more holistic approach to sexuality is needed, one that includes both the sexual and spiritual sides of our nature. On this day we will explore the differences and similarities between men and women sexually and the challenges we face in honouring those differences whilst being true to ourselves. We will also look at how we can create a flow of energy between us in relationship that embraces both sexuality and spirituality.
Workshop 5 Date: Sat 4th April 2009 Location: London
Cost: £100 per person (15% discount for couples booking together)
To book: Contact Anna or Daren at NVC Resolutions (see top of column on the right)
N.B. Whilst our teaching and communication is informed by the
Nonviolent Communication model, this series will be exploring
relationships from other angles, and as such does not count as formal
NVC training days.
Background to the Relationship Workshops
Men and women are facing a challenge in their relationships never faced before in our culture. Emotional and financial empowerment finds many women no longer willing to put up with unsatisfying emotional experiences or, at the worst, abusive or violent relationships. Not surprisingly, women are the ones who initiate divorce most of the time. Alongside this, men are no longer ‘secure’ in their roles as the ‘bread winner’ or ‘head of the household’, and are struggling to come to terms with what’s now being expected of them, from their women and their children. We no longer have to get married, or stay married, even ‘for the sake of the children’. The question has become, why are we together and why should we stay together?” ‘Masculinity’ and ‘femininity’ seem to be in crisis. Relationships seem to be in crisis. What do we do?
In Chinese the word for ‘Crisis’ also means ‘an opportunity’. We believe that we now have an opportunity, as never before, for our relationships to spur us on in our growth as human beings, both personally and culturally.
We have planned this series of 5 day one day workshops to look at some of the key areas that we see as integral to understanding both what is happening on a cultural level in our relationships and also interpersonally between us and our loved one. The days are designed so that you can attend any one individually, or attend them all. You can come with your partner or alone – you don’t have to be in a current relationship to attend.
About the Trainers
Daren De Witt and Anna Finlayson bring many skills to this work. We have completed a two-year specialist
training in Couple Counselling and Relationship Psychotherapy,
graduating with Diplomas in Creative Couplework with the Centre for
Gender Psychology, with whom we are in regular supervision. We have also studied the Voice Dialogue approach to relationships. We have 8 years experience of practising and teaching Nonviolent Communication, and 9 years experience as mediators and mediation trainers. We have been in a relationship together for 11 years, which adds to the depth of experience we bring as a couple to these relationship workshops.
NVC Training 
