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Compassionate Listening for Israelis and Palestinians, West Bank, October 2004

Compassionate Listening:
Healing Our World from the Inside Out

The practice of Compassionate Listening helps us to awaken to what the mystics from all of the great faiths have known for centuries: that cultivating the wisdom of the heart is the key to real peace "from the inside out."

The intelligence of the heart is confirmed in recent findings in the field of Neurocardiology on the heart-brain relationship. In Compassionate Listening, our emphasis is on strengthening the influence of the heart through cultivating compassion for ourselves and others, and learning to listen and speak from the heart - even in the heat of conflict. The practice of Compassionate Listening teaches us how to reach through layers of defensiveness and reactivity to our essential core. From there, we can shift communication and relationships into heart-to-heart interaction. Participants in our experiential workshops learn powerful skills for peace-making with family, community, in the workplace and beyond. We are truly learning to BE the peace we wish to see in the world, as Gandhi so eloquently challenged us to do.

We have taught Compassionate Listening since 1999 in public, private and academic settings. Our client list includes mediation centers, social service agencies, religious institutions, colleges, community organizations and peace groups. Our facilitators regularly present and speak at conferences around the world. We are happy to work with you to bring Compassionate Listening to your community, institute or workplace. We now offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for all of our standard trainings and our Advanced Training.

Five Core Practices of Compassionate Listening are covered in our training:

• Cultivating Compassion and a willingness to connect even when not in agreement;
• Developing the Fair Witness by remaining open in conflict situations;
• Respecting Self and Others by developing boundaries which protect yet include;
• Listening with the Heart to create a spaciousness which allows divergence and finds a deeper point of connection;
• Speaking from the Heart with language which reflects a healing intention.

Leah leading workshop in Boulder, 2003

Participants often tell us they did not expect such a deeply personal, transformative experience, so we would like to be clear - while this is a skill-building workshop, participants put the skills to use immediately where they are challenged the most. What you take out of the workshop has everything to do with what you bring to the weekend - your personal needs and challenges. Together we create a trusting, loving circle and experience the heart-opening power of Compassionate Listening. We welcome people of all nationalities and backgrounds in our trainings, ages 18 and over (if younger people wish to participate it is up to the individual facilitator).

We are offering our next Advanced Training series beginning in February, 2008, for those who have taken at least a one-day intensive or participated in one of our training delegations. The Advanced Training is a prerequisite for our certification program. We currently have 18 certified facilitators.

Training, St. Mary's College, 2006

Please check our schedule below of Upcoming Workshops. Over the last couple of years we have taught in 15 states in the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Middle East. If you do not see a workshop scheduled in your area, and you would like to host a workshop in your community, please call our office at 360-297-2280, or write to us at: staff@compassionatelistening.org. We would be happy to work with you to bring Compassionate Listening to your community in a way that serves your needs. We can also offer introductory evenings if we have a facilitator in your area.

Registration & Cancellation Policy

To register, either click on the secure online registration link underneath the workshop listing, or print out our registration form and mail it in with your deposit. Your $100 deposit reserves your space. Registration is limited to 30 participants. Final payment is due at the conclusion of the workshop, and is based on your ability to pay and your perceived value of the workshop. Although your $100 registration fee is non-refundable, $50 may be applied to a future workshop. If we cancel the workshop for any reason, your deposit will be refunded in full.

Scholarship Information

Partial scholarships are available for most of the workshops we offer. We endeavor to make our workshops available to all, regardless of means. To inquire, please call The Compassionate Listening Project office at 360-297-2280 or use this form.

Carol leading workshop for Israelis and Palestinians at Hope Flowers School, May 2000

Certified Compassionate Listening Faciliators

From the participants:

"Compassionate Listening is vital in every situation I find myself in. At work, home, out on the street and with friends, family and broken relationships..."

"The facilitation was exquisite. Perfect. Balanced. Whole. Soft. Clear. Supportive. Understanding. Connected!"

"This was the most transformative, essential workshop I have experienced...this is a powerful tool that can change the world."

"I came away with so many inspirations from your workshop. It opened up something in me that has been laying dormant - the passion to listen deeply to others - friends, colleagues, and to those who are not in my circle but to whom my circle extends when I open my heart."

"The skills this workshop provided are both personally and socially transformative."

"I can't thank you enough for the incredible gifts from last weekend. I began the week with repairing conflicts in my life...They were things I thought I had to live with and now I have moved enough to bring my peace to the situations. Thank You, Thank you."

"I truly believe that Compassionate Listening is life-transforming. I am extremely grateful to have had this opportunity...the value is clear to me in terms of my life, relationships and work."

Facilitator training, January 2004, Camp Brotherhood, Washington

2008 Trainings and Introductory Presentations:

Palo Alto, CA
Compassionate Listening: Healing Our World from the Inside Out
Intensive Introductory Training
Facilitator: Carol Hwoschinsky
When: Saturday, January 26th, 10:00am-6:30pm & Sunday, January 27, 12:30-7:30pm
Where: Palo Alto Friends Meeting, 957 Colorado Avenue, Palo Alto
Cost: $175-$350 sliding scale, according to need.
Co-sponsored by: PAFM Adult Education and Worship & Ministry Committees
Secure online registration for this workshop.
Scholarships are available for this workshop for those in need. Please contact us directly to inquire.

February 2008

April 2008

Compassionate Listening: Healing our World from the Inside Out -- an Intensive Introductory Training
Facilitators: Andrea Cohen and Susan Partnow
When: April 5 & 6, 2008 (9:30am-6pm)
Where: Seattle First Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard Ave (Capitol Hill) Seattle, WA 98122
Cost: Sliding scale from $150-$350. Advanced registration required.
Secure online registration. For more information, contact Andrea or call 206.523.6018.

June 2008

Seattle, WA
Compassionate Listening: Healing our World from the Inside Out -- an Intensive Introductory Training
Facilitators: Andrea Cohen and Susan Partnow
When: June 7 & 8, 2008 (9:30am-6pm)
Where: 2100 Building in Seattle (just e. of Rainier at 2100 24th Ave South, Seattle, WA 98144)
Cost: Sliding scale from $150-$350. Advanced registration required.
Secure online registration. For more information, contact Andrea or call 206.523.6018.

Ghost Ranch - Abiquiu, NM
Compassionate Listening: Healing Our World from the Inside Out
an Intensive Introductory Training
Facilitator: Leah Green
When: June 10/11, 2008
Where: Ghost Ranch
Cost: Sliding scale from $150 - $300.
**If you are attending the Friends Intermountain Yearly Meeting, please call us directly to register for your reduced rate: 360-297-2280
Registration: Secure online registration

September 2008

Seattle, WA
Compassionate Listening: Healing our World from the Inside Out -- an Intensive Introductory Training
Facilitators: Andrea Cohen and Susan Partnow
When: September 6 & 7, 2008 (9:30am-6pm)
Where: Seattle area TBA
Cost: Sliding scale from $150-$350. Advanced registration required.
Secure online registration. For more information, contact Andrea or call 206.523.6018.

Listed below are Certified Facilitators of Compassionate Listening^(sm)

Brian Berman is co-director and facilitator of the Jewish-German Reconciliation Project and offers workshops and delegations with his partner Lisa Berman (www.bermanhealingarts.com). Since 2001, he has facilitated Compassionate Listening workshops and practice groups in the USA and Germany. After 9/11, Brian developed the Listening Councils model with Therese Charvet. Listening Councils are a peer based listening model for community healing and an alternative to more traditional conflict resolution practices. He is trained in Hakomi Therapy, Attitudinal Healing, and taught yoga and meditation for many years. Brian is an award-winning stone sculptor and teacher.

Lisa Bermanis certified in systemic mediation and studied Peace Sciences at the University in Hagen, Germany. She facilitates Compassionate Listening workshops in the USA and Europe. Lisa is a facilitator with the Jewish-German Reconciliation Project (www.bermanhealingarts.com) and co-facilitates Listening Councils with Brian Berman. She brings a deep understanding of how life and the wounds of the past affect peoples' well-being and health. For the past 25 years she has worked as a compassionate healer, teacher and workshop leader. Lisa is a German certified Natural Health Practitioner and a Registered Counselor in Washington State.

Thérèse Charvet For over thirty years Thérèse Charvet has been a teacher, organizer and facilitator in a variety of contexts and venues, professional, community and spiritual.  She is a nurse, midwife, and ordained minister who currently runs Sacred Groves, a small eco-spiritual center based on her property on Bainbridge Island (see www.sacredgroves.com). For the past four years she has been co-facilitating a local listening group in Kitsap County and offering "Listening Councils," a grassroots conflict-resolution method developed with Brian Berman.

Andrea Cohen is a communications consultant, project developer, and facilitator who has been involved with the Compassionate Listening Project since its inception (see Andrea's website). In 1998 Andrea went to the Middle East with the Compassionate Listening Project to direct the film Children of Abraham. She is co-director of the Jewish-German Reconciliation Project, a program of the Compassionate Listening Project that brings together primarily Jewish Americans and non-Jewish Germans to do the work of deep listening and healing. In the last several years, Andrea has facilitated numerous Compassionate Listening workshops here and abroad. She has been instrumental in incorporating compassionate listening into community dialogue events and works with her therapist partner to integrate compassionate listening fundamentals into their work with couples.

Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener is the spiritual leader of Congregation Pnai Or and the director of the Interreligious Eco-Justice Network in Hartford CT. In both capacities, Andrea uses the tools of spiritual activism to bring meaningful responses to personal and world issues. Andrea has been involved in the Compassionate Listening Project since the January 2001 delegation, which she attended as a participant. She co-led two additional trips with Leah Green and has taken two delegations herself. Andrea authored a book on communication for teens called Life on Earth: A User's Guide and is the translator of Conscious Community, a book on personal spiritual practice written by Kalanymous Kalman Shapira, a rebbe who served in the Warsaw Ghetto. Andrea completed her training under Carol Hwoshinsky in 2004. She has taught and practiced CL in retreat settings, interfaith gatherings, churches and campuses. She is active in several interfaith and dialogue gatherings in Hartford, around local and Middle East issues.

Maha El-Taji is a Palestinian-American residing in Haifa, Israel. She is a lawyer with a Masters in International Human Rights Law and a Ph.D. in Near and Middle Eastern Studies. Maha participated in a week-long compassionate listening delegation of Jews and Palestinians at Thich Nhat Hanh's Buddhist Monastery (Plum Village) in France in July 2001. She completed the introductory and advanced Compassionate Listening trainings, is a certified Compassionate Listening facilitator. She has co-led the Israel-Palestine Compassionate Listening delegations with Leah Green since 2004. Maha was awarded the University of Washington Graduate Student Medalist Award for being a scholar/citizen for the academic year 2003/2004 and was a Bartos Fellow at United World College in January 2006 where she mentored international students in the Constructive Engagement of Conflict program. Maha is fluent in Arabic and Hebrew.

Leah Green is founder and director of The Compassionate Listening Project. She holds a masters degree in Public Policy and Administration from the University of Washington, where she also completed her coursework for a masters in Middle Eastern Studies. Leah is internationally recognized as a leader in Jewish-Palestinian reconciliation, having led 21 citizen delegations to Jordan, Israel/Palestine, and Syria/Lebanon. She has produced three documentaries about the conflict: Speaking of Peace, Children of Abraham, and Crossing the Lines: Palestinians and Israelis Speak with The Compassionate Listening Project . In 2002, she co-founded the Jewish-German Compassionate Listening Project. Leah has taught Compassionate Listening in Israel and Palestine since 1999 and is now teaching to audiences world-wide. Leah's work has been profiled in many articles and books and is a 2003 recipient of the Yoga Journal's "Karma Yoga Award."

Carol Hwoschinsky is the former Training Director of The Compassionate Listening Project. She holds Masters Degrees in Special Education and Psychology. She is a licensed counselor in private practice, an educator and a mediator. She teaches conflict resolution, develops diversity and conflict resolution curricula for schools and mediates for a Victim/Offender program in the courts and for community disputes. She has worked in Armenia to support dialogue and joint projects with Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan, and taught psychology and communication in the former Soviet Union. Carol is the author of "Listening With the Heart - A Guide for Compassionate Listening"

Peter Hwosch has been active with TCLP since 1997, participating in delegations, as a Compassionate Listening Facilitator, as Project Director in South East Europe, and board member. He is a recording and performing musician/composer with three CD's much of which is influenced by his work with TCLP, as well as a sound track for the "Listening with the Heart" photo exhibition. In addition, Peter is a video documentary producer whose credits include co-production of "Children of Abraham" and "Crossing the Lines", both shot in Israel and Palestine for TCLP. Among other projects, Hwosch now works with the "Seedlings of Peace Summer Camp" bringing together youth from all three sides of the war in former Yugoslavia. He has produced a new video about this program entitled, "Beyond These Narrow Borders", which is now in release. Peter lives between Southeast and Western Europe, and America.

Eryn J. Kalish, M. C. has been doing conflict resolution work for 22 years in the workplace, community groups, families, and hot spots around the globe (see Workplace Connections). Clients often tell her that her capacity to hold a "safe container" for people in conflict allows them to deeply express their anger, pain and grief and helps them move toward resolution. As a past President of The Compassionate Listening Project's Board of Directors, and a veteran of many conflict resolution training programs and interventions, the founder of a violence prevention project and a business leader in the field of conflict resolution in the US, and as a deeply spiritual Jewish woman with a broad experience base with other cultures and peoples, including Palestinians, Eryn brings a unique combination of compassion and strength to her work.

Susan Partnow, M.A., organizational development and training consultant (www.PartnowCom.com) enjoys being a catalyst for individuals and teams seeking positive changes through workshops, retreats, and coaching. Susan participated in an early trip to Israel/Jordan/Palestine in 1992, and served as a board member for The Compassionate Listening Project from 1999-2004. For over fifteen years she has facilitated dialogues, networking, and community building in organizations, government agencies, and the community to promote positive social change, 'out of the box' thinking, collective wisdom and teambuilding. Susan's interest arises from a lifelong journey as a peacemaker, mediator and activist. Former teacher and speech pathologist, and author of Everyday Speaking for All Occasions with an M.A. from Northwestern University, Susan's work is enriched by Open Space, Dynamic Facilitation, Spiral Dynamics, chaos theory, Appreciative Inquiry, Non Violent Communication and the Public Conversations Project. She co-founded Conversation Cafes and Let's Talk America, and founded Global Citizen Journey in 2005.

Yael Petretti has a BA degree in International Relations from UC Berkeley. She lives in Israel where she worked for over twenty years as a tourist guide, facilitating encounters between her tourists and the various religious and ethnic groups who inhabit the Middle East: Bedouins, Jewish settlers, Druze villagers, Palestinians and Christians. During an eight-year stay in the United States from 1999-2007, Yael served as Executive Director of Promoting Enduring Peace, Inc. and trained as a Compassionate Listening facilitator, earning her certification in June 2006. She is now working to integrate Compassionate Listening techniques into Israeli/Palestinian peace and coexistence efforts, with a special emphasis on bringing Compassionate Listening into the schools: http://www.cl-middleeast.org.

Amy R. Rakusin is a licensed counselor and dance movement therapist in private practice. For over 20 years, Amy has worked with numerous populations using her deep knowledge psychodynamic body-mind therapies to bring health and integration of body, mind and spirit. Most recently, specializing in the treatment of trauma, she provides individual and group therapy to survivors of abuse and violence. She is an activist with the vision that through Compassionate Listening and service to the oppressed, peace is possible. As a psychotherapist, consultant, activist and workshop facilitator, Amy guides and supports others in their pursuit of healing, empowerment and wholeness.

Rona Ruben is an Associate Professor of Psychology at St. Martin's College in Lacey, Wahsington and a certified Compassionate Listening trainer. She has been active with the Compassionate Listening Project since 2000. She teaches a college-level course in Compassionate Listening and Dialogue. She has twice been a MidEast Citizen Diplomacy delegate and participated in training Israelis and Palestinians in Compassionate Listening on the West Bank. She has been a member of a Jewish-Muslim Living Dialogue Group. She is active in Compassionate Listening-related projects in her community.

Janet Tobacman, MPA, CFP has a profound recognition of the power of listening to bridge differences and promote healing in individuals, communities and international conflict situations. Ms. Tobacman has 15 years experience as a trainer and instructor with a specialty in self-empowerment and active listening. She facilitates Compassionate Listening opportunities for educators, business people, those working in the area of cultural diversity, interfaith groups, health care providers and others in northern California and nationally. She has facilitated Compassionate Listening workshops and provided presentations for the American Friends Service Committee, Together in Faith, the East Bay Jewish Palestinian Dialogue Group, The World Affairs Council and others. Ms. Tobacman is the writer, producer and performer of Rooftop Poems: A Montage of Stories from Israel/Palestine, a show based on travels to the region in 2001 and 2002.

Linda Wolf is co-founder and Director of Teen Talking Circles, (www.teentalkingcircles.org), whose mission is to educate, inspire and empower young women, foster understanding between the genders, generations and cultures, and support youth activists for a just and sustainable world. She is co-author of the award-winning books, Daughters of the Moon, Sisters of the Sun: Young Women and Mentors on the Transition to Womanhood, and Global Uprising: Stories From a New Generation of Activists. Linda trains adults to facilitate teen talking circles and speaks on the issues teenage girls are dealing with and on gender reconciliation through group process. Her handbook, Speaking and Listening from the Heart: The Art of Facilitating Teen Talking Circles was published in the Fall, 2004.

Client List - Compassionate Listening Trainings:

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