Intro to CL w/ Sharon

Facilitated by Sharon Gubbay Helfer

Sundays, September 12 - October 10, 2021

(Sep 12, 19, 26, Oct 3, & 10)

10 am - 12:30 pm Pacific / 1 pm - 3:30 pm Eastern

Compassion is not a luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability; it is essential for human survival.

~ Dalai Lama

Compassionate Listening is a practice that reaches deep into the heart of discord or disconnection, teaching us to listen with a different "ear" to those around us. Its powerful tools help transform the energy of conflict into opportunities for understanding, intimacy at home, healthy relationships, productive teamwork, and positive action. It is a practice that provides a roadmap to what sages from all ages and cultures have taught: cultivating the wisdom of the heart is the key to real peace "from the inside out."

The skills of Compassionate Listening will empower you to become a stronger peacemaker. As we harness the wisdom of our hearts, we can shift challenging communication and relationships into compassionate interaction.

This experiential workshop focuses on the core practices developed by The Compassionate Listening Project:

• Cultivating and Holding Compassion for Oneself and Others
• Developing the Fair Witness, without Judgment or Blame
• Maintaining Balance in the Heat of Conflict, with Respect for Self and Others
• Listening with the Heart
• Speaking from the Heart, with Language that Reflects a Healing Intention

Event Details

This online course will be held on Zoom. It is highly experiential and requires your full presence, participation, and commitment to show up without distraction. Your presence at each and every session is essential and valued.  We ask that you please attend each session, since being together consistently enables us to build trust in one another, and each session builds on the previous one.

In order to make the most of your experience and support others' learning and engagement, please:

• Plan to arrive in a quiet distraction-free environment, fully present and available to experience the workshop.
• Do not join the workshop while in transit (walking, driving, on the bus, etc.), or while multitasking (cooking, working, watching television, etc.).
• Connect to the event using a device that has full video and audio capability. Our hope is that everyone will be able to connect to the event using a device that has full video and audio capability because breakout rooms will be used to guide participants through our curriculum in small groups and we will be sharing screens throughout the course.

If you require any accommodations to attend, including physical limitations around viewing screens or having your video on, please contact us before the first session so that we can plan accordingly.

After registration and payment, you will receive a registration confirmation and welcome email. Please add us (staff@compassionatelistening.org) to your safe senders list to ensure that you receive all course access information.

If you have any questions, please contact us at staff@compassionatelistening.org.

Looking forward to meeting you in the circle!

Cost

The cost for this workshop series is $200. A limited number of $150 tickets are available for those who require financial assistance in order to attend. $300 tickets are also available for those who would like to support others' attendance.

We are committed to accessibility and sincerely desire for all who wish to attend our workshops to be able to do so, regardless of financial means. Please submit a scholarship request if finances are a barrier to your participation.

Your generous donations make our scholarship program possible. If you have the means, please consider donating to our scholarship fund to enable others to attend who otherwise would not be able to do so.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations made 7 days or more in advance of the event date will receive a 100% refund. Cancellations made within 7 days of the first session will receive a tuition credit which may be used towards any future Compassionate Listening course or workshop.

Please note that due to the container of trust which participants begin to build with one another early in the course, as well as the cumulative nature of the curriculum, we request that participants make every effort to attend the first session. Should unforeseen circumstances prevent this, your registration will be cancelled and your funds may be applied as credit toward a future course. Please contact us before the course begins in order to receive a credit.

Facilitator

Sharon Gubbay Helfer, Ph.D., Montreal, Quebec

Dr. Sharon Gubbay Helfer is a professional oral historian specializing in life stories and a researcher/practitioner in the area of difficult dialogues and listening skills. Following a Ph.D. in Jewish Studies focusing on Montreal’s Reconstructionist Synagogue (Concordia U, Montreal), she carried out postdoctoral research in Jewish-Catholic dialogue at the Université de Montréal. This was followed by work on the major Oral History Centre project “Life Stories of Montrealers Displaced by Wars, Genocides and Other Human Rights Violations” (Concordia), where her contributions included creating a Palestinian Canadian Life Stories pilot project. Dr. Gubbay Helfer is a certified facilitator with the Compassionate Listening Project and with the Compassionate Integrity Training curriculum. She has offered Compassionate Listening workshops and Circles to participants in the US, Canada, Europe, and Israel. Sharon is also a multimedia artist and dancer, exploring embodiment and dimensions of the unspoken. Visit her website here for more info.