NVC Weekend with Certified Trainer Jorge Rubio-Vollert

Jorge Rubio-Vollert has been a CNVC certified trainer for 9 years. He has worked intensively in his country of origin, Colombia, as founder and executive director of The Foundation for Nonviolent Communication Center and participated in the Presidential program "Haz Paz", with the intention to create a culture of peace in a country of war. He also directed three Community Peace pilot projects with the Colombian Institute for the Welfare of the Family, and worked at the INEM School (Instituto Nacional de Educacion Media), a public school in Ibague that serves the poorest economic strata. He travels internationally to conduct workshops, and to consult and mediate with businesses, schools, organizations, police, families and individuals. Workshops include training participants in basic NVC skills, anger management, parenting, and community building. He is currently working in the U.S., Spain, and Latin America trying to support the creation of living empathic networks. Recent extensive work in several regions of Bolivia has included workshops with government agencies at the national level, with child protective agencies, and with community and human rights organizations.

Upcoming workshop in Boulder, Colorado: February 2-3, 2008: Empathic Presence: A living art. See http://www.peacemakerinstitute.org/nvc4.htm for more info. To register: http://www.peacemakerinstitute.org/nvcregistration2.htm

In this workshop we will explore how the practical tools of NVC support the transformation of violence, particularly the subtler, unacknowledged verbal forms such as blaming, moralizing, judging and punishing.

For example, how can we be the recipients of difficult behaviors without responding in kind? How can we stand up in the face of aggression without dehumanizing others? How can we respond with compassion to transform our own acts of violence?

Topics include:

• The underlying humanity of any violence
• The dangers of trying to be peaceful
• Remaining human in a violent world
• Hidden violence in everyday language
• Clear, authentic, nonviolent expression
• How to listen empathically to difficult messages
• The liberating power of responsible hatred
• Transforming inner enemy images
• How to talk about others
• Creating empathy-sustaining practices