PAST WORKSHOPS

The events on this page are listed to show what we've done in the past.
For current events, click on Learning, above.

Way of the Peaceful Leader
A Daylong in Nonviolent Communication for anyone working or living with youth
with Catherine Cadden and Jesse Wiens

“Thank you, Catherine, for showing us Temba. I appreciate how flexible your language is, not bogged down in structure but coming from the heart - connection is the intention. Jesse, I'm remembering the grounded, clear energy I see in you. I felt so safe.”

~Leslie, participant from 5-day educators intensive in Australia, 2007

• Learn ways to create a culture of peace in a multi-age group, including teens
• Develop a capacity to be with what is in a way that invites natural compassionate communication & wise action
• Design “needs”- based curriculum that honors and engages each individual’s unique connection to life
• Deepen skills in Nonviolent Communication and integrate it into your family or work
• Cultivate your leadership “style” with a partnership model that inspires trust, respect and understanding in groups
• Nurture, rejuvenate, and reconnect with your passion for working, connecting, or living with youth

Everything we do in this training can be implemented in families, classrooms, and the outdoors!

Jesse and Catherine are international NVC Trainers who have worked with educators from various systems and structures; and are co-creators of Play in the Wild! Wilderness Initiations into the Way of Nonviolence for Teens and Families. They are excited to share with you their activities and experiences from this body of work. More about CATHERINE CADDEN and JESSE WIENS can be found by clicking on ABOUT at the top of this page.

Please arrive around 9:30am to settle in with tea and muffins...we will begin promptly at 10AM.

BRING:

A journal, questions, curiosity, and wear comfortable clothes you can move in!

COST:

This program is offered freely in joyful service of peace. At the same time, we request your contribution of $135 which covers Materials & an Organic Vegetarian Lunch (!), as well as helping to sustain us and support peace as a viable way of living.

CERTIFICATES/CREDIT:

Hours from this training can be applied to certification with the Center for Nonviolent Communication and may apply in certain course study in certain schools. You will receive a certificate of participation.

Compassionate Communication
with Catherine Cadden and Jesse Wiens

This workshop will include the fundamentals of Nonviolent Communication.

LEARN concrete tools for navigating difficult conversations; EMBODY and ACT from interdependence; EXPLORE the power patterns of thinking & speaking have to:

• Create or end suffering
• Support our connection to compassion
• Create a deeper sense of choice & freedom in our daily lives
• Make the field of relationship itself a place of practice

We offer this training freely as our contribution towards peace. You are invited to donate an amount that would be enjoyable for you to give. We suggest $35 as an amount that reflects our value for this work and supports our livelihood.

Lessons from the Elders:
Zen, Tai Chi, and the Art of Nonviolent Communication
with Catherine Cadden and Jesse Wiens

A ZENVC Introductory Telecourse at NVC Academy

The wisdom which Nonviolent Communication is based on is as old as humanity itself. This telecourse draws insights from NVC’s elder siblings of Taoism, Buddhism, and indigenous culture to offer new ways of approaching common NVC ‘stuck’ places, including topics such as:

• Why Intention is the Fundamental Principle of NVC, and How to Cultivate its Power
• The Other NVC: Non-Verbal Communication
• How to End the Illusion of ‘My Needs’ and ‘Your Needs’
• How to Walk in the Dark, when NVC forms aren’t Creating Connection

Way of the Peaceful Teacher
A 3 Day Training in Nonviolent Communication for anyone who works with youth
with Catherine Cadden, Melanie Whitham, and Jesse Wiens

Download the English registration form and flyer in Acrobat PDF format here.
Download the French registration form and flyer in Acrobat PDF format here.

• Learn ways to create a culture of peace in your school community
• Develop a capacity to be with what is in a way that invites natural compassionate communication & wise action
• Design “needs”- based curriculum that engages the authentic learner and honors each learner’s unique rhythm
• Deepen skills in Nonviolent Communication and integrate it into your work as an educator
• Cultivate your “style” with partnership education that inspires trust, respect and understanding in the classroom
• Nurture, rejuvenate, and reconnect with your passion for being a teacher

Everything we do in this training can be implemented in the classroom! Learn how Nonviolent Communication creates deep connection and leads to life-enriching relationships.

Our play together will be designed within the following sessions:

Wed - Fri: Morning 9 am – 12:30 pm, Afternoon 2 – 5 pm
evening sessions on Wed & Thurs: 7 – 9 pm

MELANIE WHITHAM, MA, is an educator specializing in holistic education. In 2003, she founded the PEACE School, an alternative elementary school, which she directed and taught at for 3 years. She has since gone on to offer Nonviolent Communication (NVC) based learning environments for home-schooling children. Currently, she shares her passion and gratitude for NVC through offering PEACEfull Communication workshops and groups, and co-leading Play in the Wild! NVC and wilderness adventures for youth and families, together with Catherine and Jesse. Melanie’s deep desire is to support you in creating harmony in your classrooms and schools. Visit peacefullcommunication.com to learn more about Melanie's work.

Info about CATHERINE CADDEN and JESSE WIENS can be found by clicking on ABOUT at the top of this page.

REQUESTS FOR SUSTAINABILITY:

Without lodging (3 lunches and 2 suppers included) $405 - $505
Dormitory (2 nights, 3 lunches, 2 suppers, 2 breakfasts) $495 - $595
Double or Triple occ (2 nights, 3 lunches, 2 suppers, 2 breakfasts) $525 - $625
Add Tuesday lodging (1 night dorm, snack w/ arrival, 1 breakfast) $42
or (1 night dbl/trpl, snack w/ arrival, 1 brkfast) $52

Why a sliding scale?

We wish for anyone to be able to attend, regardless of financial means, and we also wish to cover our basic expenses for this training and to support our livelihood. The low end of the scale covers our basic expenses. The high end of the scale supports our continued livelihood and reflects our value for this work.

OTHER:

Meals will be vegetarian.

Workshop will be bilingual with English/French alternating translation.

We request that you make a deposit of $100 to reserve your place.

We invite you to arrive and settle in as early as Tuesday evening or no later than 8:15 Wednesday morning.

We will complete money transactions Wednesday evening before dinner. Please bring check or cash.

 

Thriving the Holidays!
A Celebratory Training in Nonviolent Communication
with Catherine Cadden and Jesse Wiens

This workshop will include the fundamentals of Nonviolent Communication.

"[T]he principles and techniques in Nonviolent Communication can literally change the world, but more importantly, they can change the quality of your life with your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your co-workers and everyone else you interact with. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”

- Jack Canfield, author, Chicken Soup for the Soul Series

Where’s the meaning in all this holiday hoopla? In the midst of the holiday shopping rush, how are we actually relating to ourselves and to our loved ones? What do we do when we see relationships that could use a little dusting off?

If these questions are alive for you, come join us for an afternoon on how to bring your holiday back to life through applying the wisdom of Nonviolent Communication (NVC). We will practice how to thrive in any context, find words to express what’s important to us, and learn how to hear the beauty behind irritating and hard-to-hear statements.

We offer this training freely as our contribution towards peace. You are invited to donate an amount that would be enjoyable for you to give. We suggest $35 as an amount that reflects our value for this work and supports our livelihood.

The Dharma of Compassionate Communication - Practice in the 'Real World'
with Catherine Cadden and Jesse Wiens

This workshop will include the fundamentals of Nonviolent Communication.

LEARN concrete tools for navigating difficult conversations; EMBODY and ACT from interdependence; EXPLORE the power patterns of thinking & speaking have to:

• Create or end suffering
• Support our connection to compassion
• Create a deeper sense of choice & freedom in our daily lives
• Make the field of relationship itself a place of practice

We offer this training freely as our contribution towards peace. You are invited to donate an amount that would be enjoyable for you to give. We suggest $35 as an amount that reflects our value for this work and supports our livelihood.

Dialogues of the Heart: Cultivating Inner and Outer Peace
with Catherine Cadden, Jane Lazar, and Jesse Wiens (ZENVC)

Download the flyer in Acrobat PDF format here.

SEPT.15 DAY ONE: INNER DIALOGUE

• Discover unshakeable self-compassion
• Differentiate needs, wants, and solutions
• Find guidance in mistakes
• Live your values empowered by vow

SEPT.16 DAY TWO: OUTER DIALOGUE

• Respond empathically, even in conflict
• Give voice to your inner truth
• Make requests with nonattachment
• Dialogue with and without words

COME PLAY WITH US:

CATHERINE CADDEN is a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication and is founder of the TEMBA School. Her passion in creating life-serving programs to contribute to peace in the world has included working with people of all ages in the US, Canada, Australia, Argentina and South Africa.

JANE LAZAR is an ordained Zen priest-in-training in residence at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, was certified as an NVC trainer in 1995, and is a black belt in Aikido. She sees these three practices as infinitely related, and enjoys using the body as the ground of practice.

COST:

We offer this training freely as our contribution towards peace. You are invited to donate an amount that would be enjoyable for you to give. We suggest $170 as an amount that reflects our value for this work and supports our livelihood.

STAYING OVERNIGHT:

Onsite camping available. Please contact us to reserve a space or for info on other local accommodations. Cold Creek Inn will offer a 10% discount to Dialogues of the Heart participants.

DIRECTIONS:

Directions from San Francisco Bay Area:

I-80 E Sacramento
Merge onto I-505 N toward WINTERS / REDDING.
I-505 N becomes I-5 N.
183.1 miles
Merge onto CA-89 via EXIT 736 toward MCCLOUD.
Turn RIGHT onto BIG CANYON DR.
Turn RIGHT onto AZALEA RD.
Turn RIGHT onto S OLD STAGE RD.
Turn LEFT onto WAGON WHEEL RD.
Turn LEFT onto CONESTOGA CT.
End at 1920 Conestoga Ct
Mount Shasta, CA 96067

Directions from Portland, OR:

I-5 S
Take EXIT 738 toward CENTRAL MT SHASTA.
Turn RIGHT onto HATCHERY LN.
Turn LEFT onto S OLD STAGE RD.
Turn RIGHT onto WAGON WHEEL RD.
Turn LEFT onto CONESTOGA CT.
End at 1920 Conestoga Ct
Mount Shasta, CA 96067-9211, US

OTHER:

We invite you to arrive early to settle into the space and be ready for a 10am start. Tea and muffins will be available starting at 9am. An organic vegetarian lunch will be provided both days.

A School of Respect:
promoting co-operation, communication, compassion
a peaceable revolution through education
with Catherine Cadden and Jesse Wiens

Join Catherine for a weekend of NVC training specifically tailored to the needs within schools. Catherine will lead participants through a range of experiences so as to give an understanding of what is needed to engender a sense of inclusion and personal value. Drawing from her experience in the USA with the school she has been developing since 1998, Catherine will highlight the development of trust, safety and respect for one another and how, when empathetic connections are made, it opens endless possibilities for learning.

Play in the Wild!
A Nonviolent Communication Wilderness Camp for youth 12 – 17 years old
with Catherine Cadden, Rémi Villeneuve, Melanie Whitham, and Jesse Wiens (ZENVC)

Download the English flyer in Acrobat PDF format here.

Download the French flyer here.

This adventure invites you to expand awareness of life through meeting the challenges within yourself and with the earth:

• Discover self-reliance that leads to power-with others
• Transform judgmental thinking about yourself and others
• Practice listening deeply and speaking your truth
• Come to know and trust who you are
• Explore your inner and outer worlds

Catherine, Rémi, Melanie, and Jesse will bring together their years of experience to facilitate a safe and life-transforming journey...

CATHERINE CADDEN is a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication and has been leading backpack adventures for since 1997. She also founded the TEMBA School which is a visionary K-8 academic program rooted in nonviolent philosophy, Nonviolent Communication (NVC), sustainable living and artistic expression. She has offered trainings in NVC in the United States, Canada, South Africa and Argentina. She brings over ten years of experience practicing, living and teaching NVC. Catherine also served for four years with her German shepherd dog, Marley, on
WOOF Wilderness Finders working Search and Rescue missions. During her search years, she gained invaluable knowledge about wilderness survival and living interdependently with the earth.

REMI VILLENEUVE brings with him 15 years of experience of working with youth in a wide variety of fields: day camps, music schools, outdoor centers and sports resorts, youth centers, personal growth & nonviolence workshops, a suicide prevention center, second language programs in primary schools, rehab programs for the handicapped, a group home and a primary alternative school. A seasonal canoe camping enthusiast for the last 7 years, Rémi is very excited about sharing his own learning process with Nonviolent Communication in the natural environment he so loves.

MELANIE WHITHAM is the founder of P.E.A.C.E. School and her biggest passion, next to teaching young people, is wilderness canoe camping. On a 16-day wilderness paddle through the Canadian forest at 21 years old that Melanie discovered her that she was capable of much more than she had imagined. It is this place of inner strength she wants to support young people to discover within themselves. She is an ORCA (Ontario Recreational Canoeing Association) level 2 certified canoe trip leader and has wilderness first aid training. Melanie also brings years of training, practicing and living NVC. She has offered workshops in NVC to teachers, parents and youth in Quebec and Thailand.

COST:

We offer this training freely as our contribution towards peace. We invite you to contribute an amount that would be enjoyable for you to give. We suggest a sliding scale of $375 - $575 as an amount that reflects our value for this work, supports our livelihood and helps to cover expenses of food, park fees, and transportation. Our wish is that no one stay home for financial reasons and we believe in the creative power we all possess to make our dreams come true.

REGISTRATION:
Register early because space is limited to 15 participants. No experience required.

 

Healing Our Hearts : A Journey to Self-Acceptance
with Donna Carter and Jesse Wiens (ZENVC)

Download the flyer in Acrobat PDF format here.

Healing Our Hearts is an opportunity to come together with others in an environment of trust and explore aspects of ourselves which we find difficult to accept. Using the tools and teachings of Nonviolent Communication and Zen Buddhism, we will:

• Shed light on difficult emotions and the unconscious beliefs which drive them
• See the gift in our inner critic
• Find compassion, humor, and perspective
• Ground our learning in the body
• Connect to the power of our Center
• Act from a place of freedom and self-acceptance

The day will include meditation and sharing lunch together. Chairs, a vegan/ vegetarian meal, and materials for continued practice and learning will be provided. Bring any other seating accomodations, food, and accessories that you'd like.

DONNA CARTER combines her interests in human nature, psychology, filmmaking and Zen meditation with NVC study and practice. She has been studying compassionate communication for three years through various avenues, including BayNVC's 8-month Committed NVC Practitioner's Program and its year-long North American NVC Leadership Program. She is a graduate of Stanford's documentary production program.

COST:

This training is offered as a Gift in service of Peace. We will request a donation of $80 to support our costs and our livelihood. Please give an amount that you can enjoy. No one turned away for lack of funds.

DIRECTIONS & PARKING:

This training will be held at the SF Friends Meeting House at 65 9th Street, near Market Street. It is easily accessible by public transit, including all Market St. MUNI buses and trolleys, and is within two blocks of the Civic Center BART station. Transit 511 can help you plan your trip on public transit. The most convenient parking is in the lot directly across the street from the Meeting House. The cost is $11 for the day.

OTHER:

Please use the north door (door closest to Market St.) when entering the building. We invite you to arrive early to settle into the space and be ready for a 10am start. A vegan/vegetarian lunch will be provided. Please specify if you will bring your own instead.

 

Dialogues of the Heart: Cultivating Inner and Outer Peace
with Catherine Cadden, Jane Lazar, and Jesse Wiens (ZENVC)

Download the flyer in Acrobat PDF format here.

MAY 19 DAY ONE: INNER DIALOGUE

• Offer yourself compassion in any situation
• Clarify the difference between needs, and strategies
• Learn to transform the judgements we tell ourselves
• Find the inner strength to voice your truth

MAY 20 DAY TWO: OUTER DIALOGUE

• Cultivate freedom from taking things personally
• Speak up for what you really want and make requests with nonattachment
• See the “Yes!” in every “NO!”
• Create connection with and without words

COME PLAY WITH US:

CATHERINE CADDEN is a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication and is founder of the TEMBA School. She has offered trainings and workshops in NVC to participants of all ages in the US, Canada, Argentina, and South Africa.

JANE LAZAR is an ordained Zen priest-in-training in residence at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, was certified as an NVC trainer in 1995, and is a black belt in Aikido. She sees these three practices as infinitely related, and enjoys using the body as the ground of practice.

COST:

We offer this training freely as our contribution towards peace. You are invited to donate an amount that would be enjoyable for you to give. We suggest $85/day as an amount that reflects our value for this work and supports our livelihood.

STAYING OVERNIGHT:

If you are from outside the Shasta area and would like accommodations please notify us as soon as possible. We can provide up to eight spaces indoors, and have plenty of
space for onsite camping.

DIRECTIONS:

Directions from San Francisco Bay Area:

I-80 E Sacramento
Merge onto I-505 N toward WINTERS / REDDING.
I-505 N becomes I-5 N.
183.1 miles
Merge onto CA-89 via EXIT 736 toward MCCLOUD.
Turn RIGHT onto BIG CANYON DR.
Turn RIGHT onto AZALEA RD.
Turn RIGHT onto S OLD STAGE RD.
Turn LEFT onto WAGON WHEEL RD.
Turn LEFT onto CONESTOGA CT.
End at 1920 Conestoga Ct
Mount Shasta, CA 96067

Directions from Portland, OR:

I-5 S
Take EXIT 738 toward CENTRAL MT SHASTA.
Turn RIGHT onto HATCHERY LN.
Turn LEFT onto S OLD STAGE RD.
Turn RIGHT onto WAGON WHEEL RD.
Turn LEFT onto CONESTOGA CT.
End at 1920 Conestoga Ct
Mount Shasta, CA 96067-9211, US

OTHER:

We invite you to arrive early to settle into the space and be ready for a 10am start. Tea and muffins will be available starting at 9am. An organic vegetarian lunch will be provided both days.

 

Just Speaking: The Art of 'Real World' Right Speech
with Gigen Victoria Austin (SFZC) and Jesse Wiens

Through his example, the Buddha taught right speech as speech that is necessary, kind, gentle, true, and timely. How can we apply this 2500 year old teaching to the challenges of daily conversations in the home, on the street, and at work? Using YOUR examples and the tools of Nonviolent Communication, we'll explore what it takes to transform our modern lives into the ground for awakened communication.

Compassionate Communication in ‘The Real World’

How can I make a deep and present connection with others, through language?

How can I make difficult requests from a place of emptiness and nonattachment?

How can I share the meaning and joy of Buddhist practice with those who don’t speak in those terms?

If these questions are alive for you, or you’re just simply wondering how to translate the experience of sitting meditation into your day-to-day interactions in ‘the real world’, this workshop is for you. Using the tools offered by Nonviolent Communication (NVC), we will untangle our own cultural conditioning to find renewed clarity, power, and connection in our communication with our selves and others, transforming it into the ground from which wisdom and compassion to arise.

This workshop will offer the opportunity to role-play and transform specific situations from participants’ lives, so bring your difficult conversations!

BEING Nonviolence -
Practicing Compassionate Communication with the Mind of Zen

Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship

• Taking spiritual practice "off the cushion"
• Finding freedom in the midst of nightmare dialogues
• Making difficult requests from a place of nonattachment
• Speaking up for real needs while remaining open and accepting
• Embodying peace and presence, open to not knowing "what" to say

Over the course of this introductory evening and daylong workshop, we will discover what it takes to be nonviolent. Working with real life situations, we will explore how meditative consciousness and the tools of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) can work together to transform suffering into profound peace. More than just another NVC workshop, we will revisit the basic model from the deep insight of Buddhism, awakening clarity and power in our practice of both traditions.

The Dharma of Compassionate Communication - Practice in the 'Real World'
with Oren Sofer (BPF) and Jesse Wiens

Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship

LEARN concrete tools for navigating difficult conversations; EMBODY and ACT from interdependence; EXPLORE the power patterns of thinking & speaking have to:

• Create or end suffering
• Support our connection to compassion
• Create a deeper sense of choice & freedom in our daily lives
• Make the field of relationship itself a place of practice

Compassionate Communication in ‘The Real World’

How can I make a deep and present connection with others, through language?

How can I make difficult requests from a place of emptiness and nonattachment?

How can I share the meaning and joy of Buddhist practice with those who don’t speak in those terms?

If these questions are alive for you, or you’re just simply wondering how to translate the experience of sitting meditation into your day-to-day interactions in ‘the real world’, this workshop is for you. Using the tools offered by Nonviolent Communication (NVC), we will untangle our own cultural conditioning to find renewed clarity, power, and connection in our communication with our selves and others, transforming it into the ground from which wisdom and compassion to arise.

This workshop will offer the opportunity to role-play and transform specific situations from participants’ lives, so bring your difficult conversations!

* Prior to taking these workshops, participants are requested to have taken an Introduction to Nonviolent Communication, or have read Marshall Rosenberg’s book, “Nonviolent Communication”.

 

PAST EVENTS

Project Peace Rising:
A Journey from Mt. Shasta, California to Kabul, Afghanistan
with Catherine Cadden and Jesse Wiens

In November 2007, local schoolteacher and Nonviolent Communication trainer Catherine Cadden, along with fellow trainers Jiva Manske and Jesse Wiens, travelled to Kabul, Afghanistan to create a Day of Peace for Afghan children and a week of Nonviolent Communication training for Afghan people.

“Before this training I had difficulty forgiving some things that had happened in my past.
I feel that I am now able to forgive some people that I haven’t been able to forgive before
because now I can understand their needs.”

- participant, head of the Department of Women’s Affairs, Afghanistan

Join us for a moving celebration of peace, as Catherine, Jiva, and Jesse share about their experience through story, image, video, and song. They will be joined by children from The TEMBA school, who created gifts at BeadArts for the Afghan children. Afterwards, come dance to global rhythms!

Conflict Improv: A chance to let others fight your battles
Newt Bailey, Matthew Blom, Catherine Cadden, Joya Cory, Lisa Montana, and Jesse Wiens

An evening of fun, inspiration, and some new ideas to try out in your life. A group of Nonviolent Communication trainers will take audience-suggested conflicts and act out the twists and turns of life in ways we all may have never imagined. Ah, the beauty of improv. If you want we'll even offer you the chance to get on stage so you can show us how you do it.

There’s no charge, but we’d love $25 a person, for those who can swing it.

Being Nonviolence - an evening gathering
with Catherine Cadden and Jesse Wiens

Join CNVC-certified trainer Catherine Cadden and ZENVC founder Jesse Wiens for an evening in which they will share stories, video, photos, and inspiration from their recent adventures offering NVC in Afghanistan to NGOs and children, in Australia to educators bringing NVC into public schools, and in the Canadian wilderness to teens.

We offer this training freely as our contribution towards peace. You are invited to donate an amount that would be enjoyable for you to give. We suggest $35 as an amount that reflects our value for this work and supports our livelihood.