Learn how to:

• Facilitate people in conflict feeling heard by each other and connected to their shared humanity.
• Empathically connect to others’ experience in challenging conflict situations.
• Translate judgments into need language with greater ease.
• Return to presence and connection in the midst of conflict.
• Make and support clear requests and collaborative solutions.

Develop your abilities to:

• Effectively mediate as a “third side” in your work.
• Lend your skills to support people in conflict.
• Peacefully resolve conflicts you are having with others.
• Transform warring voices in your own head.
• Apply mediation skills to conflict coaching and groups.

About the program:

This 5- Day immersion is part of a yearlong program. It is open to those who wish to sign up for only the first retreat or may continue on for the whole program.

John Kinyon,with co-facilitator Newt Bailey, offer an intensive, in-depth experience in the language, skills and consciousness of NVC applied to mediating conflict in four contexts of mediation — internal, interpersonal, informal and formal, in all types of conflict situations — from legal to business/organizations to personal, family and community relationships. The training is based in the mediation model developed by NVC founder Marshall Rosenberg and is centered in a powerful “three chair learning model.” Emphasis is placed on seeing one’s relationship with conflict as a life practice of returning to presence (i.e. mindful awareness) and mediating from connection with the needs of self and other and making clear, “doable” requests moment to moment. Daily and weekly practices for self-connection, learning and skill-building with other participants following the retreat are offered to integrate and extend the learning.

Central to the program is the conviction that increasing your capacity to be with conflict and intervene effectively involves learnable skills. When applied holistically a person can remain connected to their own needs and productively assist in the resolution of conflict both internally and externally, formally or informally. Also central to the program is that John uses the NVC mediation skills to facilitate group decision making and learning in a way that creates safety, connection and enjoyment of the learning process. Our goal by the end of the yearlong program is that you will experience confidence and effectiveness with these skills in all aspects of conflict and in all aspects of your life.

The training offers a five-step model, nine mediation skills, a pre-post mediation framework, four mediation contexts (internal, self-other, informal and formal), mediator self-care and a learning/growth cycle, and applications to conflict such as the engagement call, conflict coaching, mediating with groups, “accreted” mediation and reconciliation with deeper interpersonal pain.

The NVC mediation process is also used to transcend inner conflicts and outer challenges regarding professional development issues such as sustainability, livelihood and relationship with money.

Three 5-day immersion retreats: April 29-May 4 • July 22-27 • November 4-9

Location: Unity Village, Missouri

To register and for more information: contact  lori@peacematters.com • 816-500-8596

About John Kinyon

John’s background is in psychology, psychotherapy and research. John has been training with NVC for over 10 years and has been developing and evolving this mediation approach for the past 7 years, beginning with a journey to the Middle East to work with Afghan tribal elders shortly after 9/11. From this experience he saw first hand that despite at least eight languages being used and layers of cobbled-together, ad hoc translation, connection to universal human needs and the NVC mediation approach worked even with a real dispute that came alive in the room during the training.

The mediation training now includes telecourses, workshops, retreats and yearlong training programs in the U.S. and a growing number of countries around the world including Sweden, Holland, Poland, Hungary, Australia and New Zealand.

About Newt Bailey

Newt works as a communication coach and trainer offering mediation and meeting facilitation services. He began this education twenty years ago when he became a spokesperson for his college student body. He quickly learned to communicate with culturally diverse groups. After graduation he worked in sales where he learned to listen more than he talked. As this kind of listening became second nature, Newt began to exceed sales targets. Later on while teaching high school he developed skills to help facilitate students’ learning. Working as a teacher provided opportunities to mediate conflicts between students, and with students and parents.

In 1998 he began working as a programmer at PC World Communications Inc. Shortly afterwards he became the director of application development which allowed for many opportunities to build skills: meeting facilitation and participation, performance reviews, interviewing for new staff, and resolving workplace conflicts. In order to expand his understanding of conflict resolution, Newt began to study mediation with John Kinyon and has developed their relationship to include co- facilitation and collaboration.

This 5-Day Immersion is part of a yearlong program, which includes:

• Three 5-day immersion retreats: • April 29-May 4 • July 22-27
• November 4-9
• Monthly teleconference calls with John Kinyon
• Extended support for personal action plans
• Weekly telephone dyad and triad practice
• Self-connection and skill-building practices
• Additional support during and in-between retreats
• Opportunities to hear guest presenters