Is this you?
You are in a committed relationship and love your significant other and you want to build a foundation for a lasting relationship. Perhaps things are going well and you want that to continue. Or, perhaps you feel frustrated about how reactivity and mistrust derails your connection. Either way, you especially want specific ways to build trust and manage reactivity.
You are also ready and willing to engage in experiential exercises with your partner to learn new skills that will support both a secure emotional bond and the ability to honor authenticity and autonomy.
What to expect
Each session you can expect to learn two or three new concepts or a deepening of an earlier concept and practice in associated exercises.
You will do a few simple exercises in small groups to get to know other participants and create a sense of safety and ease in the group. You won’t be asked to share about your relationship with other group members.
You will work primarily with your partner in experiential exercises that help you cultivate mindfulness and skills regarding reactivity and trust.
You will study reactivity as it shows up in your body, mind and emotions. Cultivating this mindfulness will allow you to experience choice points where you didn’t have them before. You will learn specific tools for dissolving reactivity once you open up those choice points.
Building trust helps you give your partner the benefit of the doubt when reactivity would otherwise take over. You will learn tools that help you:
recognize both acute and chronic reactivity
regulate your emotions
anchor in the expansive perspective
see and appreciate each other
attend to what matters most
create effective agreements
engage in repair
This work is offered from the framework of Mindful Compassionate Dialogue (MCD). MCD brings a comprehensive set of skills as well as a subtle understanding of relationship dynamics. It brings together concepts and skills from Hakomi (body-centered therapy), Nonviolent Communication, and Mindfulness. The goal of MCD is to empower you to create the change you want in your relationships. It naturally supports you in creating a secure bond, while at the same time promotes healthy differentiation. It also helps you cultivate self-compassion and a confident relationship to needs. When you and your partner make use of the guidance and structure of MCD, you will gain confidence in an understanding and set of skills that enable you to resolve conflict and build a loving and strong relationship.
Details
Trainer: Ava Frank
When: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Wednesdays, April 9th - May 14th, 2025
Where: Multnomah Friends Monthly Meeting House, 4312 SE Stark St, Portland, OR 97215
Contribution: $350.00 per couple
For questions: contact Ava at ava@mcdtherapy.com
Poly, non-dyad, relationships are welcome