Workshop 14, 26/5 13:00-14:15

Dr Peter Jakob (UK), Dan Dolberger (ISR) and Dr. Michaela Fried (Au)

Dr Peter Jakob, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Director, PartnershipProjects UK Ltd, United Kingdom. Daniel Dolberger, Psychologist, Tel Aviv Center for NVR Psychology, Israel. Dr Michaela Fried, Child Psychiatrist in private practice, Austria.

The Presence Mind: functional states of consciousness and responsiveness

We recognize the need for a theory of Presence as a fundamental conceptualization in our NVR work. We construe the "present state of consciousness” as different from states of mind which are marked by high activation of the brain’s survival system, as in escalatory, trauma-related responses (fight-flight-freeze). We view these responses as manifestations of what we call Erasure. What are the cognitive characteristics of the "present state of mind?" What different narratives surround a such a mind-state – e.g. how does the person see him/herself differently if they see themselves as resisting rather than as coping (e.g. survivor) or as a victim? What differences are there in the social engagement, and in the person as connected with a community? These questions and perspectives can broaden the meaning and appeal of NVR, so that non-violence can be seen as an aspect of therapy or psycho-social intervention in general, not just in doing NVR with families with children and young people. Our workshop would combine a presentation of our core notions, an experiential exploration of presence and erasure via role play exercises and an all-round discussion.

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Workshop 15, 26/5 13:00-14:15

Hilde LEONARD, schoolpedagogue and trainer, Belgium

Hilaire DOLFEYN, teacher and trainer, Belgium both members of the Flemish trainer network NA & NVR at school, www.NAGVopschool.be

How to create a powerful NVR support network in schools?

When we implement NVR in schools, it’s not always easy to create support in and around the team. Some teachers don’t feel comfortable with the idea of needing support. Others feel reticent about helping the “weakest link” in the team. Teachers inform parents when things go wrong, but this doesn’t mean they consider parents as equal partners. Teachers and parents tend to blame each other when dealing with children’s misbehaviour.

We are a group of Flemish professionals, all working in schools or with teachers. We strongly believe that NVR has a lot to offer for schoolteams in working with students’ troublesome behaviour. Three years ago, we started to implement NVR in schools. One of our biggest challenges is: How can we, trainers, stimulate teachers to establish visible collective support?

In this workshop, we want to show you how we target the strength of standing together as authority figures at school: teachers, parents, school counsellors and directors.

We will let you experience and pariticipate in what it feels like to be a teacher and what you need to feel supported. All questions related to acting and presenting oneselves to pupils as one team of authority figures should be taken seriously, e.g.

? What are my actual needs in dealing with students’ misbehaviour?

? Which actions from colleagues and parents feel helpful, which don’t?

? What do I need to give my colleagues and parents real support?

We’ll be glad to show you how we elaborate these delicate issues.