Registration is open for an online professional development program, “Past Trauma, Current Relations: How Nonviolent Communication Helps Us Communicate,” through the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in Belfast. This five-day professional development program will be held April 4–8, from 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., via Zoom. The cost is $195. More information is available on the Hutchinson Center website.

The goal of this lively, interactive Level 1 Nonviolent Communication program is to explore how early life experiences, including traumas such as adverse childhood experiences, affect the ways adults relate to each other. In this training, participants will learn how to strengthen connections with people in/through conflict, gain an understanding of the neurological basis for reactivity and increase their ability to self-regulate. Participants from a wide variety of fields, including for-profit and nonprofit sectors, education, healthcare, criminology and social services will benefit from this comprehensive program, according to the Hutchinson Center, in a news release.

“Nonviolent Communication is a unique and powerful process for inspiring compassionate connection and action,” said the release. “It provides a framework and set of skills to address a wide range of concerns, from the most intimate relationships to global political conflicts. The objective of Nonviolent Communication is to remind people of the profound value of human interactions, help them live from that awareness and develop their empathetic capacities.”

Program facilitator Peggy Smith has more than four decades of teaching experience. She earned a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and is a certified trainer with the International Center for Nonviolent Communication. A co-founder of the Maine Nonviolent Communication Network, Smith is at the forefront of bringing empathic thinking and communicating to the Midcoast Maine region.  

A stable internet connection and the ability to participate in these synchronous sessions as they are happening is required.

Participants will receive a certificate of completion, and 1.2 CEUs/12.5 contact hours are available.

For information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Michelle Patten, um.fhc.pd@maine.edu; 207.338.8002. A limited number of need-based scholarships are available for people who live or work in Knox or Waldo counties. For more information about upcoming professional development programs, scholarships or to register, go online. Early registration is recommended as spots are limited. 

About the Hutchinson Center:

The Hutchinson Center is an outreach center for the University of Maine in Orono, that serves as an educational and cultural center for the midcoast area. It is named for University of Maine President Emeritus Frederick E. Hutchinson. The mission of the Hutchinson Center is to broaden access to University of Maine academic and non-degree programs and services, lifelong learning opportunities, and professional and career development experiences using innovative approaches that increase synergy among University of Maine System entities, University of Maine departments and divisions, and that engage a wider Maine community. 

About the University of Maine:

The University of Maine, founded in Orono in 1865, is the state's land grant, sea grant and space grant university, with a regional campus at the University of Maine at Machias. UMaine is located on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation. UMaine Machias is located in the homeland of the Passamaquoddy Nation. As Maine's flagship public university, UMaine has a statewide mission of teaching, research and economic development, and community service. UMaine is the state's only public research university and among the most comprehensive higher education institutions in the Northeast. It attracts students from all 50 states and 81 countries. UMaine currently enrolls 11,989 undergraduate and graduate students, and UMaine Machias enrolls 747 undergraduates. Our students have opportunities to participate in groundbreaking research with world-class scholars. UMaine offers more than 100 degree programs through which students can earn master's, doctoral or professional science master's degrees, as well as graduate certificates. UMaine Machias offers 18 degree programs. The university promotes environmental stewardship, with substantial efforts campuswide to conserve energy, recycle and adhere to green building standards in new construction. For more information about UMaine and UMaine Machias, visit umaine.edu and machias.edu.