RCT for Survivalists
What skills will we take into this unknown? If our kids will be growing up in a revolution, what do we need to teach them?
Read moreCategory: Community
Fast, Shallow, Breaths
It’s a paradox. Our connection will help soothe our anxious brains, but it can’t work if it can’t first see what is there. The first work of that connection is seeing the anxiety/rage/discomfort/whatever and letting it be there. It can’t be trying to suppress, fix, or avoid it. But once we have that acceptance of what is, that authentic connection in the midst of struggle, there’s enough solid ground for calm to take root. We have to risk the fast shallow breaths to get to the good deep ones.
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Help us paint!
Help us paint our new office! Sunday, October 28 from 2:00-6:00, Friday, November 2 from noon- 8:00, and Saturday, November 3 from 11:00-6:00
Read moreCourageous Connections Events (2018)
Bloomington Community Invited to Break Down Barriers with Dr. Maureen Walker and Daryl Davis Bloomington Center for Connection (BCC) is delighted to announce its first community events: Power Redefined: Disruptive Empathy as a Tool for Liberation Friday, August 10 7-9 p.m. and Conversations Reimagined: Relational Cultural Theory in Action Saturday, August 11, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sponsored by Griffin Realty, both events are free and open to the public and take place the Monroe […]
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Bridging Difference: RCT and Intractable Arguments
Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) has been presented as an antidote to the divisiveness we face on a daily basis. Whether the dissonance is of polar opposite political views, or a struggle over the best route to a common goal, RCT can help create and nurture the relationships necessary to move forward. This post is part one in a series. Because RCT pushes against a model of competition and independence, it can be misunderstood as “just being […]
Read moreSAVE THE DATE! August 10-12, 2018!
Bloomington Center for Connection is thrilled to announce our first annual Relational-Cultural Invitation: Bridging Differences. Friday, August 10th, we welcome our keynote speaker, Maureen Walker. Maureen joins us from the Center for Relational Growth. Maureen’s work includes helping people bridge cultural differences such as race, religion, gender and other social status markers. Maureen’s past talks have included Transforming Community through Disruptive Empathy, Getting to the Truth about Race, It’s Not About Checking a Box: Confronting […]
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Problem-Solving and RCT
At the Bloomington Center for Connection, we apply the lens of Relational-Cultural Theory to all of our interventions, from community-building groups to family therapy. One intervention we use frequently is Collaborative and Proactive Solutions, or CPS. There are lots of packaged discipline programs for schools and parents, many of them with clever rewards charts, or even cringe-worthy consequences. The most commonly advised discipline technique is “time-out,” which is, at its most basic, a disconnection. Withdrawal […]
Read moreConnecting This Week!
Hey friends, it’s cold out there, but we’ve got a warm building and fun activities to help connect caregivers and kids. On Tuesday, join us for Claytime with Connie, and on Wednesday we have our Music time! Both are open to caregivers and their children, with Claytime being more appropriate for older preschoolers who are less likely to eat the clay. Come on in and warm up.
Read moreEmotional Labor and #MeToo
Emotional labor was already on my mind when the tsunami of #MeToo happened. Emotional labor—keeping relationships mended, nurturing families and friendships, clearing the way for the daily demands of life to move easily—is socialized into women from an early age and devalued by a patriarchal society. Shining light on this invisible work is one of the essential lenses used in Relational-Cultural thinking. How do these two things intersect? One day into #MeToo, a friend of […]
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