Click the title to be taken to a description of the topic.

Businesses and Organizations

• You Are Not the Target--Dealing With Upset, Angry People
• Using Conflict to Improve the Organization--Conflict Resolution for Groups
• Change and Growth
• Personal Anger Management
• Motivating Change
• The Perfect Organization-And Other Fairy Tales
• Strategic Planning Workshop
• Facilitator Skills Training
• Active Listening Skills
• Assertiveness Skills

Relationships and Communication

• Using Conflict to Improve Relationships
• How to Talk So Your Partner Will Listen...
• Creative Problem-Solving for Couples
• You Can Be Assertive and Caring!
• You Are Not the Target - Coping with Anger in Relationships
• Interviewing for Change

Personal Growth

• Family of Origin -- Still With You!
• The Perfect Holiday-And Other Fairy Tales
• Growing Through Change

Parenting

• How to Talk So Kids Will Listen-And Listen So Kids Will Talk
• It's Okay to Be Mad
• People Aren't for Hitting
• The C-word-Consistency
• The Parental Juggling Act - Teaching Values
• Family Meetings
• Sibling Rivalry
• Children and Chores - A Contradiction?
• Taming the "Gimmee's"
• Talking about Sex and Other Sensitive Issues
• Parenting through Family Crisis
• Step, Blended, and Other Non-Traditional Families, or "You're Not My Real Parent!"
• Being in Control Without Being Controlling
• Anger is Not a Four-Letter Word
• When Do Parents Get Their Summer Break?
• Planning a Vacation That Really Is a Vacation.
• Taming the Holiday Monster

Businesses and Organizations

Dealing with upset or angry people. Techniques to defuse anger situations and move toward creative problem solving.

Using Conflict to Improve the Organization--Conflict Resolution for Groups

A climate of respect for disagreements leads to a wider range of creative solutions to problems. If everyone wins, everyone has a stake in making the solution work. Learn to discuss issues in ways that respect the ideas and concerns of all those involved, even when participants have widely differing wants and needs.

Change and Growth

Change is inevitable; how you deal with it can make it a positive or negative experience. Learn a process for working through problems that supports growth and broadens the field of possible solutions.

Personal Anger Management

What to do when your own anger gets in the way of what you want to accomplish.

Motivating Change

Listening for the real problem that blocks changing behavior. Overcoming resistance to change.

The Perfect Organization-And Other Fairy Tales

Tips for getting more of what you really want out of any group situation.

Strategic Planning Workshop

A systematic process for group participation in the planning process.

Facilitator Skills Training

Leading meetings and groups has its own set of challenges. This workshop will provide tools for leaders that increase group productivity and deal with difficult situations in groups.

Active Listening Skills

Cut through the noise to hear the real message. Paraphrasing, empathy, clarifying questions, creative curiosity.

Assertiveness Skills

Let others know what you think and what you want in ways that invite and encourage listening and cooperation.

Relationships and Communication

Facing and working through conflict can actually make your relationship stronger. Skills to make it work.

How to Talk So Your Partner Will Listen...

You'd really like him/her to attend some parenting or communication classes so you could do things differently together...but time or circumstances don't permit. So what can you do? There are ways to discuss and/or bring about change beginning with only one of you.

Creative Problem-Solving for Couples

Learn to discuss sensitive issues with your partner in ways that respect the feelings and concerns of each, and enhance the relationship. Find solutions to problems that meet the needs of all concerned.

You Can Be Assertive and Caring!

Learn assertiveness skills that respect the other person and enhance the relationship. You can be assertive and still be caring.

You Are Not the Target

Dealing with upset or angry people. Techniques to defuse anger situations and move toward healing and problem solving.

Interviewing for Change

Listening for the real problem that blocks changing behavior. Overcoming resistance.

Personal Growth

Using a combination of information and discussion, we will explore how the patterns from childhood affect our adult lives.

The Perfect Holiday-And Other Fairy Tales

Tips for getting more of what you really want out of the holiday season.

Growing Through Change

Problems are opportunities to learn and grow. Learn a process for working through problems that supports growth and broadens the field of possible solutions.

Parenting

We want to listen to our children and foster their independence, yet we also need to set rules and limits. We'll discuss practical ways we can teach children to respect limits, while we encourage equality and cooperation in our families. Based on the book by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish.

It's Okay to Be Mad

How to keep your cool when your kids are losing theirs. Helping kids deal with their anger in positive ways.

People Aren't for Hitting

Teaching kids alternatives to hitting, or hitting back.

The C-word-Consistency

What's the difference between consistent and rigid? Can we ever change our minds? What happens when parents have different parenting styles?

The Parental Juggling Act

We teach our children values even if we never talk about them. What values do we want to give our children and how do we do that? What's normal in the moral development of children?

Family Meetings

Deciding whether they are for you. How to get started. What works and what doesn't.

Sibling Rivalry

How to survive it, and foster better family relationships.

Children and Chores - A Contradiction?

Should kids do chores? What chores are appropriate at various ages? How to begin, or revitalize, chores at your house.

Taming the "Gimmee's"

During the holidays or any time of year, children often want things they can't have. How can we set realistic limits?

Talking about Sex and Other Sensitive Issues

How can we keep the lines of communication open in this most challenging area?

Parenting through Family Crisis

How can we help our children cope with crisis, when we ourselves are at the end of our rope?

Step, Blended, and Other Non-traditional Families, or "You're Not My Real Parent!"

Non-traditional family arrangements give rise to a whole new set of problems in parenting. How can we help our children and ourselves deal with new family situations. Learn what works and what doesn't, and how to make changes less stressful for the kids as well as for yourself.

Being in Control Without Being Controlling

Listening to our children and encouraging their independence doesn't mean we give up our parental authority. We'll discuss practical ways we can be in control, yet still encourage equality and cooperation in our families.

Anger is Not a Four-Letter Word

Dealing with children's anger is more difficult when parents themselves are angry. We'll talk about practical ways to handle our own anger as well as help our children with theirs.

When Do Parents Get Their Summer Break?

Some planning and preparation now can help make the summer break more relaxed for everyone.

Planning a vacation that really is a vacation.

How to involve the whole family and plan a vacation that is a change of pace and fun for all.

Taming the Holiday Monster

Making the holidays less materialistic, and more joyful and memorable for everyone in the family.

For further information, email me at dknowles@dknowles.net.