As important as the relationship of farmers is to their soil, plants and animals, their relationships to their human counterparts are even more important. Few of us have had any effective training in this vital life skill. Join us for a brief look at what’s normal in relationships, where we may get stuck and why, and learn some proven skills to make things work better. This track is appropriate for singles, couples and anyone wanting to sustain healthy relationships on the farm. Read more about this exciting, fun, and renewing course at www.therelationshipshop.com. Registration limited to 30.
 

Instructors: Dr. Linda Bazan, PhD & Donald Gibbon, The Relationship Shop

9:00 – 9:15am           Introductions: What are Participants Looking for in the Workshop?

9:15 – 9:30am          The Three Types of Relationships

·     Intimate/love (power ill defined… that’s a problem!)

·     Friend/Friend (equal power)  and

·     Parent/Child, Employer/Employee, etc (unequal power).

We’ll start with Intimate and pick up the others as we go along. Most of what we know about relationships we learned from our parent’s example and that may not be what we want now. We’re guiding you toward “intentional” or conscious relationships, not reactive ones, i.e., you do what you do because you’ve thought about it, not simply reacted to unconscious impulses. This is the central point of this class… to fully understand this idea.

9:30-10:30am            Introduction to Imago Relationship Theory

Typical “intimate/love relationship” progression. What can be expected? Conflict is “normal” and an opportunity for growth. We’ll check your definition of “love.” Much of how we react to each other comes from our childhood, so we’ll have a look at Attachment theory.

10:30 -10:40am         Break

10:40am -12:15pm   Master Talk and Pre-Validation

These two concepts are key parts of how we present our selves and how we perceive our partners. One of the key tools we’ll teach is the Imago version of “couples” dialogue. We’ll demonstrate and teach two versions of it.

12:15 -12-45pm        Lunch

12:45 - 2:00pm          Examining The Stone Wall & The Fisher King

We’ll read a real-life relationship story, The Stone Wall, and take it apart with self-reflective questions and discussion. We’ll see an excerpt from Robin Williams’ “The Fisher King” and relate it to the story we just read and the concepts introduced so far. Then we’ll begin have class members volunteer to demonstrate dialogue. (The ONLY way to learn is to practice)

2:00 - 2:10pm            Break

2:10 - 4:30pm            The Relationship Vision: Voicing Our Wants, Needs, and Expectations

Most of us have never articulated what we actually want and expect from our relationships. We’ll teach you how to share that with the Relationship Vision exercise. We’ll do additional class-member dialogues. Everyone learns by watching others struggle with this new and powerful tool.

4:30 - 5:00pm            Summary/Review, Questions/Answers, and Evaluations

Instructors: Dr. Linda Bazan, PhD & Donald Gibbon,
The Relationship Shop