Teleseminars
Tuesday, August 23, 2016 - Ideas for Achieving Mental and Spiritual Health
Presented by Dr. Sonia Werner
Assoc. Professor Emerita of Psychology and Conflict Resolution Skills, Trained Mediator
Handouts: Power Point
Description: I am a retired college professor who has taught psychology and conflict resolution skills to adults for decades. In this teleconference, I will provide practical ideas for how professionals can intervene in their own lives before becoming mentally exhausted from their work as mediators. These useful suggestions about resilience and flourishing are based on evidence acquired from scholarly psychological research, particularly from the field of positive psychology. In addition, I will share some universal ideas about mental and spiritual health from 1) ancient Greek philosophy, 2) from Enlightenment-era Swedenborgian theology, 3) from the Buddhist perspective, and 4) from 12 step recovery programs. Participants in this teleconference can select which tools work best for them, and can explore ideas even more deeply by researching the list of professional references which will be provided.
Biography
Dr. Sonia Werner is an Associate Professor Emerita of Psychology and Conflict Resolution Skills. She taught a Bryn Athyn College for 20 years, and was an adjunct instructor at several colleges in NY state before that. She was trained to be a mediator at the Good Shepherd Center in Philadelphia, PA. Currently, she is mostly retired and is available to be a mediator, pro bono, helping families and church groups resolve issues. She does this mediation service in person, or by using Skype and Goodle Hangout. Sonia also volunteers as a mentor for women who have recently been released from prison, and is a CASA volunteer (CASA = court appointed special advocate for abused children). Sonia has written four books about psychology and spirituality, that can be purchased from www.smashwords.com and www.amazon.com.
March 18, 2015 - Conflict Resolution & Spirituality with Dr. Nancy Erbe
Presented by Dr. Sonia Werner
Assoc. Professor Emerita of Psychology and Conflict Resolution Skills, Trained Mediator
Handouts: Power Point
Description: I am a retired college professor who has taught psychology and conflict resolution skills to adults for decades. In this teleconference, I will provide practical ideas for how professionals can intervene in their own lives before becoming mentally exhausted from their work as mediators. These useful suggestions about resilience and flourishing are based on evidence acquired from scholarly psychological research, particularly from the field of positive psychology. In addition, I will share some universal ideas about mental and spiritual health from 1) ancient Greek philosophy, 2) from Enlightenment-era Swedenborgian theology, 3) from the Buddhist perspective, and 4) from 12 step recovery programs. Participants in this teleconference can select which tools work best for them, and can explore ideas even more deeply by researching the list of professional references which will be provided.
Biography
Dr. Sonia Werner is an Associate Professor Emerita of Psychology and Conflict Resolution Skills. She taught a Bryn Athyn College for 20 years, and was an adjunct instructor at several colleges in NY state before that. She was trained to be a mediator at the Good Shepherd Center in Philadelphia, PA. Currently, she is mostly retired and is available to be a mediator, pro bono, helping families and church groups resolve issues. She does this mediation service in person, or by using Skype and Goodle Hangout. Sonia also volunteers as a mentor for women who have recently been released from prison, and is a CASA volunteer (CASA = court appointed special advocate for abused children). Sonia has written four books about psychology and spirituality, that can be purchased from www.smashwords.com and www.amazon.com.
March 18, 2015 - Conflict Resolution & Spirituality with Dr. Nancy Erbe
- Topic: Helping Christians and Others of Faith Prepare for Practicing Their Faith with Conflict Resolution & Helping All Students of Conflict Resolution Develop Their Intuitive Intelligence (Conscious Contact with Creator/Divine Wisdom)
- Background: After teaching at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine School of Law for a few years, Nancy Erbe was offered a tuition free LLM in exchange for visiting the Straus Institute as an in residence faculty scholar. While there she and Pastor Larry Sullivan assisted churches of various denominations with church conflict (in-out group conflict, alleged and actual sex abuse…). Professor Erbe was inspired to help Christians use their own New Testament scripture to help them see their own weaknesses (“logs”) and otherwise “walk the talk” of faith in conflict resolution. She will briefly introduce a workbook in process that she is writing with foundational premises. A few years later her students asked her to help them develop their intuitive intelligence. She will also share what resulted. She sees the two as intimately linked for all spiritual seekers, particularly practitioners and students of conflict resolution who seek to lead through example with divine guidance and co creation.
- Speaker Bio: Dr. Nancy Erbe is a Professor and former Director of the Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding at California State University Dominguez Hills. She has been mediating cross and multicultural cases in the U.S. and around the world for almost thirty years. She was raised Lutheran Christian but her family included free thinkers who believed only in the Spirit of Love. Attending religious university, her most transformative learning occurred when invited to live with a migrant farm worker and his family in the housing projects where the church played a pivotal role. The church also inspired her to work with Bread for the World against world hunger. Her first husband was a dedicated student of Zen Buddhism with Katagiri Roshi, however, so she embraced the opportunity for meditation and lived at Green Gulch Farm where she also studied with Thich Nat Hanh and Brother David. After leaving her law practice, she embarked on her own spiritual seeking, living and meditating for several months with a Franciscan contemplative community of nuns and living at Kripalu ashram where she did daily yoga. She credits her spiritual faith with the vision practice she has in teaching and practicing conflict resolution and peacebuilding around the world. To date she has worked with students, clients and colleagues from 80+ countries. She is now married to a Sikh (retired colonel) who teaches Breath yoga and is an expert in Gandhian studies. Together they recently went to Bethlehem, Israel to help Palestinian Christians design a peace curriculum that includes all the voices and perspectives present in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Soon they will visit PUC-Rio Brazil where Nancy Erbe is a Distinguished Fulbright Chair in American Studies (international relations, social inequalities and urban studies). With Pope Francis, she sees this as an extraordinary time for all spiritual people to act as agents of peace and servants of the poor and others who most suffer around the world.
- Handout: PowerPoint File
