Call for Posters (2019)
We are excited to announce a call for posters for our second annual Relational Summit: Learning Together.
Read moreAuthor: Amy Makice
Save the Date!
Our second annual Relational Summit happens this September, here in Bloomington, Indiana. Preliminary schedule includes a poster session, Thursday evening, some in-depth RCT explorations on Friday and Saturday, and our keynote talk on Saturday evening. Harriet Schwartz is our guest for the weekend. Harriet is the lead scholar for Education as Relational Practice for the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, and is at the forefront of applying RCT to teaching and learning. Her new book, […]
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Connecting with Imperfection
No matter how much confidence she exhibited while offering home remedies for infant constipation and baby food recipes, she struggled with uncertainty. The matriarchal totem is full of mamas making mistakes while making meaning. I’m grateful for their wisdom.
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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?
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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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Assuming Positive Intent
One of many things I love about my work is that I’m regularly challenged on ideas that I’ve held close for years. Sometimes this results in a recommitment to the foundational philosophy of Relational-Cultural Theory. Other times something we’ve used for years gets changed. A few months ago, we were consulting at a school and I mentioned Ross Greene‘s idea of assumption-free living, described in his new book, Raising Human Beings. “How does that work,” […]
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