October 2 - October 6, 2019 :: Strengthening the Habit of Mindful Speaking and Listening: An Intensive Retreat

As psychotherapists we may fancy ourselves to be good at communicating. Yet in the office and in our personal lives we have all said things we wished we hadn’t and refrained from speaking when something needed to be said. Our inner self-talk is not always friendly or uplifting. We tune out, get distracted, listen half-heartedly, concoct responses prematurely.

Buddhist psychology suggests that unskillful speaking and listening stems from impulsiveness and/or careless attention. Its karmic residue shows up in the form of regret or self-condemnation, on and off the cushion.

While bad habits abound in our conversational world, we seldom make a concerted effort to explore and enhance this important dimension of our clinical and personal lives. This will be the focus of attention during our time together.

During this week-long retreat we will participate in dyadic and small group mindfulness exercises, while also attending to the harsh and unsavory speech…