Is this you?

Perhaps you pride yourself on being direct and honest, but then you find that others don’t welcome your honesty. You want to be heard, but instead see that others disconnect and check out. Or, they pay attention in the moment, but over time don’t keep agreements they said yes to in the moment.

Or, perhaps, you want to speak up more often and be able to communicate what’s true for you. You would like a better understanding of your needs and how to make requests that others can hear easily.

This workshop is designed for anyone who wants better communication skills and to express themselves from a place of greater self-awareness and self-responsibility.

What is it all about?

Honest expression is the third relationship competency in Mindful Compassionate Dialogue (MCD). Honest expression is based on the intention to connect through self-awareness and self-responsibility. It is about discerning which aspects of experience in a given moment are truly relevant to express and will contribute to clearer communication and connection. Honest expression means  taking responsibility for your experience by expressing clear observations and requests as well as relevant thoughts, feelings, and needs. Honest expression replaces other irresponsible and indirect forms of communication like complaining, blaming, manipulating, convincing, or criticizing.

Honest expression is a rich and subtle practice that empowers you to live in alignment with your deepest values. It often feels vulnerable, as it requires awareness and direct expression of your needs and explicit acknowledgment of interdependence through specific and doable requests, and negotiation with others. It helps you to truly collaborate with others while fully maintaining autonomy and self responsibility.

In any given dialogue, it may not serve the connection to share every aspect of your experience. The ideal is to discern what will serve connection and to make a conscious choice about that. 

In this workshop, you will be introduced to the following specific aspects of honest expression:

  • Awareness of your intention when you express something

  • Awareness of the quality of connection in a given moment, both with yourself and another

  • How to take responsibility for reactivity by learning to recognize it, name it aloud and pause to get grounded before continuing to engage in dialogue

  • Taking responsibility for thoughts, speech, and reactivity by discerning the difference between observations and interpretations.

  • Expressing feelings and needs with full self responsibility by making specific and doable requests of yourself and/or another

  • Knowing the difference between universal needs and strategies for how needs are met

  • Communicating specific and doable requests as the starting point of collaboration

How it Works 

For each class we will begin with five minutes of guided meditation. I will present a particular concept and skill. Then you will practice the skill in a short structured exercise. You will hear questions and comments from previous participants both clarifying the material and debriefing exercises.

You will follow along with the video (60-90 minutes) and your handout. Some exercises you can do on your own and some are best done with another person.

As you take the course you can ask questions via email: [email protected]

While you are taking the course, you can also book a discounted session with an MCD Companion for one-on-one live support.

Thank you so much for your participation and dedicating your time and energy to this important work.

About Mindful Compassionate Dialogue

Mindful Compassionate Dialogue (MCD) naturally supports you in creating the relationships you want by integrating the wisdom and skills of three powerful modalities: Hakomi, Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and mindfulness.

Each modality contributes something unique to the process. Hakomi offers clarity about reactivity and healing. NVC provides a method for achieving self-responsibility, skillful communication, and agency. And mindfulness adds the stable attention and clear focus needed to continuously refine your understanding and skills.

MCD is a system meant to provide access to agency, compassion, mindfulness, and wisdom. Personal transformation is achieved through practice with the12 Relationship Competencies and Nine Foundations, which arise from a central, life-serving intention.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome!

    • Welcome! Download and Print this Handout for the Course

    • Getting the Most Out of Your Pre-Recorded Course
  • 2

    Learn to Speak from Authenticity and Self-Responsibility - Honest Expression: Mindful Compassionate Dialogue Relationship Competency 3

    • Workshop Video

    • A little more on requests

Be supported in your learning

  • Learning Schedule

    You will have access to the course for a full week in order to support your engagement with the material.

  • Get Questions Answered

    If you run into questions during the course, you can send us an email at [email protected]

  • Live One-on-One Connection

    Private sessions with Wise Heart's MCD Companions are offered to you at a discount while you are enrolled in the course.