Making lives more wonderful brings me joy
My Passions
Iyengar Yoga.
Long distance hiking
Facilitating personal growth.
Working with women’s groups.
Working with men.
Helping couples to connect.
Creating visual aids and learning tools.
Sharing the transformational work of Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication.
Hi my name is Bridget,
I have been fascinated by human behaviour and relationships ever since I can remember. I am an NVC Trainer, Certified by the Centre For NonViolent Communication (CNVC) in the USA. I live in an Eco-village with my husband of 29 years, and I am the mother of a gorgeous 29 year old son. I enjoy long distance hiking, beach walks, creating sculptures and textiles, and I have been practicing Iyengar yoga for over 3 decades.
I am an ex-General and Psychiatric Registered Nurse, with most of my Psych. experience nursing mothers with post-partum psychosis and depression at both Glenside Hospital, and Monash Medical centre. I have been exploring various learning and healing modalities since leaving the medical field in 1994, including Reiki, Touch for Health, Thai Yoga Massage, Family Constellations, Art Therapy, Nonviolent Communication (NVC), NVC Coaching, and Restorative Circles - to name a few.
Since my first training in NVC in 2006, I have been furthering my exposure to this transformational work via trainings in Scotland with Dominic Barter and Kit Miller; in Byron Bay and Sydney with Dorset Campbell-Ross, Liv Larsson, Mukti Jarvis, Shari Elle, Karl Steyaert, and Sarah Peyton; in Brisbane with Cate Crombie and Kate Raffin; in Melbourne with David Wienstock, on a canoe on the river with Kate Raffin, and online with Miki Kashtan and many others.
I have been developing my empathy skills and supporting people to understand themselves and make positive changes in their lives using NVC principles for the past 17 years. I provide effective tools that not only help enhance relationships and support conflict resolution, they also have a positive impact on mental health.
I also design and create products to support people with their learning, including props and demonstration tools, as well as NVC practice workbooks, jewellery, games and journals - soon to be for sale on my store page.
My Unique Style
Learning through Play
It’s important to me that you access the most effective learning in order to grow. Rather than do things the typical way, I’ve created a Workshop experience I call “Playshops” designed to address the many different learning styles. They are fun, playful and interactive, using colour, textiles, toys, dress-ups, and games.
I know that people learn more when they are relaxed, so I focus on creating a safe, warm, inclusive environment where everyone belongs.
Anchoring the Learning
Being a visual learner myself, in the early days, I struggled to grasp the basic principles of Nonviolent Communication when they were presented in handouts or verbally. As a trainer I wanted to find a way to anchor the learning, to make it more hands-on, interactive, and memorable, so I designed and developed a variety of props and teaching aids to enhance understanding.
I relate NVC principles to everyday experiences (such as navigating traffic), helping you to recall the concepts more easily, supporting integration into your life.
Collective Intelligence
I believe that all human beings have something valuable to offer in a group, and that the best way I can serve others learning is to call on the collective intelligence of the group, allowing cross-pollination of ideas, lots of questions, exploration, and robust enquiry.
I believe that the best way to improve my NVC skills is to keep teaching it, and I am always presented with learning opportunities through my students, clients, family, and neighbours.
My life experiences inform my teaching, and I am continually refreshing my skills, attending trainings, and seeking coaching myself, in order to learn, grow and evolve.
My Personal influences
The Findhorn Foundation
In 1992 I visited the Findorn Foundation in Scotland, an intentional spiritual community founded by Eileen and Peter Caddy and Dorothy Maclean around 60 years ago, where everyday life is guided by the inner voice of spirit, working in co-creation with the intelligence of nature and taking inspired action towards a vision for a better world.
After attending Experience Week, I was so profoundly moved that I stayed on for a 3 month short-term membership program at Newbold House in Forres - an affiliate of the Findhorn Foundation.
While there I was meditating 3x daily, working in the garden and kitchen, experiencing many spiritual growth practices such as daily group work, sweat lodge rituals, re-birthing, tai chi, women’s groups, chanting, Taize singing, journalling, and journey work.
Living at Findhorn fostered my interest in continued spiritual growth. I have visited several times since leaving in 1993 to attend various workshops, and I am still in awe that this community continues to exist and thrive to this day, hosting workshop leaders and visitors from all around the globe.
Motherhood & Marriage
At 27 years of age I met my soulmate and we created a beautiful child together. Michael has taught me so much about commitment, loyalty, generosity, kindness and love. Our gorgeous son Aarod has taught me about mother-love, responsibility, boundaries, acceptance and letting go. Following Rudolph Steiner’s teachings, Jean Liedloff’s ‘Continuum Concept”, and Nonviolent Communication principles, I have been supported to be the parent I wanted to be.
Family brings me a profound sense of belonging, and also a rich smorgasboard of opportunities to learn and grow through challenges, mirroring each-other, shining light on our blind spots, exploring our behaviour patterns, setting boundaries, reaching mutually acceptable agreements, and learning about freedom and intimacy. My husband and I currently choose to live in separate adjoining abodes, and we continue to learn about the benefits and limitations of our living arrangements and our commitment to honesty and self-responsibility. Our relationship is supported by Nonviolent Communication and is dynamic and flexible as we navigate this life we continue to co-create together. The next stage of our lives will be living between Scotland and South Australia, where I will seek teaching opportunities in both communities.
Psychiatric Nursing & Adult Education
I began my post Matriculation education in a teaching degree, completing one year of the course. That year was the first time I had encountered the concepts of active listening and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
I then entered the nursing profession at 20, feeling drawn to help others and contribute to their healing and comfort. My training in psychiatric nursing has formed my understanding of the human condition, introducing me to the work of Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, and deepening my appreciation of various psychotherapeutic methodologies including active listening and group work.
After 8 years of nursing I went back to university, this time to study a Grad.Dip. of Education in Visual and Performing Arts at RMIT in Melbourne, receiving training in creative arts therapy covering music, visual art, dance, and dramatic modalities. I learned about the healing power of the arts, and how the use of art can bypass the intellect to access deeper inner truth and understanding, revealing much more than ‘talk’ therapy alone, particularly when there is resistance or fear. I find that incorporating art into my trainings and my coaching brings many benefits to my clients.
I attended my first Iyengar yoga class in my early twenties, and have been practicing yoga on and off since then, and I find many parallels between the mindfulness and breathwork practices of yoga and the principles of Nonviolent Communication. I often call upon yoga as a helpful tool in my work, both for my clients and for myself. I have trained in NVC Mediation with both Liv Larsson and Kate Raffin, and I have trained in Restorative Circle work with both Karl Steyaert and Kate Raffin.
In recent years I have also been trained in Family Constellations (Level 1) by Susan Altschwager, and I have found many parallels between Family Constellations and Restorative Circle work.
Living in Community
I was inspired by the agreement within the Findhorn community that if a conflict arose between people, that they were encouraged to meet up and have a “clearing” (an honest conversation where we both would be heard and work through the issue together). These agreements around conflict brought me much relief and a sense of safety, because I no longer felt compelled to walk on egg shells to try not to upset other people knowing that if I did or said something that was unpleasant for another, that they had permission to approach me about it.
Experiencing the ease and joy in that environment had me longing to live in a community where there are agreements like that in place. When looking for a similar opportunity to live in community in South Australia, we found The Aldinga Arts Ecovillage where I now live and work. Living in an intentional community based on Permaculture and Arts, is quite a different experience to living in a spiritual community. I have found many challenges living in such close proximity to neighbours who do not necessarily hold the same beliefs and values as me. I have now decided to return to Findhorn to live in the Ecovillage where my spiritual journey began all those years ago! I will be residing in Scotland for the next 2-3 years, and possibly teaching both in Scotland and in South Australia.
It was neighbourhood conflicts (i.e. me not handling them particularly well) that was a major catalyst for my learning of NVC skills. I find these skills extremely helpful in community life, negotiating neighbourhood decision making, conflicts, and being more able to understand others. I actually do not believe that I would still be comfortable living here without the support of NVC. Now more and more villagers are attending my trainings, and also learning on-line via Thom Bond’s Compassion Course, which brings me hope of a future village-wide adoption of NVC principles.