The course is about verbal and non-verbal communication, and about the different levels of communication.
The course includes both theory and experientially focused exercises for couples and/or groups, in communication training, negotiation methods and
co-operation skills.
The entire course material is after the course made available in the form of an e-course, containing both an e-book and a number of sound tracks. (See below.)
Communication Training
The course digs into what we actually do when we are communicating, especially what we do subconsciously. This includes our choice of words, the quality of the voice, facial expressions, body movements and body position, muscle tonus, changes in skin color, eye movements, etc.
A new concept for verbal communication - Basic Communication - is taught theoretically and with practical exercises. The communication exercises are done in groups of three, where the participants take turns in communicating person to person plus one having the role of the observer.
Levels of ____ communication
Basic Communication is based on a model of the human psyche, where communication is assumed to take place on four levels.
These different levels are not always connected to each other, and when they fail to do so, the result is "mixed messages", creating confusion and misunderstandings.
Level 1: The level of action. The observable level of communication. Action includes the speech plus all non-verbal communication, behavior, overt action or non-action.
Conflicts are normally triggered on this level.
Level 2: "I want...".
The level where I am conscious of what I want. We assume that this level is in correspondence with the level of action, but subconsciously there is often a mismatch. Even if I myself know what I want, but I do not convey this, this may lead to misunderstandings.
Level 3: "I need...". The level where I can become aware of what I need in a certain situation. This should ideally correspond with the levels above, but often does not, due to
my unawareness of my real needs.
Level 4: Basic needs. Examples of basic needs are food, shelter, sleep, safety, love, acknowledgement, being able to contribute. We are not always conscious about these. Our inner beliefs or anticipations about whether our basic needs are met and are not met control our emotions: positive emotions if they are met/will be met, negative if one or more of them are not met/will not be met.
The Onion Model, 11 minutes. PS Therapist Lars Gimstedt. (The video is on YouTube as well. Look at our other videos.)
Co-operation
In the course we will investigate together where and when Basic Communication can be beneficial. One example of a situation where this is the case is in negotiation, a situation we more often that we may be aware of find ourselves in, and where we usually are unaware of that the situation in actuality is a negotiation. A concept for negotiation aimed at win-win, Basic Negotiation, will be presented and discussed.
Another example of where Basic Communication is good to use is conflict handling, when we get upset by another person and his/her way of acting in some recurring situation. Through a concept called Directed Advice one can learn how to resolve such conflicts. The method will be presented, theoretically and with the help of concrete, real examples.
Time and price
Course length: Six hours with breaks. Price: Contact us for a price discussion.
If the course is held in other premises than your own, rent cost will be added. Nr of participants: Minimum 6, maximum 50.
BASIC COMMUNICATION
is also available as an e-course :
The e-course Basic Communication includes a concise but comprehensive instruction e-book plus a number of sound tracks. It is designed to be used for self-study and/or to be used as a course material for course leaders.
It contains both the theory for a novel structure
for communication and step-by-step exercises for
experience-based learning.
The e-course, in contrast to the "live" course, is of
course not adapted to specific persons or a specific
group of people, but it can still very beneficial for
persons, that by themselves want to train their
ability to communicate in a clear way that helps
them to connect and co-operate better with others.
Can be read on-line, or in the form of pdf files, in
total 48 pages. The sound tracks can be listened to
on-line and/or be downloaded.
