PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT for Christian Ministers and Leaders
Seminars and Training
Communication skills, Group facilitation, Dealing with conflict and Complaints
Dealing with conflict
This interactive presentation explores the inevitability of conflict and our biological responses to it. It outlines three common "default settings" that trigger unhelpful reactions and examines the concept of transference. Participants will learn practical rules of engagement for handling one-to-one conflict. Finally, the seminar covers three common group dynamics that cause tension, offering simple, actionable strategies to resolve them.
Challenging Conversations
This is an interactive presentation with skills practice focusing on how to have that difficult conversation you know needs to happen, but makes you anxious and would rather avoid. It also includes a conversation with someone who could benefit from your advice to improve their performance but you know it could be sensitive or uncomfortable.
Pastoral Conversations for Behaviour Change
Sometimes referred to as ‘motivational interviewing’, this interactive presentation discusses the vital concept of ‘the cycle of change’. Without this understanding you will easily waste your time. These conversations may start with a 'challenging conversation' but many do not and often relate to lower level, less sensitive but still important, discipleship issues. I discuss how to recognise where someone is in the cycle of change and respond accordingly. This will markedly reduce any frustration and increase your effectiveness in these conversations.
Advanced Communication Skills Training
Improving your one-to-one communication skills can revolutionise your work and ministry. Training for a group of leaders may be a single session or multiple sessions over a longer-term. Some skills are more important than others. Training may cover any of the following skills: initiation, matching, use of open and closed questions, empathy, reflection, ‘hints and cues’ and body language, immediacy, summarisation, transference and countertransference, finding common ground, appropriate use of self-disclosure. Skills practice is part of this training. Training for an individual leader in longer-term, one-to-one sessions is also available. The process is similar to one-to-one supervision but with a central educational focus on improving current skills and practising new ones.
Leading Groups Well
Community is central to church life. Life groups, house groups, missional groups and other groups are foundational to authentic, healthy Christian community. This training provides practical skills for leading groups in ways that enhance participation, connection and community. Topics include i) understanding the developmental life cycle of a group ii) responding to fluctuating group energy iii) managing the person who talks too much iv) drawing in quieter participants v) guidelines for facilitator self-disclosure that increase openness, transparency and connection vi) managing unhelpful associative flow, when one contribution leads to another and the group loses energy or drifts from its purpose vii) managing conflict.
Recovering emotional health when subject to a complaint
Our society has become more litigious. Informal and formal complaints are more common. Despite our best efforts, most of us in ministry and the helping professions will receive a complaint. This is often highly stressful and destabilising and too often results in people leaving ministry and other helping professsions. We will look at common psychological reactions to complaints and discuss how to manage our responses to maintain or recover emotional equilibrium. Other practical aspects of responding to a complaint will be provided.