Wellington
Sophia is Director and founder of the Centre for Compassionate Communication NZ endeavouring to build compassionate empathic communities everywhere. She also initiated and founded the Nonviolent Communication grassroots movement in NZ’s capital city and Wellington Region, to seed the growth of compassionate communities.
She trained with Dr Marshall Rosenberg for 9 days at the NZIIT retreat Hamilton in November/December 2005, where she connected with NVCers from NZ, Australia, Canada, UK and the USA. Through the years, she organised and facilitated many NVC workshops for participants from all over NZ, and trained with Robert Gonzales from Living Compassion, Miki Kashtan of BayNVC, Gina Laurie from UK, and many certified trainers from USA and Australia.
Sophia offers NVC trainings, practice groups and empathy circles. She has facilitated workshops for a wide range of groups, including the Steiner Waldorf community, Intentional alternative-lifestyle groups, Buddhist centres, Inter/national Peace and Disarmament groups, Peace Movement Aotearoa, Occupy New Zealand, Chalkle Adult Education, teachers and parents in school communities, Early Childhood managers and supervisors and the general public. She deeply resonates with the Spirituality of NVC with an abiding interest in First Nations, the plight and healing of the world’s indigenous people, through NVC and cultural-spiritual awareness.
Sophia facilitated NZ’s first public Death Cafes in Wellington where she utilises NVC skills of Empathy and Compassion Over the years she has run NVC workshops on Death & Dying, Grief and Mourning, Celebration and Gratitude, Depression, Anger, Guilt and Shame to help mitigate the changing landscape of life’s trials, tribulations and unexpressed grief. This personal and/or family loss may be due to the death of a beloved family member or friend, a cherished pet, separation, divorce, children leaving home, loss or change of residence, redundancy, business liquidation or bankruptcy, and the widespread culture of “bullying” and mental health.
She has also facilitated NVC workshops within the larger framework of ‘Transforming Planetary Despair’ exploring and “Feeling the pain of the world” repressed fear, isolation and despair for our global future and Planet Earth – our home.
Wellington Region NVC Workshops
Sophia has been active with social change and world peace movements for over 25 years, being involved with peace and social change groups, spiritual and meditation groups in NZ and globally. She writes newsletters and articles, and broadcasted NVC and Peace programmes on Access Radio 783AM. A Director in Education, she is passionate about NVC in Education, developing Emotional Literacy and Intelligence in classrooms, and ideally, within the school curriculum.
Sophia believes peace begins with each person and NVC offers tools, enabling us to make a paradigm shift in consciousness, from living in a culture of violence, towards a Culture of Peace, Compassion and Empathy. She was creator and webmaster of the first NVC Aotearoa-NZ website, initiator and editor for the NVC NZ Community Connect newsletter, national database administrator and contact person over the years, for NVC Aotearoa-NZ.
CONTACT SOPHIA
Email Sophia Tara: nvc.wellington.nz@gmail.com
Phone/Text: 027 345 2010
Website Centre for Compassionate Communication Aotearoa New Zealand
Weblog Empathy World
Facebook Compassionate Communication
Twitter Twitter
ScoopIt! Empathy & Compassion Matters
TRANSFORMING OUR WORLD WITH COMPASSION & EMPATHY ONE HEART AT A TIME
