Bridging - A Night to Celebrate Relationships
Mon 24 May 2021 8:00 PM - 10:30 PM BST
Online, Zoom
Description
This is an evening for individuals and couples to celebrate relationships, facilitated by Cate Mackenzie, Couples Counsellor and Psychosexual Therapist.
Cate will guide you through Bridging - a profound framework that leads you straight into the heart of what needs to be communicated and results in a deep sense of connection.
This session will explore how you are nourishing the relationship/s in your life. What do you need and how can you engage with what each of you want to feel heard and loved?
We will practise a 'Bridge' about being compassionate to each other and about what you would like to grow in the connection.
You can come alone (and be paired with someone else to do the practice) or come with a partner or friend.
About Bridging
Bridging is a communication method which slows two people down and creates a deep connection. It involves appreciative enquiry as one person listens and asks the other opening questions. It supports a way for two people to meet in their hearts.
You can listen to Cate guiding Denise Van Outen and Eddie Boxshall through a Bridge in their Podcast Before We Say I Do.
Bridging was developed by Hedy Schleiffer and adapted from Harville Hendrix' work. In his book, "Getting the love you want", Harville discovered that people are seeking to heal their childhood wounds and are drawn to people who mirror the worst and best of their caregivers. This means that people can find relationships pretty difficult or even traumatic and he developed scripts to help people find ways to hear each other.
Hedy Schleiffer took Harville's work and introduced relaxation, breath and close proximity so that people could relax more while connecting. What Hedy discovered is that we are built for connection and long for the presence of the other.
Martin Buber said that the relationship lives in the space between us. When we don't know about this space we might pollute it with a word or a reaction and as a result, the space may become unsafe. Some people might become louder in this space and some may become quieter.
Bridging teaches you three invisible connectors:
- The relational space
- Crossing the bridge to the other person's world - bringing our full presence to the other person
- The encounter - listening with an open heart
Bridging encourages us to slow down, to breathe and to create the right moment to connect. When we do this, it enables us to attune to the other person and and really listen from the heart.
When we communicate in this way, we co-regulate through the eyes of another and there is a joining of our neurobiology. New neural pathways can form when someone gifts us their presence.
Claude Steiner in his book "Emotional Literacy" shares that when we use "I statements" and say what we feel about an action or an inaction, we can really open our hearts and allow people to know us.
Here is a video of Cate talking about Bridging:
Date and time
Monday 24 May at 8:00-10:30pm UK time.
Cost
£15 per person
£25 per pair (book with your partner, friend, colleague etc)
About Cate Mackenzie
Cate Mackenzie is a Psychosexual Therapist, Couples Counsellor and Workshop Leader. She has run workshops in six countries since 1998, does monthly Facebook lives for Psychologies Magazine and was the dating coach for Channel 4’s “The Undateables”. She is regularly on radio and in the press and her heart paintings were sold in 80 countries worldwide through IKEA.
What people say about learning Bridging with Cate:
"As someone who lives connection and does it for a living, I was truly blown away by this practice. It takes you right to the heart of meaningful communication so that you can open up a profound sense of feeling felt by each other."
Roma Norriss, Intimacy Expert
"I loved this course. I would say it is essential for anyone who is in any kind of relationship and wants to deepen and harmonise their connection. Cate’s vibrance with Paul’s down-to-earth humility worked so well together as they sensitively, authentically and expertly demonstrated the bridging process. It was an honour to connect so deeply and vulnerably with another as we practiced the process in pairs. I have never done any training on communication skills and after doing this course I wonder why this is not essential training for everyone."
"Cate is a wonderful teacher, she holds space wonderfully enabling everyone to feel like a highly valued member of the group. This course helped me deepen a friendship with my bridging partner that may otherwise have remained more surface level. Through our deep sharing on this course and in practices outside the sessions we gave ourselves permission to open up and I allowed him to see me fully. I have now made what I hope to be a life-long friend."
"Words cannot express how much better our communication is after the course - the bridging was beautiful and facilitated us really hearing and seeing each other as we are with softness and compassion. We are planning to keep up bridging as a regular practice."
"I loved every minute of the course. I think the group structure was amazing and the power of the group to normalise our behaviour was so powerful - seeing how people have common triggers/responses. I found that there were some real gems from others that I found really helpful - one that really stuck with me from a fellow participant on the course - we want to move from wounded children to compassionate adults - sums it up really."
Take a look at:
Cate's YouTube site.
Cate's Open Your Heart meditations on Spotify.