IN-PERSON: The Elderwise classroom at the Vineyard Church
A culture of gentleness is based on the premise that people need to feel safe and valued before they can become engaged and loving toward others. We all have four tools to make people feel safe and cared about: our eyes, our words, our presence, and our touch. In this class we will learn to be aware of how we can unconsciously make demands on others when they are not feeling safe, sometimes resulting in anger, uncooperativeness, withdrawal, and even violence. Learning how to create a culture of gentleness is helpful when we are with teenagers, children, students, people with autism or other neurological differences, people with dementia, and really, anyone. Chris Hench holds an M.S.W. from the University of Michigan. She was the Chief Operating Officer of a non-profit and led the organization to become the first of its kind to be certified as one that created a Culture of Gentleness for those they supported. She is currently a consultant for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and DeafCAN! on Deaf mental health issues.
