Karen Thompson-Anderson
Kaz supports her clients to share difficult feelings like shame and anger in their important relationships, starting with self-empathy to connect painful feelings to personal values for greater self-understanding.
Kaz says Repression Escalates Aggression… and that so many of us have been educated to “keep the peace” in our relationships at a great cost to our authenticity and power. Our culture insists that good people don’t get angry, leading to feelings of shame about our anger which stops us getting connected to our deeper wisdom and potential.
Kaz herself grew up in a strict religious and military family where being a good girl was highly valued, while being bad or getting things wrong was punished with verbal aggression and extended periods of silent treatment. She says shame was a constant companion growing up and that it takes self-compassion and encouragement from others to break our addiction to shaming ourselves so we can reclaim our sacred anger as a force for good in our lives.
Kaz says it was her personal communication challenges as a parent, a partner, an adult daughter and as a carer for a family member with a heroin addiction that broke her open to her own anger and to her longings to do anger differently and support others to do the same.
In 2021 Kaz was a speaker at the Australian & New Zealand Addiction Conference on the power of Nonviolent Communication to shift patterns of shame and blame in addiction recovery. Kaz is a core team member of the Nonviolent Communication community in Australia. She lives in Melbourne on the land of the Wurundjeri people and works with clients across the country on zoom.
SEE all Kaz’s socials and most recent content at https://activatewellbeing.komi.io/
Nonviolent Communication Training & Experience
Introduction to NVC with Jim Lord 2009
Foundation Training with Dorset Campbell-Ross 2009
Foundation Training & One-Day trainings with Cherie Scott, Certified Trainer 2010
Facilitator NVC practice group 12 months 2010-2011
Retreat Participant – Robert Gonzales Australian Residential Retreat March 2011
Participant – Training with Mel Sears June 2011
Speaker at public Nonviolence event 11.11.2011
Facilitator NVC Parenting program – 10 weeks.
Weekend Training ZENVC with Catherine Cadden & Jessie Weins April 2012
Weekend Training in Restorative Justice with John Cunningham & Cat Gilliam July 2012
Facilitator of Parent’s fortnightly NVC Circle at Collingwood College school (4 terms 2012)
Co-facilitator Compassionate Parenting Day training 2012 with Alistair McKinnon
Promoted NVC at Occupy Melbourne 2012
Foundation Training with Chez Scott 2012
“IIT” NVC International Intensive Training 10 days Queensland 2013
Co-Founder, NVC MELBOURNE with Certified Trainers Chez Scott & Alistair McKinnon 2014-2016
Hosted a Global Internet Conference for NVC Community with 3 days of panels and presentations
Co-facilitator NVC Foundation Trainings (various) 2014 – 2016
Compassionate Wellbeing Program for Entrepreneurs 2016
NVC & Yoga collaboration 2017
Wise Women Rising, Co-Founder, empathy for women creating workshops in their purpose work 2018 – 2020
Activate Wellbeing, Founder – 2016 – ongoing, phone & zoom coaching sessions in compassionate communication and small group facilitation.