An Invitation from Vicki de Klerk

to those coming to Denver for the conference and also to those who won’t be able to join us.

Vicki de Klerk-Rubin

Culture change begins with individuals. You are an important link in the chain that creates a person-centered environment. When you are centered, available, respectful and non-judgmental, you can create connections to others. This holds true for disoriented older adults and oriented younger adults. Anyone.

Finding a daily practice that leads to this open, available state of being is your first step. Being able to put aside thoughts and feelings for 5- 10 minutes is a skill that must be practiced so that it becomes an automatic behavior. Once you have integrated what we call ‘centering’, you can call on this skill to give yourself space to think before you react. It’s handy in emotional situations too, like when you are confronted with an angry person or someone who is blaming you.

At the conference I’ll be leading exercises in a bunch of useful Validation techniques, but I want to give you this one in advance. There are lots of different ways to ‘center’ and perhaps you already have a daily practice that works for you. That’s terrific. It might be fun for you to try something new.

Here’s my favorite exercise: Centering Using Touch

Vicki de Klerk-Rubin is the Executive Director of the Validation Training Institute and the daughter of Naomi Feil, who created the Validation method.