Catherine Cooley

Speaker & Empathy Expert

  • Maximize your work conversation ROIs. Bypass the trip points of judgments and misunderstandings and instead focus on what matters - the needs of your team and your organization.
  • Resolve conflicts with Empathy Sequencing, a rarely taught skill that immediately reduces reactivity even in heated, high stakes situations.
  • Discover the 80/20 rule for having conversations that connect and create trust, good will, understanding and cooperation.
  • Handle common workplace challenges—like anger, prejudice, power differentials and sharing resources before they become morale-busters.
  • Put a set of basic and advanced communication skills into daily practice to create a harmonious, productive workplace culture and buy-in.

Partial List of Recent Speaking Engagements

  • Conflict Solutions Center

  • University of California, Department of Communication

  • Pacifica Graduate School – Ponder Peace Conference

  • Spectrum Recovery Center

  • Santa Barbara Community Gathering

  • Mesa Town Hall Meetings

  • Discoveries Learning Center

  • St. Andrews School

  • Federal Correctional Institution Lompoc

  • Alternatives to Violence Project

  • Marin Professionals

  • WORK Petaluma

  • Rotary Club of Vallejo

Praise...

“I invited Catherine Cooley to present to our clinical team. She arrived well prepared and delivered a very clear presentation of her specialty, Empathic Communication and mediation. While being highly trained as psychotherapists, we are delighted to have Catherine provide the adjunct and focused delivery of Empathic Communication skills and conflict resolution that is often needed by our clients. My staff was impressed and will be referring Catherine for her professional services.”~ Len Van Nostrand, M.A., Owner: Full Spectrum Recovery and Counseling, Santa Barbara, Ca.

“Catherine Cooley offered a thoughtful, beautiful and experiential introduction to Nonviolent or Empathic Communication for a group of our skilled mediators. While they all had extensive training in communication and mediation skills, they found the information Catherine offered to be insightful and inspiring. Her ability to present information to adults of various learning styles is impressive. Catherine is dedicated to the Empathic Communication process and it shows in her ability to communicate it thoroughly and clearly, with an engaging style.”~ Lizzie Rodriguez, Chief Collaborative Coordinator, Restorative Community Network, Santa Barbara, CA

“In a gathering, Catherine creates an atmosphere of openness and safety that guides people to more effortlessly unlock their emotions, bring down defenses, and express themselves honestly and openly. She brings peace. And that is special.”~ Alice San Andres Calleja, Mesa Neighborhood Community Organizer, Publisher/Editor, The Mesa Paper

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