Thank You for Being Such a Pain: Spiritual Guidance for Dealing with Difficult People

Mark Rosen
April 19-21

Difficult people bedevil us. Whether bosses or neighbors, loved ones or strangers, they can be counted on to cause minor annoyance or major distress. What if we could view these people in a new and different way, a spiritual way? What if we could see life as a school and difficult people as the faculty? Then we just might begin to recognize that these individuals can be our teachers, helping us to do the important inner work we would otherwise avoid or neglect. We might, for example, appreciate them as mirrors, as opportunities to develop our character, or as people whose outrageous behavior provides us with a chance to stand up and fight for what is right.

Mark Rosen contends that our encounters with difficult people are not just chance occurrences but are orchestrated by the Universe to enhance our personal and spiritual growth. He maintains that for those of us on a spiritual path, the Universe delivers the ideal foe, someone whose characteristics correspond to the places within us that need learning and healing. Whether or not we believe that difficult people are cosmic couriers delivering a "divine kick in the spiritual butt," we can still appreciate a fundamental truth arising from his viewpoint. If we don't learn the particular lesson that a difficult person brings, the same problem will continually resurface with others in our life until we finally "get it."

This workshop promises surprising and powerful breakthroughs for those with a desire to heal past and present relationships. Group discussion, writing exercises, prayer, and guided meditation will provide insights and skills that can be applied to work, family, and romantic relationships, as well as encounters with strangers. Using examples from our own lives, we will learn from modern approaches to conflict resolution, models of interpersonal communication, psychological theories, Jewish mystical teachings, and Eastern writings on the nature of the enemy. You will return home with fresh spiritual perspectives and practical skills that will forever change the way you see the difficult people in your life, as well as the way you see yourself.

Mark I. Rosen is an author, teacher, consultant, researcher and healer. Thank You for Being Such a Pain: Spiritual Guidance for Dealing with Difficult People, has been featured by the One Spirit and Psychotherapy Book Clubs and translated into Chinese and Japanese. When it was first published in 1998, it was chosen as one of the Best Spiritual Books of the year. Mark is a social scientist at Brandeis University and an adjunct professor of management at Bentley College. He has served as a consultant on interpersonal conflict to businesses and nonprofits. A graduate of Jason Shulman's Society of Souls training program in Integrated Kabbalistic Healing, he also has a healing practice in the Boston area that combines Jewish mystical teachings with hands-on healing.