Dennis Mendonca, who holds a master’s degree and some 20 years experience in the field of human relations, has opened up his new company, Education and Empowerment for Change. Services include individual and couples counseling, and group sessions designed to
Dennis Mendonca, who holds a master’s degree and some 20 years experience in the field of human relations, has opened up his new company, Education and Empowerment for Change.
Services include individual and couples counseling, and group sessions designed to educate and empower individuals to create healthy change in their lives.
The service began recently with two new groups: Boundaries, Acceptance and Empowerment; and Relationship Skills for Men.
Boundaries, Acceptance and Empowerment was an eight-week, exploratory journey that taught individuals how to listen to their own needs, create healthy boundaries, and make choices that support their own creativity and vitality, Mendonca said.
Boundaries involve the capacity to set limits, to know where you end and others begin, and to be aware of how you are internally bounded or anchored. Acceptance involves the capacity to embrace internal experiences in a loving, caring way, he said. Empowerment involves the process of taking what you know to be true and putting it into action.
Boundaries, acceptance and empowerment are like three sides of a triangle, he said. Together they weave a tapestry of awareness, harmony and manifestation. This workshop will be helpful to anyone who wants to increase effectiveness in the world, and to embrace their own experiences in a friendlier, gentle way, he continued.
The idea to offer Relationship Skills for Men was born after hearing about another local divorce, he commented.
“So very often, good people want to be together, and yet don’t have the skills required to communicate their needs, or be sensitive to the needs of others,” he said.
“It is a curious world that we live in that offers men certain privileges and economic advantages, yet often poorly equips men to understand, honor and articulate their own emotional needs,” he commented.
In this eight-week journey, men created a living laboratory amongst themselves, exploring critical issues in their lives. Creative, safe space was established, and men explored an assortment of skills designed to allow them to deeply hear and understand their own needs, begin the process of meeting these needs, and empower them to communicate to others from a deep place, he noted.
This in turn created inner vitality and the authenticity necessary to maintain exciting, passionate relationships, Mendonca feels.
Participation in this workshop should have improved any relationship, and empower men to be more effective and loving in meeting their own needs, while being present with the needs of others, he continued.
Mendonca has been in the field of human relations for over 20 years, including 10 years working in in-patient psychiatric hospitals, and 10 years working in the area of child welfare and family dynamics.
He has lived and worked on Kaua’i for the past eight years, with time spent with Child and Family Services and Hawaii Behavioral Health. Recently, he was appointed director of the Decision Point Alternatives to Violence Program at the Kauai YWCA.
“The name ‘Education and Empowerment for Change’ was chosen because I believe that all of us, given the right opportunities, can change in positive ways,” he said.
“One definition of evolution involves the controversial theory of progressing from apes to humans. Another form of evolution is what happens naturally from one generation to the next, where each generation tries to provide its children with the opportunities it was denied,” he added.
“As a second-generation Portuguese-American, I was raised on stories of economic hardship, and children regularly quitting school to help their parents put food on the table,” he continued.
“For my grandparents, the goal was to meet basic needs. My father’s generation had their basic needs met, and for them progress was providing their children with good educations.
“My own generation, which has had the blessing of a good education, has placed emphasis on spending quality time with their children,” Mendonca said.
“Each one of us is challenged to take the best of what we learned from our families, as well as to overcome the obstacles and limitations that get passed from one generation to the next. Ultimately, the satisfaction in our lives is determined by the quality of love that we are able to give and able to receive,” he said.
“This is the challenge of humanity’s progress, and the core value that is taught within the larger framework of Education and Empowerment for Change.”
His office is in the East Kaua’i Professional Building, suite 211, which is along Kuhio Highway across from the Kapa’a Neighborhood Center.
For more information, please call Mendonca, 652-2505.
