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VGCC Instructor uses Psychology in self-improvement workshops

Vance-Granville Community College Psychology instructor Peter Metzner presented special free workshops for college students, faculty, staff and members of the community in September and October on the college’s main campus in Vance County.

For his fellow faculty and staff members, Metzner conducted “Peoplemap” training, which promotes organizational success by helping employees understand their own, and each other’s, styles of leading, communicating and getting work done.

Meanwhile, students attended workshops by Metzner on managing the anxiety and stress they experience due to tests in their college courses.

In Metzner’s “Assertiveness Training” workshops, participants learned how to improve their interpersonal relationships by honing skills related to listening, assertion, finding agreement and resolving differences.

Finally, in workshops called “The Way of our Dreams,” Metzner and participants examined questions like “What do our dreams tell us about our waking life?” and “Why should we pay attention to our dreams?” Attendees were invited to share their own dreams and then receive feedback from others on what the dreams might mean. Metzner said that dreams have played a role in all major religions and in creative arts and sciences, but more recently, rational Western thought has discounted and dismissed the importance of dreams. He suggests that our dreams can act as a personal “coach” or “compass.” “Our minds hold deep reservoirs of information, wealth and guidance just waiting to be tapped,” Metzner said. “If we are open to all our experiences, awake and asleep, our creative impulses will be stimulated and we can open otherwise closed attitudes, beliefs and opinions. The impact on our lives and decisions can be profound.”

Peter Metzner, MA, MPA, CLC, has taught Psychology at VGCC since 2002, and has done extensive research and presentations on leadership and dreams. For more information, call Peter Metzner at (252) 738-3481.

Above: VGCC Psychology instructor Peter Metzner (center, background) conducts one of his “The Way of our Dreams” seminars on the college’s main campus on Oct. 27. (VGCC photo)