Enjoy Three New Training Videos!

By Cathy-Anne Gins and Robb McDougle, Hudson Valley Virtual Circle

The Training and Development Committee was center stage at this year’s convention with the screening of one of the three new training videos created with the help of Emmy award-winning Catherine Tatge and Dominique Lasseur, one of CCC’s most talented couples. The three videos focus on Acknowledgement, Reflective Listening and Coaching to Empower Couple. They were filmed with CCC members in Paris, France, where the award-winning film and TV producer/directors now live.

Catherine and Dominique are partners in Tatge/Lasseur Productions. They have been married and collaborating professionally for more than 40 years and have been members of CCC for the last five. They have received more than a dozen awards for their work, including an Emmy.

We talked to Catherine and Dominique about their experience of producing and directing (and starring in one of) these new training videos.

How did it come about and how did you find the time given your multiple projects?

Training and Development Committee Couple Kate Husband and Doug Ferguson were stationed with the American Embassy in Paris when the Lasseurs moved there. The two couples became friends and eventually coached as a quartet. “They were talking about how they wanted to do a video series on some of the distinctions and some of the tools,” Catherine said.

“Even with a very full plate, we said, ‘oh well, we’ll do it because for us the experience of Couples Coaching Couples has been so profound in terms of how it has bonded us and brought us closer … it gave us tools and direction as to how we can connect and develop stronger communication skills and how to enrich our relationship.’ That is why we felt we had to do it.”

How was it different working on this video series versus the professional productions you are known for?

“Oh, it’s not different,” Catherine said. “I mean, we’re involved in everything that we do. Every documentary, we get totally engaged in. So, it’s the same principles and the same things that motivate us to make the films that we’ve made.”

Dominique added that, “The one thing that was a little different and funny was that we were the subject in the video on reflective listening. I don’t enjoy being in front of a camera, but we actually totally forgot about it. We were really engaged in our reflective listening, which I think is one of the most powerful tools in CCC.

“We were very honest about dealing with a topic that has been an issue for us , which is money. We have very different ways of dealing with money. At some point it sort of got off the rails because we were in touch with our upset, and not understanding how the other could think that way … We had done some work about our money issues in the past, but it’s really after doing this video that we came up with a plan, which actually we’ve executed. It’s taken a lot of pressure and tension away, and it’s fantastic.”

What was the process like working with Kate and Doug and the Training and Development Committee?

“It was really special, because in some ways, with our quartet making this, we knew how to work together. We have to give credit to them. They were the ones who developed the script. We just helped them. … Charlie [Lapointe] and Jackie [Thompson] were fabulous, too,” said Dominique. They appear in the video on Acknowledgment.

What else is your Couple up to?

“Over the last 10 years, we have been developing a program to engage young people in social justice and understanding the importance of being citizens and participatory members of society,” said Catherine. “We have developed a full curriculum for high school students, and now we’re working on an after-school program.

“The organization we founded is called The Civic Life Project, and over the past few years, we have supervised and produced more than 150 short documentary films and sponsored film competitions with submissions from all over the world.”

These wonderful videos are available online in the CCC video library. We will soon have PDFs to assist Circles in using these videos as Circle trainings–watch for an announcement! Also, you will likely see these videos used during our national training calls over the next year.

---

Cathy-Anne Gins and Robb McDougle are in the Hudson Valley Virtual Circle.