Marshall Rosenberg provides us with the most effective tools to foster health and relationships.
Nonviolent Communication connects soul to soul . . . It is the missing element in what we do.” -
Deepak Chopra, author, How to Know God and Ageless Body, Timeless Mind
Nonviolent Communication connects soul to soul . . . It is the missing element in what we do.” -
Deepak Chopra, author, How to Know God and Ageless Body, Timeless Mind
Most of us are hungry for skills that can improve the quality of our relationships, to deepen our sense of personal empowerment or simply help us communicate more effectively. Unfortunately, most of us have been educated from birth to compete, judge, demand and diagnose; to think and communicate in terms of what is “right“ and “wrong“ with people. At best, the habitual ways we think and speak hinder communication and create misunderstanding and frustration. And still worse, they can cause anger and pain, and may lead to violence. Without wanting to, even people with the best of intentions generate needless conflict.
NVC helps us reach beneath the surface and discover what is alive and vital within us, and how all of our actions are based on human needs that we are seeking to meet. We learn to develop a vocabulary of feelings and needs that helps us more clearly express what is going on in us, and understand what is going on it others, at any given moment. When we understand and acknowledge our needs, we develop a shared foundation for much more satisfying relationships.
NVC helps us reach beneath the surface and discover what is alive and vital within us, and how all of our actions are based on human needs that we are seeking to meet. We learn to develop a vocabulary of feelings and needs that helps us more clearly express what is going on in us, and understand what is going on it others, at any given moment. When we understand and acknowledge our needs, we develop a shared foundation for much more satisfying relationships.
About Marshall Rosenberg
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Marshall Rosenberg was confronted daily with various forms of violence, growing up in the inner city of Detroit, Michigan. Wanting to explore the causes of violence and what could be done to reduce violence, he chose to study clinical psychology and received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1961. Nonviolent Communication training evolved from Dr. Rosenberg’s quest to find a way of rapidly disseminating much needed peacemaking skills. The Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) emerged out of work he was doing with civil rights activists in the early 1960's. During this period he also mediated between rioting students and college administrators and worked to peacefully desegregate public schools in long-segregated regions. Even after his passing in 2015, CNVC continues to be an international nonprofit peacemaking organization devoted to supporting the spread of Nonviolent Communication around the world.
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Components of NVC
NVC focuses is a 4-part process that helps you to:
NVC focuses our attention on four pieces of information:
- Honestly express how you feel and what you would like without using blame, criticism or demands
- Empathically receive how another is and what they would like without hearing blame, criticism or demands
NVC focuses our attention on four pieces of information:
- Observations. Objectively describing what is going on without using evaluation, moralistic judgment, interpretation or diagnosis
- Feelings. Saying how you feel (emotions and body sensations) about what you have observed without assigning blame. If you have difficulty labeling a feelings, click here to see a list of common feelings.
- Needs. The basic human needs that are or not being met and are the source of feelings. If you have difficult determining what need is or is not being met, click here for a list of universal needs.
- Requests. Clear request for actions that can meet needs. If you would like to practice making "I statements", please click here.
Dr. Theroux is a registered CNVC Certification Candidate, trained by certified trainers at the Center for Nonviolent Communication. She uses these tools in her individual therapy practice, and in workshops.