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Compassionate Communication

(Nonviolent Communication)

What is Nonviolent communication?

NVC is a practical, learnable process that strengthens our ability to live compassionately. The training helps people to communicate with empathy, honesty, power and compassion. It offers a means of transforming judgements so as to develop mutual respect and understanding, and provides tools for dealing effectively with challenging situations at work, at home and in one’s community.

NVC tends to be effective because it seeks to offer compassionate listening and to address the needs of all involved.

What are the benefits?

NVC increases our ability to:

Build relationships based on compassion and understanding.

  • Hear others with empathy, even when they are expressing themselves in a hostile manner.
  • Make requests in a way that increases the likelihood of getting what we’re looking for.
  • Resolve conflicts in ways that increase trust and mutual understanding.
  • Break patterns of thinking that lead to anger, guilt, blame and depression.
  • Offer feedback and evaluate performance in ways that promote learning and lessen resistance.
  • Celebrate what is going well and stand up for what is really important to you.

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) was developed by Marshall Rosenberg, international peacemaker and founder of the Centre for Nonviolent Communication (www.cnvc.org)

For the past 35 years, Dr. Rosenberg and his associates have provided NVC training in more than 30 countries around the world, offering workshops and conflict resolution sessions for schools, teachers, counsellors, health care providers, mediators, managers, prisons, police, clergy, government officials and others.