Introduction

Building Community & Embracing Diversity

The Art of Compassionate Communication

Facilitation Skills: Decision Making & Conflict Resolution

Personal Empowerment & Leadership Skills

Celebrating Life:
Art & Creativity

“Nonviolent Communication is a powerful tool for peace and partnership. It shows us how to listen empathically and also communicate our authentic feelings and needs”. Riane Eisler

Compassionate Communication

Compassionate Communication (also known as Nonviolent Communication or NVC) is a way of speaking that facilitates the flow of communication needed to exchange information and resolve differences peacefully. It helps us identify our shared values and needs, encourages us to use language that increases goodwill, and avoid language that contributes to resentment or lowers self-esteem.

Compassionate Communication focuses our attention on compassion as our motivation, rather than fear, guilt, blame, or shame. It emphasizes taking personal responsibility for our choices and improving the quality of our relationships as our goal. It is effective even when the other person or group is not familiar with this process.

Compassionate Communication is based on a few simple principles that we can apply when giving and receiving feedback. According to M. Rosenberg, creator of NVC, these basic principles are:

• Observe without Evaluating
• Learn to Identify and Express Your Feelings
• Take Responsibility for Your Feelings, Acknowledge Your Needs
• Make Requests Consciously
• Receive Empathically

Marshall B. Rosenberg, founder of Non Violent Communication with his puppets —the giraffe and the jackal.
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The Center for Nonviolent Communication
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