What is Nonviolent Communication?

Nonviolent Communication or NVC is the body of work developed by clinical psychologist Marshall Rosenberg, PhD roughly 60 years ago. It is an invitation to focus our attention where we have the greatest chance of finding what we are seeking; connection. The objective of NVC is to remind us of the profound value of human interactions and help us live from that awareness. It is designed to help us develop our ability to respond in beneficial ways and to inspire compassion, both for ourselves and for others. The process contains two parts: expressing ourselves authentically and listening empathically. These actions take place in four components:

• Observing facts without evaluation, interpretation or judgment

• noticing and expressing Feelings

• noticing and expressing the Universal Needs behind those feelings

• formulating clear and specific Requests for action

While NVC is often presented as a communication model we see the four components above as a map to help us develop our true empathic capacities as humans.

The originator of NVC

As a child growing up in a turbulent Detroit neighborhood, Marshall Rosenberg knew he wanted to find a way of speaking that would decrease the occurrence of physical and verbal violence. He was intent on understanding what moved people to violence and why some people, even in trying circumstances, were moved instead to be compassionate.

In 1961, when he was a clinical psychologist, Marshall Rosenberg set out to create such a language and to teach it.

After a comparative study of religions and of the stories of peacemakers, and using his own varied life experiences, he was convinced that human beings are not inherently violent. That belief is the basis of the concepts and skills of Nonviolent Communication (NVC).

Shortly afterwards, Dr. Rosenberg left his clinical practice and literally went on the road, teaching people what he had learned. He wanted to "give away" the communication skills that he had been teaching his clients as a therapist.

To meet this need and to more effectively spread the skills of NVC, he founded the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) in 1984. The CNVC is an international organization that has a vision of a world in which we all respond to our needs and resolve our conflicts peacefully. With that vision, people use NVC to create and participate in a network of life-serving systems.

Peggy Smith and Leah Boyd, founders of Clarity Services LLC, are certified trainers with the International Center for Nonviolent Communication. There are now over 700 certified trainers around the world and NVC is shared within schools and businesses on all continents except Antartica.