Nonviolent Communication (NVC)
A new language that puts the heart in communication
Listening with the heart
Learning Nonviolent Communication is like learning a new language — a new language that puts the heart in communication and leads to more clarity, connection, and compassion in our lives. We learn to listen in a way that brings our focus not to the words people use, but to the “needs” or “values” behind their words, even when they speak in ways we find painful or distancing. By focusing on these needs or values, we are able to stay open and in contact.
Also, we learn to express ourselves in a way that keeps other people’s hearts open so they are able to hear our messages and understand what is important to us. Learning this new language profoundly changes the way we relate to the people around us, whether it is in business, school or our personal relationships.
From hierarchy to cooperation
Practically, we learn to apply a four-step model for this, which was developed by the American psychologist Marshall Rosenberg. He saw Nonviolent Communication as a key to shifting the world’s power structures from hierarchical to cooperative structures.
The hierarchical structures in government, schools, businesses and homes, he discovered, are partly kept in place by the language we use. By changing our language, we can improve how we relate to others and transform the environments we live and work in.
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