June 25, 2010:  
Effective Communication Tools for Conflict Management (Providence, RI)

About NVC

Joe Brummer's approach to conflict resolution and mediation is based on the international model of communication called, Nonviolent Communication™  (NVC) created over the past 40-years by Marshall Rosenberg, PhD.  

What is NVC?

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.  We express our feelings in terms of what another person has “done to us,” instead of taking responsibility for our feelings independent of another person.  We struggle to understand our own needs in the moment, or to effectively ask for what we want without using unhealthy demands, threats, or coercion.  

At best, communicating and thinking this way can create misunderstanding and frustration. And still worse, it can lead to anger, depression, and even emotional or physical violence.  

Since developing the Nonviolent Communication process in the 1960’s, Marshall Rosenberg’s vision has been to teach people of any age, gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic background a much more effective alternative, and in turn to transform relationships, conflict, and violence one interaction at a time.   

To date, more than 200 certified trainers and hundreds more teach NVC to more than 250,000 people in 35 countries on 5 continents every year.  Around the world, NVC has been adopted by Fortune 500 companies, government offices, schools, hospitals, university MBA and communication curriculum, community mediation centers, anger management programs, peace advocacy and social change advocates, inmate rehabilitation programs, and more.

What makes NVC unique?

While the 4-Part NVC Process provides a very effective framework to transform the way we communicate, it’s universal effectiveness lies in the fact that it is far more than a technique. NVC practice involves shifting the intention you bring to the interaction — to put your primary focus on connection through empathic listening, rather than following a rigid technique, trying to be “right,” or putting your focus only on the outcome you want.  

While simple, this shift has a profound impact.  Even if only one party engages in NVC, they can create an environment of emotional safety — whether the interaction is taking place in the home, the boardroom, the classroom, or even in the context of international negotiations.  With this foundation of emotional safety, tension and conflict can be defused, feelings and experiences can be expressed without blame, emotional pain and anger can find relief, and ultimately mutually satisfying outcomes can be achieved.

Why is it called "Nonviolent" Communication?

Most people define “violence” as physically trying to hurt another.  In the NVC framework, the definition of “violence” is extended to include any use of power — by a person or a system —over people, either through the language we use, or trying to coerce people through guilt, obligation, threat of punishment, or even the promise of reward.  In this context, “Nonviolent” Communication offers a framework, language, and consciousness that aim to transform any form of violence.

About Marshall Rosenberg

Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D. is the founder and director of educational services for the Center for Nonviolent Communication, an international peacemaking organization.  He is the author of Speak Peace in a World of Conflict, the bestselling Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, as well as Life-Enriching Education and several NVC booklets.  Dr. Rosenberg is the 2006 recipient of the Global Village Foundation’s Bridge of Peace Award, and the Association of Unity Churches International 2006 Light of God Expressing Award.  

Growing up in a turbulent Detroit neighborhood, Dr. Rosenberg developed a keen interest in new forms of communication that would provide peaceful alternatives to the violence he encountered.  His interest led to a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1961, where he studied under Carl Rogers.  His subsequent life experience and study of comparative religion motivated him to develop the Nonviolent Communication (NVC) process.      

Dr. Rosenberg first used the NVC process in federally funded school integration projects to provide mediation and communication skills training during the 1960s.  The Center for Nonviolent Communication, which he founded in 1984, now has more than 200 certified NVC teaching NVC in 35 countries around the globe.      

A sought-after presenter, Rosenberg’s teaching style is both intimate and powerful.  With guitar and puppets in hand, a history of traveling to some of the most violent corners of the world, and a spiritual energy that fills a room, Rosenberg is a revolutionary leader we should all watch.

Below is part 1 of a 3 part series of videos that first introduced Joe to NVC: