Browse the NVC Multimedia Library

Setting Boundaries with Reactivity

with LaShelle Lowe-Chardé

Intermediate Skill Level • Article • Read time: 4-6 minutes

Intermediate Skill Level
Article
Read time: 4-6 minutes

Tolerating reactivity, name-calling, blaming, guilt-tripping, or stonewalling can lead to resentment and hurt. Plus, the more you stay in a reactive dynamic, the more you are likely to reinforce the pattern. Setting life-serving boundaries arund reactivity is about letting another know that you aren’t going to participate in that kinds of dynamics. This means knowing what helps with handling difficulties and asking for that.

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Changing Our Habitual Approach to Change

with Bob Wentworth

Introductory Skill Level • Article • Read time: 4 - 6 minutes

Introductory Skill Level
Article
Read time: 4 - 6 minutes

Most of us subject ourselves to so many painful mental jabs and they seldom stimulate helpful change. We can be like a frustrated animal trainer repeatedly whipping an animal, without ever helping the animal to understand what behavior is wanted or offering encouragement. Instead, punishing thoughts can be stepping stones to awareness. We can focus on sensing what we're really aspiring to. This is more likely to eventually produce sustainable change that'll serve us better.

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Empathic, Powerful Responses To COVID-19 Inequities

with Roxy Manning

Advanced Skill Level • Article • Read time: 15 - 23 minutes

Advanced Skill Level
Article
Read time: 15 - 23 minutes

The existing unequal risks and impacts people of certain race, class and identities face in society is magnified in these strenuous times -- especially with things such as illness, financial well being, discrimination, attacks, and death. As responsive NVC practitioners we can stand in solidarity with those who are differentially impacted. Read on for this, and additional ways to spot common pitfalls of doing so.

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10 Things White People Can Do to Work for Racial Justice

with Oren Jay Sofer

All Skill Levels • Article • Read time:7 - 11 minutes

All Skill Levels
Article
Read time:7 - 11 minutes

It’s essential to give ourselves time to grapple with the complex feelings surrounding the brutality of state-sanctioned racism and violence. But if all we do is reflect and attend to our emotions we fail to show up, where and when it counts. So let's not perpetuate the violence by standing idly. Instead, here's ten things you can do to move into concrete action to address the continued, untenable, and horrific violence of racism. A list of resources is included.

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How can Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Be Helpful in These Transformative Times?

with Roxy Manning

All Skill Levels • Article • Read time: 23 - 34 minutes

All Skill Levels
Article
Read time: 23 - 34 minutes

Amidst racial violence, there are things that NVC can offer. And there are places where NVC culture needs to be more vigilant. Here are examples of where, amidst incredible loss and pain, "allies" and communities commonly (and often unknowingly) create false equivalences, minimization and re-injure those who've been historically marginalized -- even when they offer empathy, or aim to stay "safe". Read on to cultivate greater understanding and ways to respond differently.

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Stimulus vs. Cause

with Mary Mackenzie

Introductory Skill Level • Trainer Tip • Read time: 1-2 minutes

Introductory Skill Level
Trainer Tip
Read time: 1-2 minutes

Trainer tip: Notice how the exact same actions can stimulate different feelings depending on if your needs are met or unmet. So while what people say or do is the stimulus, the actual cause of our feelings comes from our met or unmet needs. Read on for more on this.

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Why Can't People Just Live Peacefully With Each Other?

with Bob Wentworth

Intermediate Skill Levels • Article • Read time: 8 - 12 minutes

Intermediate Skill Levels
Article
Read time: 8 - 12 minutes

Perhaps human violence persists because we believe that violence is inevitable and there's nothing we can do about it -— even though there is notable evidence that this is likely not true. Read on for some research and theory on how cultures evolve to be collaborative or violent. Plus, learn benefits of collaboration and downsides to force, punishment, and control. These provide implications for how we might move towards a culture of more peace.

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Four Questions to Ask Yourself Before Important Conversations

with Oren Jay Sofer

Intermediate Skill Level • Article • Read time: 5 - 8 minutes

Intermediate Skill Level
Article
Read time: 5 - 8 minutes

What's my intention? What needs am I trying to meet? What do I want the other person to know or understand? How can I say it in a way they are most likely to hear? These are four questions we can use in preparation for an important conversation. Read on for more on this, plus four accompanying practices.

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Empathy, a Potent Healer

with Mary Mackenzie

Introductory Skill Level • Trainer Tip • Read time: 1-2 minutes

Introductory Skill Level
Trainer Tip
Read time: 1-2 minutes

Trainer tip: Empathy, hearing feelings and needs behind someone’s words, can be incredibly healing -- and it can help us come to better understanding and resolution. Empathize with at least on person today. Read on for an example of applied empathy.

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Awareness of Marginalization Can Support Connection

with Bob Wentworth

Intermediate Skill Levels • Article • Read time: 7 - 11 minutes

Intermediate Skill Levels
Article
Read time: 7 - 11 minutes

With abundant evidence that most people have unconscious biases against people --even when that bias runs counter to their own values-- there's a strong chance you recreate this disconnect with people far more often than you recognize. So even with a high degree of NVC skills you may behave in a way that seems "NVC" but also reproduces the painful patterns that marginalized people all-too-often experience. Read on for ways to transform pitfalls of NVC into more reliable connection.

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