See also: Core Commitments, Key Assumptions & Intentions & Self-Assessment Matrix
George Washington bridge, approach from the New Jersey side.

Daniel Schwen via Wikimedia Commons
“Nonviolent Communication is an awareness discipline masquerading as a communication process.”~ Kit Miller |
Beneath courtesy of the work of Miki Kashtan |
Approaches to NVC: What “is” NVC?
Below are some ideas people have of what NVC “is”.
(Some may have combinations of these ideas or other ideas.
You might add some of your own…)
Principle | Related Needs | Strategies |
NVC as “life in the moment”, play, joy | Joy | Focus on what I want, is it joyful for me |
NVC as self-empowerment & self-responsibility | Choice and power | Focus on my needs and finding strategies to meet them; mourning unmet needs; making requests of self & others to move towards the life I want |
NVC as self-empathic, self-compassionate process | Self-connection, self-acceptance, learning to live what is (even unmet needs) | Focus on self-empathy; compassion for myself |
NVC as a process for authentic connection with oneself and others | Authenticity, vulnerability | Focus on what’s most true for me and share from the heart |
NVC as a way to embody compassion, connection | Compassion | Focus on responding with empathy |
NVC as a way to hold everyone’s needs with care | Harmony, peace, integrity | Focusing on both people’s needs |
NVC as a way to be present to joy and suffering: to see ‘what is’ |
Peace, liberation, joy, understanding |
Focusing on the life of the moment in oneself and the world, transforming only ideas of what ‘should’ be |
NVC as inner freedom | Choice, growth | Recognizing and acting from true needs instead of impulse, habits, ‘shoulds’ or rebellion |
NVC as non-attachment to the outcomes of interactions with people | Learning, discovery, joy | Freely offer our needs as gifts and focus on hearing others’ needs as a gift to us |
NVC as a tool for living in line with my values and being true to myself | Authenticity, integrity, transparency, honesty, care, courage | Choosing actions that honor my values and needs |

Courtesy of BayNVC/Kashtan
7 favourite books: Nonviolent Communication
See additional NVC book reviews here.
One of my favorite NVC books:
An excerpt from above:

Rosenberg via Oren Jay Sofer
For more as to NVC & Social Change Agency:
Politics, Climate & NVC
See also: Spiritual Basis of NVC
Miki’s Writings | The Fearless Heart

The Fool card from the Visconti-Sforza Tarot deck.
(courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Four “Mediate One’s Life” contexts:
- Internal. The conflict is within, between aspects of yourself.
- Self-other/interpersonal. The conflict is between you and someone else.
- Informal. You lend your mediation skills to a conflict without being explicitly asked to do so.
- Formal. You mediate a conflict, intentionally, and at the request or with the express agreement of others.

See also: NVC Mediation