Learning Nonviolent Compassionate Communication tools

Nonviolent Compassionate Communication is a method of relating to one another with a higher quality of connection.

Ann Harrington of Ann Harrington Training & Consulting says it’s a “life-changing approach to communication with anyone in a relationship.”

“I had a career in speech pathology, which was all language-based,” she said. “But I was never specifically taught these tools to kind of decode what’s really going on in a conversation. When things are going well, we all know what to do when things are going well. When things are not going so well or there’s disagreement or conflict, this is where NVC and compassionate communication comes in.”

There are three important skills to be successful in the NVC (Nonviolent Compassionate Communication) model of communicating:

1. Self-connection or Self-empathy (listening to myself): “If you picture a tree, and at the root of the tree, the roots go down. And that is the connection with ourselves. What am I feeling and needing in this situation?”
2. Empathy (listening to them): “The key sorting tools are the feelings and the needs or values. So if … you’ve listened well to yourself and you know what you’re feeling and needing, then you’re in a place to get curious about why they’re talking.”
3. Self-expression or Speaking My Truth: “It goes back to deciding, what would I like to contribute next to this situation?”

Harrington’s workshop is from 4:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, at the Great Lakes Ballroom in the Holiday Inn. It costs $25, but scholarships are available. To request one, email office@juniorleagueduluth.org.