In 1960 Marshall Rosenberg got a D from the professor he would later call one of his greatest teachers, and sat in a circle of chairs with Carl Rogers. Part 2 of the story of how NVC came to be.
Before NVC had a name, it was a question in an eight-year-old boy: why do people make each other suffer? Here is where that question came from, in his own account.
The biographies list the degrees, the countries, the awards. They rarely tell you what it was like to be in a room with him, which is the part that explains why the practice spread.
Understanding the other side isn’t the bottleneck. The image you’ve built of them is. Here’s what Nonviolent Communication does differently — and three moves you can try tonight.
Most advice about polarization says: try to understand the other side. You've probably tried. Here's why it didn't work — and what NVC does instead.
Americans consistently overestimate how extreme the other side is. The More in Common data is striking — and NVC's observation/judgment distinction is the practical tool for closing that gap.
Americans imagine nearly twice as many extremists on the other side as actually exist. The More in Common data is striking — and NVC's enemy image framework is the practical tool for reality-testing that image.
More dialogue isn't fixing political polarization. The problem isn't the volume of conversation — it's the language. Here's what NVC offers that most bridge-building approaches don't.
More dialogue in the language of moralistic judgment won't close the political divide — it widens it. Here's what NVC offers that most bridge-building approaches miss: a structural shift.
Political arguments don't destroy relationships — enemy images do. Here's the NVC pre-conversation practice that changes everything before you sit down.
56% of Americans have stopped talking to someone they love over politics. NVC has a name for what makes that exit feel necessary — and a practice for undoing it before you sit down.
NVC's universal-needs premise is true — but it's not the whole story. Here's what the privilege critique gets right, what it misses, and what a structurally aware NVC practice looks like.
NVC says we all have the same needs — but not the same access. Here's the tension many practitioners feel but can't name, what Rosenberg actually taught, and what a structurally honest NVC practice demands.
Every vote — even the ones that anger or confuse you — is an attempt to meet a human need. NVC asks you to find it. Here's what that actually looks like.
NVC says every vote — even the ones that anger or confuse you — is an attempt to meet a human need. This post models what it actually looks like to find it.
The phrases we use every day — 'I have to,' 'I should,' 'I can't' — don't just describe reality. According to Marshall Rosenberg, they reproduce it. Here's what NVC says about the language of domination.
The phrases we use every day — 'I have to,' 'I should,' 'I can't' — don't just describe reality. Marshall Rosenberg called them the operating language of domination. Here's why, and what NVC proposes instead.
Dialogue programs help with polarization — a little, briefly. But something structural is missing. NVC offers a different diagnosis and a trainable process for dissolving the enemy images that fuel political conflict.
Dialogue programs have tried to fix polarization for years. The research says they help — a little, briefly. NVC offers a different diagnosis: a trainable process for dissolving the enemy images that make most political listening not actually happen.
Two people sit in a circle. Between them: harm that happened. The question you ask determines everything — the room, the roles, and whether genuine repair is even possible.
One question reorganizes every room: not 'what punishment does this person deserve?' but 'what needs were unmet here?' Here's why that shift changes everything.
Two people sit in a circle. The question between them determines everything. Not 'what punishment does this person deserve?' — but 'what needs were unmet here?' That shift is a different architecture of justice entirely.
Most NVC training fails not because the model is wrong, but because it's applied at the wrong level. Here's what structural power redesign actually requires.
Most organizations bring in NVC training and get short-term results that don't last. The reason: they're applying NVC at the wrong level. This post is about the structural redesign that actually changes things.
Mainstream restorative justice stops at guilt. NVC says guilt is still the wrong driver. Here's what mourning does differently — and why it matters in the circle.
Mainstream restorative justice stops at shame. NVC goes further — arguing that guilt itself is the wrong driver for healing. Here's what mourning does differently in the circle.