NVC for All
A Nonviolent Communication Foundations Course
The thing that surprised me most
The bigger the conflict, the more often both people share the same underlying needs.
When we can see that we both need safety, or connection, or respect — finding a way forward that works for everyone becomes so much more possible. That realisation changed how I show up in every difficult conversation. It's what NVC does.
What you'll get from this
- A way to understand your own feelings and needs — not just react to them
- The skill to listen to anyone, even when you deeply disagree with them
- Tools to name harm and support real repair — without losing yourself in the process
- Awareness of how power and privilege shape who gets heard, and how to change that
Why NVC for All — not just NVC?
Marshall Rosenberg's NVC framework has helped millions of people communicate more clearly and move through conflict. It's remarkable work.
Its emphasis on logic can lead people into their heads — when connection actually happens through the heart. And when practised without awareness of power and privilege, it can inadvertently reinforce the very dynamics we're trying to move beyond. That's not a flaw in the intention. It's a gap this work fills.
Roxy Manning took this framework and recentred it. NVC for All turns us inward to find the answers — connecting our humanness with the humanness of others. And it makes the unseen visible, because privilege is invisible to those who have it.
This isn't a critique of NVC. It's an evolution.
When/Where
Eight sessions · Every second Sunday · 1:00–3:00 pm
Location:- All sessions will be on zoom
- Recordings will be available for participants
- I hope to offer hybrid for people who want to meet in person
| Session | Date |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sunday 19 July 2026 |
| 2 | Sunday 2 August 2026 |
| 3 | Sunday 16 August 2026 |
| 4 | Sunday 30 August 2026 |
| 5 | Sunday 13 September 2026 |
| 6 | Sunday 27 September 2026 |
| 7 | Sunday 11 October 2026 |
| 8 | Sunday 25 October 2026 |
Questions?
Get in touch - Please email me directly
More about NVC — the background and philosophy
Traditional Nonviolent Communication was developed by Marshall Rosenberg and has helped millions of people around the world learn to communicate clearly and move through conflict. The name draws from Gandhi, who used "nonviolence" as the closest English translation of the Sanskrit word ahimsa — though Gandhi was clear it means far more than the absence of violence. He called it "intense love": our natural state of compassion when harm has subsided from our hearts. That's the spirit Marshall brought into NVC.
At its core, NVC reconnects us with the natural gift of genuine giving — casting judgment and blame as a kind of violence, and reframing them as a "tragic expression of an unmet need."
Marshall highlights the tragedy of modern-day expectations: every act born from the energy of "have to" comes at a high price for everyone involved. When we give from genuine desire, it nourishes our own spirit as much as — often more than — the person receiving.
NVC gives us a clear method: scripts, feelings lists, needs lists. Practical tools for how to communicate — and how not to. It teaches us to get clear about our experience, our feelings, the underlying needs driving those feelings, and the strategies we're using to meet them — while removing the judgment that so often blocks connection.
What we cover across the eight sessions
- Identifying what's important in any situation
- Deepening self-awareness and the ability to name our experience in the moment
- Building fierce self-knowledge and self-advocacy
- Strengthening our capacity to lean into interdependence
- Naming systemic and oppressive conditions and their impact on how we communicate
- Acknowledging harm and impact in ways that support healing and repair
- Developing the skill to listen to anyone, even in disagreement, to get to the heart of the matter
- Exploring creative strategies for healing that are aligned with our values
- Recognising and celebrating cultural attributes and ways of knowing
Each session includes time for practice and questions — not just theory. You'll also have the option to pair with an empathy buddy between sessions, plus journals and worksheets to deepen the work.
Frequently asked questions
Nonviolent Communication is a framework developed by Marshall Rosenberg that helps people communicate more clearly and move through conflict. It's built on the idea that most conflict stems from unmet needs — not bad intentions. When we can identify what we and others genuinely need, underneath the words and reactions, connection becomes possible even in the hardest conversations. NVC gives us practical tools to do that: a clear process, feelings lists, needs lists, and scripts to practise with.
Traditional NVC is a powerful framework — and like any tool, the results depend on how it's used. When practised without awareness of power dynamics, NVC can unintentionally reinforce the very patterns it's trying to dissolve. NVC for All, developed through the work of Roxy Manning, builds on the original model and adds a critical lens on power, privilege, and equity. It also recentres the approach — moving from logic-led analysis back to heart-led connection. Everything that makes NVC effective is still here. We just go further.
No. This is a foundations course designed for people coming to NVC for the first time. All you need is curiosity and a willingness to practise. If you've done some NVC before, you'll find the NVC for All framework adds meaningful new depth to what you already know.
Most participants find they get better at understanding their own feelings and needs in real time — not just in reflection. Beyond that, you'll develop the skill to listen to people you disagree with in a way that opens things up, to have difficult conversations with more ease and less reactivity, and to recognise how power dynamics shape communication — including your own.
Most communication courses focus on technique — what to say and how to say it. NVC for All goes deeper, working at the level of consciousness: why we react the way we do, what we actually need, and how to connect with others at that same level. The addition of a power and privilege framework also means we look honestly at the conditions that shape every conversation — something most communication training leaves out entirely.
It means we look at how social dynamics — race, gender, class, culture, and other factors — shape who gets heard, whose needs get centred, and who carries the burden of managing conflict. Privilege is often invisible to those who have it. Making it visible isn't about blame — it's about building communication skills that actually work for everyone in the room, not just some people.
Yes. NVC for All is particularly well suited to teams, organisations, and community groups that want to improve how they communicate, resolve conflict, and work across difference. The skills are directly applicable to meetings, feedback conversations, difficult relationships, and any situation where people need to understand each other across disagreement.
The course runs across eight sessions, each two hours long, held fortnightly on Sunday afternoons from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. That's 16 hours of learning in total, spread over approximately four months. Sessions are experiential — we practise together rather than just listen to theory — and include optional empathy buddy pairing between sessions for those who want to deepen the work.
Roxy Manning is a clinical psychologist and certified NVC trainer who has developed an integrated approach to Nonviolent Communication that incorporates critical frameworks around power, privilege, and social equity. Her work addresses the ways in which traditional NVC, when applied without this awareness, can inadvertently replicate existing social dynamics. This course is taught in the tradition of her approach.
Get in touch with s to confirm your place.