Compassionate Communication KC

Would you like to experience connection, to get a taste of what's possible when people get each other without judgment? To develop skills that support compassionate giving and receiving?

Would you like to cultivate inner resources to support self-healing toward self-actualization, so you can bring your gifts back to the community?

Join us for community learning and practice of Compassionate Communication (aka. "Nonviolent Communication - A Language of Life", known more generally as "NVC") by Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D. complemented by cultivating wholeness nature-based practices inspired by Bill Plotkin's "Wild Mind - Field Guide to the Human Psyche."

This group supports in-person offerings in Kansas City (indoor and outdoor) and online offerings that explore different facets of the human experience, guiding us toward connection.

The following intentions/agreements are part of all our events:

• Confidentiality - you can share your story, but no one else's story.
• Consent - you choose the level at which you participate.
• Connection is the main intention behind all practices.
• Compassion - everyone is doing the best they know how to meet their needs.

### WHAT IS NVC?

"Nonviolent Communication is based on the principle of Ahimsa — the natural state of compassion when no violence is present in the heart." ~ Marshall Rosenberg, founder of NVC

Nonviolent Communication is a way of being in the world that has the purpose is to serve life and to create connection in such a way that everyone’s needs can be met through natural care. Learn more about the principles and the process of NVC by visiting the Center for Nonviolent Communication.

[Click here for original blog post with pictures -- Meetup doesn't support pictures here].

This offerings framework shows how you can be guided toward connection in various contexts, learning and deepening your life-connection practices by staying engaged throughout the year. Each 10-week series will focus on different areas of the NVC Tree of Life (NTOL) -- they will be offered only once in-person and online in 2024 (each session concurrently on the same week). Nonviolent Communication, aka. NVC was created by Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D. James Prieto is a CNVC Certified NVC Trainer, and Wild Heart guide.

• In-person offerings in Kansas City, MO scheduled through Meetup will be on Tuesdays from 7 PM to 8:30 PM Central, with an additional optional 30 minutes of unstructured discussion.
• Online offerings with registration through my website will be on Thursday from 9 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific time (Los Angeles) with an additional optional 30 minutes of unstructured discussion.

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The simplified NVC Tree of Life (NTOL) shown above was created by NVC Trainer Inbal Kashtan; it provides a convenient artifact for clarifying the focus of each of the 10-week offerings. The NTOL shows the three modes of Nonviolent Communication (NVC).
The roots of the NTOL provide the foundation of the practice through Self-Empathy (Self-Connection), which is an inner-curiosity for one's thoughts, judgments, feelings, needs, and potential strategies.

As you go up the NTOL, the left-most branch invites you to Empathy, which is a respectful listening to the heart of another person.

The rightmost branch of the NTOL invites you to Self-Expression, which is a compassionate honest expression of what you discovered in the root system about yourself.

I have three 10-week offerings that focus on different parts of the NTOL. Each series can be taken out of sequence (each stands alone without the others). However, the suggested sequence below makes learning and retaining the practices easier. Why 10 weeks? Because research shows that on average, you can develop new habits within 10 weeks.

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1. The “Conversational Connection - Practical Skills for Communicating Compassionately” series represented above focuses on the crown of the NTOL -- deep empathic listening, compassionate honest self-expression, setting up a connecting conversation, and facilitating a flow of connection. This series can be seen as a good introduction to the classical practice of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), although I’ve extended it to include elements of Authentic Relating.
(Online Registration Link, In-Person Meetup link-TBD).

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2. The acclaimed “Free Yourself From Reactivity: 10-week Journey of Emotional Liberation” series focuses on the root system of the NTOL, a deepening of the practice of Self-Empathy focused on triggered/reactivity situations. Read a few of the Testimonials to get a sense for what is offered.
(Online Registration Link, In-Person Meetup link-TBD).

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3. The “Wild Heart - Cultivating Wholeness, Self-Healing for the Self You Always Wanted” extends the NTOL to include Self-Empathy and the root system underground representing the Unconscious. Based on James' active research integrating NVC with the nature-based depth psychology of “Wild Mind - Field Guide to the Human Psyche” by Bill Plotkin, Ph.D. The first half of the series is focused on cultivating wholeness in the four facets of the self, each corresponding to a different NVC component. The second half of the series focuses on Self-Healing of the immature, protective fragments, or subpersonalities of the Self.
(Online Registration Link, In-Person Meetup link-TBD).

A final series for the year is under development -- it will likely include Dreamwork, Shadow work, Self-Healing, as a practical continuation and integration of Wild Heart series and all other series offered (for real life practice and integration).

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James Prieto is an author, poet, CNVC Certified Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Trainer, and nature-based Wild Heart guide. James guides toward connection through NVC workshops and “Wild Heart” nature-based depth-psychology personal development -- inspired by Wild Mind - Field Guide to the Human Psyche by Bill Plotkin, Ph.D. He’s passionate about the intersection of Animas Valley Institute inspired work with NVC as a way to contribute to Earth elder Joanna Macy’s “Great Turning” and Thomas Berry’s “Great Work.”