Hillsborough NVC Practice Group
Details
Please read the following information about our group guidelines and activities and how to access the group (password required).
We welcome new participants but require that attendees have at least a basic level of knowledge or experience with NVC principles (more on this below, last section).
The following provides an orientation that we hope will help you feel comfortable in the group and be able to participate as fully as you would like to while respecting the guidelines we follow.
Welcome to the Hillsborough NVC Practice Group
In this weekly group, we practice our NVC skills primarily by giving and receiving empathy regarding situations in our lives that we want to work on. Each meeting is facilitated by a volunteer from among the attendees. We wish to promote emotional safety, trust, support, learning, and growth.
To promote compassionate communication and connection, we agree on the following principles and procedures:
We hold the intention to speak and act with respect and compassion towards others in the group and toward ourselves to promote connection with others and with ourselves.
Confidentiality: Never share someone else’s experience without their permission.
To create a safe space for people to work on sensitive issues, and to allow the other group participants time to fully connect with the feelings and needs of the person who is working, we avoid interrupting them while they are sharing.
However, if the need arises, the facilitator may interrupt to slow things down. They may request translations into “giraffe” language at that point, or have the group pause for a few minutes before work resumes. The facilitator may also ask if the speaker is open to interaction with the group.
Interpersonal conflict within the group is both opportunity and challenge for the group as a whole. An OFNR process during session time is appropriate and encouraged in these cases to meet individual and group needs.
Members are responsible for meeting their own needs. We may seek support when triggered - experiencing an intense emotional reaction - by practicing self-empathy or receiving empathy from others. Anyone may sit out any empathy session to meet their own needs.
Group activities:
● The facilitator may choose to open the meeting with a brief meditation.
● Check-ins: 1-2 minutes for each person, starting with what is alive for us, and whether or not we would like to work on an issue with group support. If we want to work on an issue, we specify details of our request, which are recorded by the facilitator: how much time we estimate our work will require, what we want from the group and what priority (1-10) we place on the work. Examples of what we might want: empathy; role-plays; suggestions about how to apply NVC to a situation; to be heard about a celebration or mourning; reflection.
● Group members may request time (before or during check-in) for:
o General Questions or Discussion of NVC topics.
o Announcement or discussion of a group business item.
o Presenting an NVC related educational activity.
o Connection requests between group members.
● Check-outs 1-2 minutes each, sharing about our experience of the meeting.
Newcomers:
We require that attendees have a basic level of knowledge or experience with NVC principles. These may be obtained through activities such as:
● Reading Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall Rosenberg.
● Participating in NVC courses, seminars, discussion groups, webinars, or practice groups.
● Watching a variety of NVC videos (e.g. those by Marshall and others on platforms such as YouTube) and/or listening to NVC podcasts.
If you would like to attend this Meetup, email, text, or call one of the following members:
We hope to see you soon!
Every week on Monday
Hillsborough NVC Practice Group