Nonviolent Communication

The IMPACT Chicago mission statement commits to ending violence and building a non- violent world in which all people can live safely and with dignity. As such, IMPACT Chicago relies upon the principles of de-escalation and non-violence within our programs and across our organization. In the fall of 2011, the IMPACT Chicago Board of Directors adopted Marshall Rosenberg’s principles of nonviolent communication as a foundation for addressing “lower-level” conflicts that are unlikely to escalate into violence. Rosenberg’s approach is based on three aspects of communication: empathy for others, self-empathy, and honest self-expression. Honest self-expression includes a situation or behavior in a nonjudgmental way, stating the feelings that the individual has in response to the situation or behavior, expressing the needs that an individual wants to have met, and proposing an action.

At the 25th anniversary on October 14, Lisa Amoroso, who introduced Rosenberg’s work to IMPACT, will offer a workshop on nonviolent communication as one of the afternoon seminars. Through experiential activities and interpersonal learning, participants will practice strategies for sharing our concerns, developing productive solutions, providing feedback, setting healthy boundaries, and building our relationships with each other.