Join IN: Immersion in Nonviolent Communication
8-month Online Intensive

WITH OREN JAY SOFER & ROXY MANNING
SEPTEMBER 2024 – April 2025

Communication is about more than what you say.

Nonviolence is not passivity, but a courageous and demanding way of life.

Nonviolent Communication is a profound and transformative practice.

Nonviolent Communication trains us to develop internal resources to realize our potential and live in line with our values. It’s about showing up authentically and compassionately in all circumstances, learning to care more fully for ourselves and for others, and transforming moments of immobility and helplessness into experiences of power and choice.

“IN” — Immersion in Nonviolent Communication — offers training to:

• Transform recurring conflicts
• Enhance your ability to support others
• Find more balance and clarity with your own “triggers”
• Shift areas of your life that seem stuck
• Deepen your capacity for listening and empathy
• Build community focused on nonviolence

“A life changing experience. Oren and Roxy are, hands down, two of the best facilitators I have ever experienced (who complement each other beautifully). I came away inspired and equipped with powerful and effective tools for supporting interactions… Lastly, many of the connections I made with my cohort have continued long past the training. I am glad and grateful for being a member of this new community.”

— Melody Noll, ESL Instructor

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The Immersion in Nonviolent Communication (“IN” for short) will deepen your understanding and embodiment of key principles of NVC. IN’s core training spans eight monthly weekend workshops, with multiple other components to encourage practice and integration throughout the program. IN asks that all participants have some prior training (including small-group practice) in Nonviolent Communication.

Our Immersion in NVC attracts a range of practitioners: those who are relatively new as well as more experienced students, including alumni of BayNVC’s Leadership Program and previous Immersion programs. Participants find great value in the continuity of the monthly meetings and the opportunity to learn and grow in a lively community. Please download and read the IN info packet here before applying.

“The Immersion Program has been life changing! I’ve learned skills that have helped me develop deeper self-awareness, express myself more authentically, and connect more compassionately with others. I have so much gratitude for Roxy and Oren, the assistants and this wonderful community!”
— Hongxu Liu, Software Engineer Oakland, CA

2024 PROGRAM DATES:

Immersion in NVC, 8-month program: One weekend program per month, September 2024 through April 2025, 9:00 – 11:30am and 2:00 – 4:30pm Pacific Time; two empathy groups per month; plus an hour-long live coaching call with a lead trainer once per month. Topics may shift; please check back for updates in the schedule.

• Sept 21, 22: Opening Weekend: A Foundation of Self-Empathy (Roxy & Oren)

• Oct 12, 13: Living with a Heart of Empathy (Roxy & Sarah Peyton)

• Nov 9, 10: Authenticity and Vulnerability (Oren & John Kinyon)

• Nov 24: Bonus Session – Topic TBA (Miki Kashtan and Nonviolent Global Liberation)

• Dec 7, 8: Power, Resources and Choice (Roxy & Kathleen Macferran)

• Jan 11, 12: Making Powerful Requests (Oren & Kathy Simon)

• Feb 8, 9: Mourning, Healing and Reconciliation (Roxy & Ranji Ariaratnam)

• March 8, 9: Mediation and Difficult Dialogues (Oren & Jackson Lima)

• April 12, 13: Closing Weekend — Integrated Practice (Roxy & Oren)

Please read the Info Packet HERE before applying.

WHAT YOU RECEIVE:

• Expert training from Certified NVC Trainers

• Extensive training curriculum and NVC reference materials

• Monthly coaching calls with lead trainers

• Monthly practice assignments and journal topics

• Weekly calls with an empathy buddy

• Two empathy practice groups per month *

• Personalized coaching in small groups *

• Optional small group sessions on specific interest topics *

• One 45-minute private NVC coaching session *

• Access to an online community forum *

• Indefinite access to all program recordings

* Note: offered or moderated by program assistants.

WHO’S IT FOR?

This program is appropriate for those newer to Nonviolent Communication as well as for experienced practitioners seeking to deepen their practice. Applicants are expected to have some prior training in NVC, including small group practice experience*. Past years have drawn therapists, activists, teachers, nurses, doctors, writers, artists, engineers, life coaches, and many more.

* A special note for those who have taken Oren’s online communication courses (Say What You Mean, Authentic Communication, or Wise Speech). These classes provide a strong foundation in the principles of NVC, and we encourage anyone who has taken them to apply to the IN program. Because of the large lecture format of those classes, applicants will also need additional NVC experience to meet the prerequisites for this program. See this resource sheet for possible ways to meet the small group practice prerequisite.

Please note: This program does not offer CEs.

ALUMNI COHORT OPTION

For 2024-25, as a way to engage in an NVC learning community, we are pleased to offer a special option for IN Program graduates (including the BayNVC Immersion Program, BIP) to participate at a reduced cost. Members of this Alumni Cohort will have access to all core teaching sessions, program materials, monthly coaching calls, and our online community forum, as well as self-organized practice groups, empathy groups, and empathy buddies. (Alumni cohort members will not have access to assistant-led small group coaching). We envision this opportunity as a rich way to refresh, deepen, and further integrate NVC consciousness into daily life, all within a supportive learning community. For more details about what is and is not included in the Alumni Cohort option, please see our info packet here.

The Immersion Program precipitated a swell of growth in my life that extended to parenting, personal relationships, and professional skill and opportunity. [It]… has made my experience of life more fulfilling on the whole. Roxy and Oren have invited in and held space for a beautiful, vulnerable, imperfect community that I am honored to have been a part of.”
— Emily Smith, Executive Coach, San Francisco, CA

PROGRAM LEADERSHIP

The Immersion in NVC will be led by Certified Nonviolent Communication Trainers Roxy Manning, Ph.D., Oren Jay Sofer, and renowned guest trainers (see below), all of whom will be supported by a team of experienced NVC assistants. Our leadership team is designed to provide significant individualized coaching in small groups, with an average teacher-to-student ratio of five- or six-to-one. Oren and Roxy will lead the opening weekend in September and the closing weekend in April together. For all other weekends, our core trainers alternate leading Saturdays, and guest trainers lead Sundays. 

Lead Trainers

Roxy Manning, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, certified Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) trainer, and author of How to Have Antiracist Conversations and The Anti-Racist Heart. Since 2004 she has operated a private consulting business and regularly holds international workshops and intensives centered around nonviolent communication and social change issues. She has served as executive director of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication and focuses her outside efforts on working with the homeless population of San Francisco.

Oren Jay Sofer, a CNVC Certified Nonviolent Communication Trainer, teaches workshops and retreats on meditation and communication internationally. His teaching emphasizes how awareness practice and communication training deepen one another in a synergistic manner. He holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University and is certified as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for healing trauma. Oren is a husband, a father, and the author of several books including Your Heart Was Made For This, and the best-selling title, Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication.

“I gained so much from this program, through Oren and Roxy’s teaching and the support of the assistants. I learned to speak up for myself and to express my needs in a skillful way that could be well-received. I learned to listen empathetically, and to listen for what really mattered… I feel more empowered in my communication, and so appreciated the community that was formed along the way.”
— Valerie Loo, Movement Awareness Coach, Oakland, CA. (Immersion Program 2019)

“The program is a comprehensive introduction to nonviolent communication. The Program provides immediately usable skills to give and receive empathy, greatly improving one’s ability to connect with others individually and in groups.“
— Bob Spencer, Oakland, CA. (Immersion Program 2019)

“This program profoundly taught me how to honor that I have needs worthy of knowing, expressing, and trusting. I learned concrete skills for intentionally connecting to myself and to compassionately connect to others too… Roxy and Oren (and the incredibly-skilled assistants) were consistently thoughtful and prepared, and the community offered reliable healing. This program is a must for anyone interested in NVC, building community, and true healing/transformation.”
— Dr. Rachel Greenberg, Psychologist, Oakland, CA (Immersion Program 2019)

““How do you feel” could be the cliche of all cliche questions asked by therapists. The Immersion Program, with its experiential practices and powerful instructions, reinforced a process for noticing, naming, and validating the feelings and needs that are most alive in us, no matter how shut down or stuck we may feel. This clarity brings the possibility of empathy for self and other ever closer… The course and instructors and assistants were patient, skillful and brilliant!”
— Linda Taggert, LCSW, Psychotherapist, Berkeley, CA (Immersion Program 2019)

“I am an introvert with social anxiety, and even though I have worked on this a lot it was still an EXTREMELY challenging for me to sign up for the Immersion Program… I found the acceptance that we all had our own needs and limitations deeply restorative… By the last month, I was actually connected and at ease with a dozen new people, disappointed that we were coming to an end. Overall, the program met my needs for growth, connection, and continued community.”
— Mary Richards, Teacher, Livermore CA. (Immersion Program 2019)

“Over the course of the year, I became more comfortable sharing my vulnerability in community, helping to heal wounds around acceptance, mattering, and shame.”
— Anonymous, Richmond CA. (Immersion Program 2019)