On November 13th, our DRONI volunteers, Luzia and Aiden, held a workshop on non-violent communication: how to apply it to everyday life, how to deescalate violent situations, and its importance.
Our volunteers began the workshop with a quick energizer to introduce the topic and to better understand the participants.
Afterward, they dove into the theoretical part of the workshop, explaining how communication in general works and takes place.
The communication process always begins with the sender, who is the person or group wishing to convey a message. The sender selects the meaning they want to communicate, which is then encoded into a message that can be transmitted in a way that is clear and understandable.
The next step in the communication process is the receiver, who receives the message, decodes it, and interprets its meaning. Once the receiver understands the message, they typically provide a response or feedback. This feedback is an important part of the communication process because it helps the sender understand whether the message was successfully conveyed and understood.
Following that, our volunteers explained the steps on how to achieve non-violent communication and have a clear understanding of it.
One of the key strategies in NVC is the concept of forming a softened alternative—a way to express our feelings and needs without blaming or criticizing others. This method helps express ourselves honestly and empathetically while minimizing the potential for conflict.
The following steps are:
- FEEL – Start by expressing how you feel. Use words that describe your emotions, such as “I feel frustrated,” “I feel sad,” or “I feel confused.” It’s important to use feelings-based language instead of making judgments or accusations about the other person’s behavior. This step is about taking responsibility for your emotions.
- ABOUT – Next, describe the situation or action that triggered your feelings. Here, it’s crucial to keep your description neutral and non-blaming. Focus on the facts.
- NEED – Finally, explain your need. This step involves expressing what you need or what could help improve the situation. It’s important to state your need clearly, but in a way that opens up the possibility for mutual understanding.
After this theoretical part, our volunteers continued with two activities to implement this newfound knowledge. For the first activity, the participants were split into groups and presented with a number of violent situations. The participants then had to come up with non-violent alternatives to deescalate the situation and create a peaceful solution.
For the following activity, we kept the participants in these same groups, where they now had to come up with and present their own violent situations that might apply to their everyday life. In a big group discussion, we then talked about how to deescalate those situations and come up with a non-violent alternative that participants can use in their daily life.
If you want to find out more about the topic, have a look at these infographics:
