I am currently working as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate (LMHCA) full-time in a community-based mental health agency in the Seattle area. NVC consciousness is a foundational part of my practice, with mindful awareness of the quality of connection, empathic listening, and honest expression as essential to how I engage with people. Frequently, I offer supportive comments or feedback based on NVC concepts and key differentiations, and sometimes, I explicitly share NVC skills using some of my favorite NVC handouts and roleplays.
I started practicing NVC more than 25 years ago. In 1996, a friend invited me to join an NVC practice group; NVC began to lift me out of what I came to call “self-judgment hell,” and I stayed with that practice group for seven years. When I was first learning NVC, I listened to many, many hours of recordings by Marshall Rosenberg, soaking in NVC consciousness and skills, and had the opportunity to attend a couple of workshops with Marshall Rosenberg in Seattle.
I attended my first CNVC IIT in Victoria, BC, in 2001, advanced training in Flagstaff, AZ, in 2002, the CNVC Albuquerque IIT “NVC & Social Change” in 2008, and the CNVC San Francisco IIT “Power, Privilege & the Body” in 2017. A valuable part of my path of deepening into NVC, I joined the BayNVC Leadership Program as a participant in 2005 and as an assistant trainer in 2009 and 2010.
From 2005 to 2016, I volunteered annually at NVC Family Camps, took NVC into political activism and leadership roles, and occasionally hosted NVC workshops and practice groups for the general public. I completed the CNVC trainer certification in 2010. From 2010 to 2019, I volunteered for Freedom Project Seattle as a lead facilitator for NVC weekend workshops for men in prison; this greatly expanded my comfort in leadership, design, and co-facilitation of workshops, mediating conflicts, and supporting volunteers to develop leadership and facilitation skills.
About five years ago, I set aside active sharing of NVC in order to earn dual master’s degrees in Nutrition Science and Counseling Psychology (MSN-MACP). In 2022, I completed the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) certification as a Lifestyle Medicine Professional, and now use motivational interviewing and evidence-based ACLM lifestyle interventions to support people in taking control of their own physical health and well-being. This year (2024), I’m engaged in training in EMDR and with the Center for Mind-Body Medicine to grow in my ability to support people to increase their agency in their sense of kindness for self and others, belonging, and healing from trauma.
In my free time, I love running, especially on forest trails, weight-lifting at the gym, and working in the forest cutting firewood and planting trees. Because I’m currently choosing to allow my employment to claim so much of my life energy, I am typically not available to take the lead in organizing or facilitating NVC events, but I do welcome invitations to contribute in a support role for others who are organizing NVC events or groups.
