What is this about?
Hi, I’m Danny and I’m in love with empathy 🙂
Giving it, receiving it, watching it, teaching it.
I believe empathy is one of the missing ingredients that can make life wonderful. It can open doors to profound and life-affirming human connection with strangers without any shared history, not to mention enabling rich intimacy, deep mutual understanding, satisfying resolution to conflict (aka conflict intimacy) in our close relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. Empathy is an antidote to physical, emotional, and relational violence, distance, withdrawal, and despair, can increase fun and togetherness, and bolster confidence about how to support others without needing to know the answers, and a pathway for everyday, relational spirituality. Certainly for me (and many friends I know), becoming skillful in empathic listening and developing empathic friendships has been one of the most transformative changes in my life and is one of the ways I see people can most radically and readily improve, enrich, and nourish their own relationships (including with self). It amazes me how just a few minutes or sometimes even a few seconds of attuned empathy can totally transform my mood.
Basic NVC teaches an empathic orientation to listening for feelings and needs. This is the key to the first gate of the garden of relational delights, and can open a whole new world of understanding, especially when we’re used to listening to surface level content, to fixing, helping, advising and all these well-intentioned but non-empathic ways of responding.
And yet, simple reflections of “are you feeling_____ because you have a need for ______?” can sound clunky, be off-putting, and are quite limited in scope of application. Even if a person says ‘yes’, then what?
- What if a person is really attached to their strategy?
- How do you go deep with empathy, touching the beautiful heart of life?
- How can we support people staying whole and present when their needs are not met?
How do we meet people with empathy in a way that helps us ‘fall in love’ (be moved by their humanity), give them a deep sense of being seen, heard, and understood that brings them in touch with inner intelligence, and helps both of us find our way to willing flexibility and creative, collaborative, caring relationality? (And not ‘NVC-annoy’ people)
In this deepening course, we’ll explore some of the next level skills and applications of empathy, with a bit of focus on skillful authentic honesty as well. We’ll practice and refine it as an art and enjoy playing in the group field of empathy. I imagine that this learning exploration can help you consolidate empathy as a core orientation and skillset, provide meaningful community, and help you gain confidence about stepping into this beautiful way of meeting life.
My friend and trusted colleague Jorinde Rapsey will be teaching a few of the sessions.
Course Topics
(topics and order subject to change)
“Street Giraffe” – Everyday Empathy without sounding like an NVC weirdo
Juicing Needs – Going for the depths, falling in love with humans, being touched by life, revealing hidden beauty
Mourning– finding wholeness and connection through embracing disappointment and unmet needs
Celebrating and Juicing the rich moments – Receiving gratitude, and soaking in empathy
Parenting – the collobarative and compassionate way
Guilt Process – Receiving the gifts and organic learning of remorse and what guilt is trying to do for us
Healing Dialogues – apologies in giraffe and healing ruptures in relationships
Meeting Anger – Understanding and completing anger like an aikido master
Celebrations and Appreciating – Unwrapping everyday presents to enrich life
Your Guide
After finishing my degree from the Wharton School of Business in 2010, I’ve made it my business to explore what was missing for me in that education. It’s been a deep dive into wisdom traditions, psychotherapy training, mindfulness (including 15+ months on retreat), systems thinking, mysticism, Nonviolent Communication, and a heck of a lot of experimenting and learning, sharing the fruits of my path in trainings for thousands of people around the world along the way. Since 2019 I’ve been part of the core faculty of the Evolve Foundation, working with dozens of CEOs eager to bring more heart, humanness, and efficacy into their relationships and communication.
Jorinde Rapsey
While born in The Netherlands, at the age of 18, I traveled and worked in New Zealand for a year. Not only did I fall in love with the country, but I also met my current partner there. My studies in education and philosophy were enriched by an unexpected journey into parenthood at the age of 25. This led to the discovery of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in 2015, which brought a new dimension of meaning to my life, and I found my calling in sharing compassionate communication with others. In 2022, I co-founded www.peacetalks.nz with my friend and colleague Sally Prebble.
I have taken numerous courses with various certified NVC trainers, including a year-long training in conflict mediation based on NVC, and I have assisted three times in the Teaching and Embodying Nonviolent Communication course with internationally certified trainer Yoram Mosenzon, as well as many other courses. My biggest study ground, however, is living daily life with my family.
My mission is to create spaces where people feel safe to explore and embrace a deeper connection with themselves and others. Society often teaches us to handle challenges alone, but NVC has shown me how to seek support from the outer world to nurture my inner world—a paradigm shift that I believe is essential for all of us to live life more fully. I am particularly passionate about helping parents integrate NVC into their daily lives. In my sessions, participants can expect a blend of empathy, practical tools, and a supportive community that encourages personal growth and transformation.
Jorinde Rapsey
While born in The Netherlands, at the age of 18, I traveled and worked in New Zealand for a year. Not only did I fall in love with the country, but I also met my current partner there. My studies in education and philosophy were enriched by an unexpected journey into parenthood at the age of 25. This led to the discovery of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in 2015, which brought a new dimension of meaning to my life, and I found my calling in sharing compassionate communication with others. In 2022, I co-founded www.peacetalks.nz with my friend and colleague Sally Prebble.
I have taken numerous courses with various certified NVC trainers, including a year-long training in conflict mediation based on NVC, and I have assisted three times in the Teaching and Embodying Nonviolent Communication course with internationally certified trainer Yoram Mosenzon, as well as many other courses. My biggest study ground, however, is living daily life with my family.
My mission is to create spaces where people feel safe to explore and embrace a deeper connection with themselves and others. Society often teaches us to handle challenges alone, but NVC has shown me how to seek support from the outer world to nurture my inner world—a paradigm shift that I believe is essential for all of us to live life more fully. I am particularly passionate about helping parents integrate NVC into their daily lives. In my sessions, participants can expect a blend of empathy, practical tools, and a supportive community that encourages personal growth and transformation.
Testimonials
Course Practicals
Times & Dates
Tuesdays Oct 22 – Dec 17, 9am-12pm PT, 12-3pm ET, 5-8pm BST, 6-9pm CET, 7-10pm IT
Whatsapp Group
For ongoing integration support throughout the week
