Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D.
Marshall was a master at offering empathy.
With just one or two pieces of information, he could name, with considerable accuracy, what an individual felt and needed often before the individual himself knew what he felt and needed. Marshall used this information not only to connect with the individual but to help the individual connect with himself, to see what was alive in him. More than once, I have seen the angst or frustration or fury that an individual brought to a workshop dissipate as he worked through his acknowledged feelings and needs. Such is the power of Marshall’s work.
For decades, Marshall worked in different roles—as a facilitator of workshops, as a mediator, and as a trainer. Although there are a number of videos of Marshall on YouTube, it is this 2-minute and 37-second video that speaks so movingly of who Marshall was and what he brought to the world:
In this video, one gets a glimpse not just of the psychologist but of the man who had dedicated his life, with joy, to helping each of us show up whole, not half. It is my hope that you will see the work of a great man who created a great body of work and be inspired to ask these four questions: “What do I feel? What do I need? What do you feel? What do you need?”
For more information about Marshall, please visit this website: www.cnvc.org. The letters CNVC stand for The Center of Nonviolent Communication, an organization that Marshall founded in 1984, serving as its Director of Educational Services.