– Universi-Tea –

Continuing Education for Empathizers

Empa-Tea defines an Empathizer as an individual that possess the capability to truly empathize with another being free from moralistic judgement, diagnosis, unwanted advice giving and other actions that get in the way of empathy without the need for additional training by Empa-Tea. While everyone has the potential to become an empathizer, most people have been trained from a very young age to speak in ways that rarely meet our own needs, and often make empathy impossible. If you’ve watched television as a child or went to any form of school, you most likely learned a sort of language that might not meet your needs or the needs of others for understanding. To become an Empathizer, you must show that you can speak nonviolent communication fluently.

During this learning process, mistakes will happen. Marshall Rosenberg calls this phase “baby Giraffe”. Those who want to dedicate themselves to Empath*ology and Nonviolent Communication practice will have to train for quite a while before they can be considered Empathizers. The process of becoming an Empathizer can be completely FREE. While you can obtain certifications in Nonviolent Communication, we are lucky to have access to a wealth of knowledge for free thanks to the Center for Nonviolent Communication. In order to share resources and give you the tools to learn and one day become an empathizer, we have shared our favorite videos, books, guides, and ideas that will put you on the path to becoming an Empathizer.

Videos:

Empa-Tea Resources

Empath*ology and Active Hope

The NVC Training Course ($160 value for free)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZnXBnz2kwk?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

This video comes from the complete training course created by Marshall Rosenberg. We believe this to be, by far, the most comprehensive resource online. There are 6 – 1-hour sessions that cover:

Complete Workshop With Marshal Rosenberg

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2KkOPZfn_Y?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

This 8-hour video is a great option for long car rides, going for walks or simply watching instead of a movie. You can learn from others trial and error and practice at home with family and friends.

Books:

The most fundamental book that serves as a cornerstone of Empath*ology is Nonviolent Communication A Language of Life. Just at the Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft has his executives read this book, we encourage all potential Empathizers to read this work. Reading and owning this book will help meet our need for understanding that you could create a space for Effective Venting as an Empathizer with Empa-Tea.

Documents:

List of Feelings

The Center for NVC has a list of feelings that appears in Marshal Rosenberg’s books. Familiarize yourself with these feelings. We are not encouraged to use this type of feeling vocabulary in schools.

As a young boy and teenager, I remember I was told or noticed people would say, “don’t cry”, “quit being such a baby”, “grow up and stop being so sensitive”. Even worse guys might say, “stop being such a girl/wimp/etc”. As a result, my vocabulary for feelings and needs shrunk. I learned not to talk about my feelings, and I lost the vocabulary. I needed to develop my understanding of my feelings and needs just like anyone else. Over time I have improved, but my training still enters, just as yours will when you learn this form of communication.

-Josh Wayne

We rarely see a conciseness of feelings online or on television, social media, or netflix. It seems like much of our day encourages and reinforces a language that takes us further away from connection, understanding, and meeting our needs so that we feel truly satisfied for a majority of our lives. Begin the unlearning process by familiarizing yourself with the list of feelings.

List of Needs

The above link from the Center for Nonviolent Communication will take you to a list of needs created by Marshal Rosenberg. A fundamental human need as we define it, is something that all humans need in order to feel satisfied. When a need is not satisfied, we believe that people might experience certain feelings. Likewise when our needs are satisfied, we might experience different feelings. Our feelings give us insight into our needs that are not being met, or those that are truly meeting out needs.

For a deeper understanding of Fundamental Human Needs, read Human Scale Development by Manfred Max Neef, the link will take you to a free PDF of the book. Pages 29-37 will provide a deeper understanding of fundamental human needs, and Manfred Max Neef’s classification of satisfiers. Empath*ology chooses to use Manfred Max Neef’s insights on fundamental human needs because we believe it elaborates gives a deeper understanding than NVC Marshall typically communicates on fundamental human needs. Marshall had a lot to talk about regarding the process, that he could not truly delve in to the importance of needs like Neef shares with us. Marshall mentioned that he enjoyed Neef’s work and agrees with the classification of needs that Neef creates.

Neef's Needs — Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/574631233683053166/

Empathology goes even a step further than Neef by searching for Fundamental Needs of all systems of life. Dogs have fundamental needs, many of which are similar to that of a human.*

Trees and other plants have fundamental needs, and again, many are similar to that of a human.

Can you see the needs in this flower? Water, sunlight, insects, humans, space, connection, nutrients and others?

While this plant might have similar needs as the one above, the strategies they take to meet their needs have evolved over time. At Empa-Tea, we honor the differences. Your strategies are unique to your particular situation. People are like flowers, they find strategies to meet their needs given the environment from which they were raised. We do not think our strategies will necessarily work for all people, and we want to help you find the strategies within you to meet your needs.

Organizations, businesses, and relationships have needs. Think about the needs that allow the system you care about to function. This helps you empathize with any system you interact with and it increases the likelihood you can understand peoples behavior and help work together to meet each others’ needs.

Limits of Education and Academia

While we base much of our work on tried and true theories discovered by philosophers and practitioners alike, Empathizing effectively takes practice and effort. It takes failure, and it takes time. We know that failure is inevitable and we want to you practice and fail often. Ask your friends if they would allow you to practice empathizing with them. Not only will your friends thank you for trying to understand them, but you will be able to improve your empathizing skills, and create the environment for Effective Venting that Empa-Tea strives to offer all clients.

That’s all for today, check back again for updates as we share more information and resources that can help you improve your skills as an empathizer, so you can begin creating a consciousness around needs, feelings, and strategies to meet the needs.