The BayNVC Immersion Program: 8-month NVC Intensive

with Oren Jay Sofer & Roxy Manning
FEbruary - september, 2022

Nonviolent Communication is about more than what you say.

It’s about developing internal resources to realize our potential and live in line with our values. It’s about showing up authentically and compassionately in all circumstances, learning to care more fully for ourselves and for others, and transforming moments of immobility and helplessness into experiences of power and choice.

The Immersion Program offers training to:

  • Transform recurring conflicts

  • Enhance your ability to support others

  • Find more balance and clarity with your own “triggers”

  • Shift areas of your life that seem stuck

  • Deepen your capacity for listening and empathy

  • Build community focused on nonviolence

““A life changing experience. Oren and Roxy are, hands down, two of the best facilitators I have ever experienced (who complement each other beautifully). I came away inspired and equipped with powerful and effective tools for supporting interactions... Lastly, many of the connections I made with my cohort have continued long past the training. I am glad and grateful for being a member of this new community.””
— Melody Noll, ESL Instructor

About the Program

The BayNVC Immersion Program (BIP) supports participants to deepen their understanding and embodiment of key principles and applications of Nonviolent Communication. It begins with the four day online Living Peace Retreat, January 20-23, 2022, and continues with eight monthly weekend workshops. (Though not required, most participants attend the retreat. You must register separately for this retreat.)

BIP attracts a range of NVC practitioners: those who are relatively new as well as more experienced students, including alumni of BayNVC’s Leadership Program and previous Immersion Programs. Participants find great value in the continuity of the monthly meetings and the opportunity to learn and grow in a lively community. Please download and read our info packet here before applying.

““BIP has been life changing! I’ve learned skills that have helped me develop deeper self-awareness, express myself more authentically, and connect more compassionately with others. I have so much gratitude for Roxy and Oren, the assistants and this wonderful community!” ”
— Hongxu Liu, Software Engineer Oakland, CA

2022 Program Dates:

Living Peace Retreat: 4-day online training, January 20-23
Please register separately for the Living Peace Retreat here.

8-month Intensive: Monthly weekend programs, 9:30am - 4:30pm, in Berkeley*, CA plus monthly 75-minute live coaching call with a lead trainer. (After the first weekend, trainers will alternate leading weekends and coaching calls.)

  • Feb 26, 27: A Strong and Vital Heart: Empathy under Fire (Roxy and Oren) *

  • March 26, 27: The Myth of Perfection: Maturing through Self-acceptance and Growth (Oren)

  • April 23, 24: A Deeper Freedom: Power, Resources and Choice (Roxy) *

  • May 28, 29: Being Real When It Counts: Authenticity and Vulnerability (Oren)

  • June 11, 12: The Art of Mourning, Healing and Reconciliation (Roxy)

  • July 9 & July 17: Multiple workshops on different topics with guest trainers.* * (Guest Trainers, online sessions)

  • August 27, 28: Radical Responsibility: Giving and Receiving Without Shame (Oren)

  • September 24, 25: Bridging the Gap: Skills for Mediation (Roxy)

Please download and read the BIP Info Packet before applying.
* These weekends will be in San Lorenzo; all other sessions will be in Berkeley CA.
* You are invited to bring friends or family to the July workshops, free of charge!

What You Receive:

  • Expert training from Certified NVC Trainers

  • Personalized coaching in small groups

  • Extensive training curriculum and NVC reference materials

  • Weekly calls with an empathy buddy

  • Monthly practice assignments and journal topics

  • Optional small group sessions on specific interest topics

  • One 45 minute private NVC coaching session*

  • Access to an ongoing program email group

  • Opportunity to build local community

*Note: offered by program assistants.

Who's it for?

This program is appropriate for those newer to Nonviolent Communication as well as for experienced practitioners seeking to deepen their practice. Applicants are expected to have some prior training in NVC. Past years have drawn therapists, activists, teachers, nurses, doctors, writers, artists, engineers, life coaches, and many more.

COVID Precautions

All participants will be required to provide proof of full vaccination (including a booster shot where applicable).* We will be accepting fewer people to the program this year in order to accommodate social distancing requirements, and may require that individuals where masks indoors depending on the recommended guidelines of public health officials at the time of the program.

We are offering the program in-person with online coaching calls, with the intention to switch to a fully online format if health mandates require. In order to offer predictability for this year's cohort, we ask that you only sign up for the program if you are committed to staying in the program regardless of the format. Our regular refund policy will apply for any withdrawals from the program for any reason.

* Due to the risk of serious illness for those who are immunocompromised or in high risk categories, as well as the complexity of variable around testing (false negatives, potential exposure after testing), we have chosen to require proof of vaccination rather than a negative PCR test result as a pre-requisite for attendance in this program. We appreciate your understanding and mourn the potential loss of participation by those who have chosen not to be vaccinated for any reason.
““BIP precipitated a swell of growth in my life that extended to parenting, personal relationships, and professional skill and opportunity. [It]... has made my experience of life more fulfilling on the whole. Roxy and Oren have invited in and held space for a beautiful, vulnerable, imperfect community that I am honored to have been a part of.””
— Emily Smith, Executive Coach, San Francisco, CA.

Program Leadership

The BayNVC Immersion Program will be co-led by Certified Nonviolent Communication Trainers Roxy Manning, Ph.D. and Oren Jay Sofer, and will be supported by a team of experienced NVC assistants. Our leadership team is designed to provide significant individualized coaching in small groups, with an average teacher to student ratio of four or five to one. Note that the two core trainers alternate leading weekends, and will co-lead the final weekend together.

Roxy Manning, Ph.D., a CNVC Certified Trainer, has co-led various BayNVC’s depth programs since 2008. A passionate champion of social justice, she brings NVC to her work as a licensed clinical psychologist, and has supported groups around the world interested in causes from LGBTQ rights to equity and transformation of social structures related to race, ethnicity and social class.

Oren Jay Sofer, a CNVC Certified Nonviolent Communication Trainer, teaches workshops and retreats on meditation and communication nationally. His teaching emphasizes how awareness practice and communication training deepen one another in a synergistic manner. He holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University, is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for healing trauma, and is a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. Oren is also the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication.

Program Cost

Sliding Scale Tuition: $4000 - $2000
Our sliding scale is intended to make this program accessible to people of a wide range of income levels. Please choose an amount that reflects your ability to contribute. People who contribute at the top of the sliding scale support our ability to offer spaces at a cost below the bottom of the sliding scale to those who would otherwise be unable to participate.

Scholarships and youth rates (24 and younger) available. Details below.

Please download and read the BIP Info Packet before applying.
Sponsored by BayNVC.

FINANCIAL AID & ACCESSIBILITY

We wish to support all people who are passionate about this work to have access to it, independent of their current access to financial resources. We recognize that, because of various social and economic systems, some people experience financial barriers to participating in events with cost-based attendance.

We are explicitly inviting participation by people who come from any of the following communities. When all people are included, our communities benefit:

  • People with visible or invisible disabilities

  • People who do not have white skin privilege and/or who come from communities who have been targets of racism

  • Low-income/Poor or Working class people (please refer to this definition as a guideline when self-identifying in this category)

If you identify as part of one of the communities listed above and would like to be considered for a low-cost space, please complete a scholarship form. Preference will be given to those who are new to this work and who have not attended past events at reduced or no cost.

“I gained so much from this program, through Oren and Roxy’s teaching and the support of the assistants. I learned to speak up for myself and to express my needs in a skillful way that could be well-received. I learned to listen empathetically, and to listen for what really mattered… I feel more empowered in my communication, and so appreciated the community that was formed along the way.”

— Valerie Loo, Movement Awareness Coach, Oakland, CA. (BIP 2019)

“The program is a comprehensive introduction to nonviolent communication.  The Program provides immediately usable skills to give and receive empathy, greatly improving one's ability to connect with others individually and in groups.”

— Bob Spencer, Oakland, CA. (BIP 2019)

“This program profoundly taught me how to honor that I have needs worthy of knowing, expressing, and trusting. I learned concrete skills for intentionally connecting to myself and to compassionately connect to others too… Roxy and Oren (and the incredibly-skilled assistants) were consistently thoughtful and prepared, and the community offered reliable healing. This program is a must for anyone interested in NVC, building community, and true healing/transformation.”

— Dr. Rachel Greenberg, Psychologist, Oakland, CA (BIP 2019)

"“How do you feel” could be the cliche of all cliche questions asked by therapists. The BayNVC Immersion Program, with its experiential practices and powerful instructions, reinforced a process for noticing, naming, and validating the feelings and needs that are most alive in us, no matter how shut down or stuck we may feel. This clarity brings the possibility of empathy for self and other ever closer... The course and instructors and assistants were patient, skillful and brilliant!”

— Linda Taggert,  LCSW, Psychotherapist, Berkeley, CA (BIP 2019)

“I am an introvert with social anxiety, and even though I have worked on this a lot it was still an EXTREMELY challenging for me to sign up for BIP… I found the acceptance that we all had our own needs and limitations deeply restorative… By the last month, I was actually connected and at ease with a dozen new people, disappointed that we were coming to an end. Overall, the program met my needs for growth, connection, and continued community.”

— Mary Richards, Teacher, Livermore CA. (BIP 2019)

”Over the course of the year, I became more comfortable sharing my vulnerability in community, helping to heal wounds around acceptance, mattering, and shame.”

— Anonymous, Richmond CA. (BIP 2019)