Small talk is exhausting. Pretending, performing, and keeping the peace take a toll. What if difficult conversations felt energizing? What if you didn’t have to filter yourself to be accepted? What if speaking your truth felt as natural as breathing? In this space, we practice courageous, heart-opening conversations that go deeper than words.
When you weave Nonviolent Communication and Internal Family Systems into your life, you discover how to grieve, heal, love, and lead authentically. As you step into these practices, you become a catalyst for deeper connection and collective liberation.
What is an Authentic Communication Group?
In this space we practice showing up with openness and care. It is a supported space where the relationships are real and the responses matter. We meet each other in real time and work with the interpersonal interactions as they arise, so the learning stays grounded in what is actually happening. Together we explore what honesty, courage, and presence can look like in every conversation.
Most of our deepest wounds are relational in origin. They were formed in relationship, and they can be healed in relationship. An Authentic Communication Group is where that relational healing can happen, with the precision and safety that NVC and IFS make possible. When you take the risk to be vulnerable and are met with genuine care from seven peers, something shifts at a level that one-on-one conversations cannot reach.
Authentic communication is about alignment. When your words match what you feel and what your body is signaling, you can speak with more clarity and self-trust. That kind of congruence often creates more connection, even in difficult conversations.
You will be part of a small group of eight, supported by an experienced facilitator. As a group, we pay attention to the space between intention and impact and practice ways of speaking and listening that help your message land more cleanly.
“This is my online family where I totally come alive. It’s surprisingly deep. Unlike other zoom meetings, I am fully engaged, leaning into my relationships with people I truly value.”
Modalities
Authentic communication is not about getting it perfect. It is about staying present, even when things feel messy. In this group, we lean on four pillars as we deepen our practice.
- Nonviolent Communication: We practice speaking with honesty and compassion, so you can stay connected to what matters to you while also making room for what matters to others.
- Internal Family Systems: We notice what is happening inside in the moment, including when a part activates in the middle of a real interaction without warning. With Self energy (curiosity, courage, connection) you learn to recognize your parts as they arise, pause, and find more choice in how you respond. This is how inner work transfers into real life.
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Relationships: We include an awareness of power and difference as part of real connection. The focus is on self-reflection, including noticing your assumptions and how they shape the way you listen, speak, and interpret what happens.
- We work with what is alive in the room, using the group as a microcosm of your relational world. You name what you are noticing, take relational risks at a pace that works for you, and practice staying with complexity during charged moments.
Authentic Communication Groups are not therapy groups. You are responsible for your own learning and well-being. If you have done meaningful inner work and want to strengthen your interpersonal skills in a live, supportive setting, you are welcome to join us.
“The group has been a transformational experience for me. I was nurtured, nourished and supported along my journey by an amazing group of individuals and an incredible facilitator.”
Format
- Most groups meet twice a month for 2 hours, and some groups meet weekly
- Each meeting is recorded, so you can listen later
- You can meet privately with your facilitator for 30 minutes once a quarter to discuss your learning or any challenges you’re facing
“I joined the group because I never knew what to say… until later. In getting to know my fears, I’ve learned to take risks. I am much more connected to myself, and to others.”
Options
Each session is a live experiment in authentic, relational communication. You might practice:
- Naming what you notice about power dynamics
- Experimenting with new behaviors to create connection
- Raising difficult issues with honesty and care
- Exploring how social identities shape group interactions
- Empathizing with yourself and others, even when you are in conflict
- Giving and receiving honest, consensual feedback
- Communicating mindfully, even when you are emotionally triggered
- Trying out new ways of relating to prepare you for the risks you want to take in your outside life.
It’s not always easy. But that’s the work. Leaning into discomfort, staying engaged, and discovering deeper connection through it all.
“It was rough at times, and it was messy. I cried. I was angry. I got defensive… Through it all, I learned to stand up for myself, to stand up for my own needs. I learned to cherish and treasure not only my needs, but also the needs of others in an authentic and integrated way. That has radically transformed and changed the nature of my relationships.”
Experimenting with new ways of relating means taking risks. When you speak up about the impact of someone’s behavior, you give the group a gift. You learn not only how to develop authentic communication skills, but also discover how to raise live issues and work through them in ways that strengthen connection.
Letting yourself be more fully known, including the parts you usually keep private, can be deeply transforming. With support, shame can start to soften, and old hurts can begin to mend. When a part of you that has long felt undeserving of connection is finally met with genuine warmth by real people in real time, something changes at the level of lived experience, not just understanding. As your authenticity grows, many people find their care and tenderness for others grows too. Over time, the group becomes more than a place to learn skills. It becomes a place where you can feel truly seen.
“This sacred gathering space is with people around the world. I appreciate the healing process of true Self responsibility.”
One of the most powerful outcomes of this work is the emergence of a high-trust, open-hearted, and deeply supportive group. As all of you become more present, something shifts. The group enters a state of flow and aliveness, and becomes what many members describe as the healthy family they never had. A place where you are known, accepted, and wanted over time, and where you take the risk to know and want others in return.
In an authentic communication group, you’ll practice:
- Connecting with your inner world—noticing and naming your parts as they arise
- Expressing your vulnerability—saying what’s real, even when it feels risky
- Bringing up difficult issues with care—learning to address tensions directly and compassionately
- Communicating anger or hurt without harm—staying relational, even when emotions run high
- Receiving support and care from others—allowing yourself to be seen and held in community
- Experiencing a do-over —receiving group relational healing from an old wound
“I have tapped into a new energy. I’ve begun vibrating at entirely different frequencies as I began manifesting things in my life and attracting people and experiences and results that I never could have imagined.”
Group Composition
We intentionally cultivate racially, culturally, and socioeconomically diverse groups because deep relational work thrives in a mix of lived experiences. Too often, people who have been marginalized enter learning spaces only to feel isolated or tokenized rather than fully included. We are committed to creating spaces where everyone is valued, heard, and able to show up fully.
To support inclusion, we ask you to invite colleague whose culture, class, or ethnicity, is different from yours. If you have the financial means, consider sponsoring someone with less access to resources.
“In the safety and openness of our group I come alive with energy, clarity, creativity and courage to explore, experiment, and express. The process of self-discovery and integration is accelerated.”
Find a group that works for you!
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