About Me

Somehow I always had this sense that life was sacred, perhaps because I could see the beauty in my parents and knew that there was something preventing some people from seeing it. I lived with the curiosity as to what this something could be.

These sad and scary experiences that my parents had as children were the back drop to my childhood. Yet my childhood unfolded in the same place in a safe and loving community. My mom became close friends with women who had thrown stones at her as a child. We opened a kitchen door with our neighbor so we can go into each others house without going outside. Mom and the neighbor thought of each other as sisters and they relied on each other for comfort and reassurance. I did not know it at the time, but what I witnessed was the healing of trauma.

My mom and grandma taught me to always stay in the present and to never assume that I know what is in someone else’s heart.

As I grew up I liked listening to people talk about their internal world until something touched me. Today I call it creating an empathic space but for most of my life I did not have a name for it, I simply knew that I experienced wonder and that I touched something of the sacred that was indestructible and indescribably beautiful. This quality was palpable every time I took the time to connect to another’s internal world. I studied psychology and Eastern thought through Ayurveda and Yoga, but I could not find the answer I was looking for until I discovered Non Violent Communication (NVC) by Marshall Rosenberg.

At first what I saw in NVC was a language which offered hope for understanding and connection. That changed when I met Robert Gonzales at a workshop. As we all sat watching Robert help a participant to self connect I saw tears running down Robert’s face. Someone asked him why was he crying, and he replied: what do you mean? I touched a human life. I thought to myself that to Robert the beauty and sacredness of life is evident, and he is the person that I want to study NVC with. For him NVC was not only a language but an avenue to awaken the human spirit. I did study with Robert Gonzales and other trainers as well over the years.

My first commitment to learning NVC started when I met Rita Hertzog 20 years ago. In our interactions I felt so seen by her that I felt transparent and alive all at once. She was so present to the moment, and I was inspired to be like her as I age. All the people her age that I knew were full of opinions and unable to learn something new. She was wise yet young and new and ageless. The perfect combination of knowledge and innocence. I studied with Jim and Jorie Manske mediation and practiced it for years helping businesses and individuals connect across their differences.

This process lead to discovering my love for connecting couples who are experiencing conflict.

During the lockdown I studied with Eckhart Tolle how to teach presence. After all these trainings I still felt that something was missing. Terrence Real offered the opportunity to watch him work with a couple via Zoom. His approach complements my other trainings and gave me the piece that was missing, empowering couples to discover that they have agency in how their relationship will unfold. I am currently completing my training with Terry Real in Relational Life Therapy

Empathy lies in our ability to be present without an opinion.
Marshall B. Rosenberg


To approach another human being with the intention to connect, to communicate, and to engage in a meeting from and towards the beauty of needs is to see/feel/hear ONLY the LIFE in that human being.
Robert Gonzales
When you ride the wave, the thrill is so exhilarating that you forget everything else. You live in the moment where nothing else matters , so intent on riding the wave perfectly that you and the wave become one. Pain and worry disappear, replaced by euphoria, akin to flow. Similarly, when giving empathy, you want to strive for this kind of total presence for the person you are listening to.
Marshall B. Rosenberg
In NVC, no matter what words others may use to express themselves, we simply listen for their observations, feelings, needs and requests.
Marshall B. Rosenberg


I have learned that human beings are not searching for philosophies, even though it may seem that way sometimes. We are searching for something we can trust. And when we find ourselves in the mist of change, the philosophies are like a broken crutch. They do not hold us up. What supports us is a force, an energy, a vortex of love that expresses through us as warmth, creativity, service, and compassion.
Stephen Schwartz
NVC requires us to be continually conscious of the beauty within ourselves and other people
Marshall B. Rosenberg
Most of us grew up speaking a language that encourages us to label, compare, demand and pronounce judgments rather than to be aware of what we are feeling and needing.
Marshall B. Rosenberg
When we focus on clarifying what is being observed, felt , and needed rather than on diagnosing and judging, we discover the depth of our own compassion.
Marshall B. Rosenberg
The rule that surpasses all rules is that you must be connected, willing to see what’s in front of you, and willing to move if what you’re doing isn’t working

Terrence Real
So much of me is made of what i learned from you; you’ll be with me like a hand print on my heart and now whatever way our stories end I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend.

Stephen Schwartz
The Chinese philosopher Chuang-Tzu stated that true empathy requires listening with the whole being. The hearing that is only in the ears is one thing. The hearing of the understanding is another. But the hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty, to the ear or to the mind. Hence it demands the emptiness of all the faculties. And when the faculties are empty, then the whole being listens. There is then a direct grasp of what is right there before you that can never be heard with the ear or understood with the mind .

Marshall B. Rosenberg