Similarities and Differences between Nonviolent Communication and Wild Mind

"If we surrendered to earth's intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees." — Rainer Maria Rilke

A Relational Metaphor of the Human Psyche — The Ceiba Connection Tree of Life [1]

The Ceiba, with a large crown that projects a comfortable shade below, with thick branches extending outward toward the trees around it, and giant roots that tower above ground before entering the topsoil to the depths, finds itself between two ecosystems that need each other…

“If, as the Mayan language implies, our lives are really trees, then like water, it is the devoted urgency of the real stories to move toward their origination; their willingness to remain trapped en route home as stories in the dryness of our wood that brings us that precious spiritual lifeblood, causing the nutrients of cultural memory to reach the diverse branches of all peoples.”— Martin Practel in “The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun.” [2]

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) by Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D. [3] invites us to focus our attention in ways that support a reciprocal compassionate giving and receiving with the hope of interpersonal connection. In referencing the picture above, inspired by Inbal Kashtan's "NVC Tree of Life" [4], NVC focuses on inter-being Connection and conscious self-awareness of Self-Connection through the Ceiba roots above ground. For more information on NVC, click here for the Center for Nonviolent Communication.

The Eco-Depth Psychology of Wild Mind (WM) by Bill Plotkin, Ph.D. [5] provides a framework for cultivating personal wholeness and self-healing supporting self-connection in relationship to the heart of the world. In referencing the picture above, WM focuses on Self-Connection from the topsoil hummus (i.e. the boundary of conscious awareness and the personal unconscious) to the underground Ceiba roots for Archetypal Expression. For more information on WM, click here for the Animas Valley Institute.

The compass rose around the trunk the Ceiba tree represents Plotkin's "horizontal plane" of the Self, including the "four facets of our innate human potential." Coincidentally, NVC and WM have similar conceptual structures in that the four components of NVC (Observation, Feeling, Need, Request) are subsets of the four windows of knowing of WM (Full-Presence Sensing, Embodied Feeling, Deep Imagination, Heart-Centered Thinking) respectively [6][7][8]. As such, each community of practice can inherit the practices of the other thereby expanding the potential contribution to awakened relational wholeness.

Together, NVC and WM encompass a wholistic relational framework for self-connection, interpersonal connection while including a connection to the "more-than-human" world -- a conscious connection to life, supporting the emergence of a life-affirming culture of healthy mature adults.

The remainder of this essay compares and contrasts NVC and WM to encourage cross-pollination.

Similarities of NVC and WM

• Both arose from a focus of healthy fulfilled people
• Both share in a foundation of Carl Jung’s Cognitive Functions (thinking, feeling, sensing, imagination+). +Originally assigned as “intuition.”
• When assigning Jung’s CF to the cardinal directions, both place a special interest in the West.
• The NVC component of the West specifies the universal human need, which can be described as intrinsic motivation for behavior. In NVC, feelings arise from the level of fulfillment of our needs. One way to identify the need “alive” in the moment is to “imagine why” this feeling has arisen.
• The WM window of knowing of the West is the “Deep Imagination”, and the main archetype of the West, the Dark Muse Beloved is seen as a guide to soul.
• It could be said that Plotkin’s primary motivation for writing WM is to prepare for the journey of soul initiation, which is the title of his latest book and the main focus of the nonprofit organization he founded, the “Animas Valley Institute.”
• Needs are associated with archetypes — different archetypes value different sets of needs, having different preferred strategies for meeting them. Needs and archetypes both are universal in that humans from all cultures can relate to them.

Differences Between NVC and WM

• NVC originated from the Humanistic Psychology of Abraham Maslow, and Carl Rogers; Marshall Rosenberg was a student of Rogers.
• Wild Mind (WM) originated from the branch of psychology of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and influenced by James Hillman.
• NVC’s primary focus is interpersonal communication, with a hope of connection. It should be noted that NVC has evolved since its inception to also focus on conscious self-connection, also known as self-understanding, and usually called “self-empathy.”
• Wild Mind’s primary focus is awakening the Self, which is made of natural innate resources specified through a nature-based map of the human psyche.
• NVC when used conversationally, is used in real-time, supporting a conversation that is happening in the moment. WM is generally used “offline” for personal development, with the support of a guide or therapist — or it may be used to guide experiences with the more-than-human through cultivating wholeness and self-healing practices.
• This awakening relies on interactions with nature as a guide to healing the Self supported by the cultivation of wholeness. NVC calls this “Self-Connection”
• WM leverages a dynamic tension between conscious awareness of the archetypes which arise from the collective unconscious. As the ego becomes aware of archetypal expressions within, it develops a relationship with unconscious elements of the psyche.
• In the Ceiba relational metaphor of the psyche, NVC conscious self-connection takes place in the Roots above ground, whereas WM engages the Roots above and below ground through the archetypes, and “SoulCraft” practices, such as deep imaginal journeys, dreamwork and shadow-work (Shadow is defined as the energies that the ego is not aware of and would deny if accused of them).

Needs Met by CNVC and NVC

• interpersonal and inter-being communication with the hope of connection. NVC gives a specific and simplified use of Jung’s CF and WM’s windows of knowing that supports a moment by moment conversation of life.
• NVC defines a clear differentiation between Strategies vs. Needs: Strategies are the specific ways that we use to meet needs, and are associated with a Person, Location, Action, Time, Object (PLATO). Needs are the intrinsic motivation behind the strategy, independent of PLATO. There is no conflict at the level of needs — needs are in harmony with each other. Potential conflict only exists at the level of strategies.
• The practice of NVC can be used to clarify and develop strategies for meeting any need; As we gain experience with NVC, we learn that some strategies are more effective at meeting needs than others.
• A focus on conscious strategies that contribute to compassionate giving and receiving (aka. connection), through skills development for empathic listening, compassionate self-expression, and conscious self-connection, giving a sense of closeness, shared-understanding, and emotional liberation
• Given the large number of people engaged in the practice of NVC, there’s a wealth of information from many practitioners on cultivating relational wholeness, supporting needs for community, effectiveness, shared reality, and hope for co-creating a culture were everyone’s needs matter.

Needs Met by Eco-Depth Psychology of Wild Mind

• A deeper sense of belonging to the world
• An intimate relationship with nature as a guide, contributing to eco-awakening toward developing a sustainable way of life
• Self-learning, deeper self-Connection through the exploration, built familiarity with unconscious elements of the psyche
• Clarity, Support, Effectiveness through the nature-based map of the human psyche helps guide us on the personal unconscious — the archetypal psychology started by Carl Jung
• A psychology that is congruent and integrated with nature as a guide
• New toolset of practices for self-connection

Needs Met by Combining NVC and WM

• Conversations can serve the purpose of communication, as well as cultivating wholeness, support self-healing, and connection to the more-than-human
• The context of wholeness is not only how humans relate to themselves, it expands to consider how humans interact with each other and the more-than-human world.
• Our conscious awareness expands the understanding of the Self to include the more-than-human through the acknowledgement and clarification of needs
• We gain a clarity and understanding in the selection of strategies that serve life. We can maximize the effectiveness of our strategy selection by maximizing the satisfaction of needs while minimizing cost.
• An acknowledgement that humans and the more-than-human have needs; Given the unique agency of humanity, its important to highlight our universal human needs include needs for interdependence, sustainability and reciprocity, a consideration of the needs of all beings on Earth
• The practice of NVC is expanded in all dimensions through WM — the four NVC components become Windows of Knowing extending our views and experiences taking place in our conversations.
• The embodiment of the archetypes of wholeness, support enriching conversations, allowing for new dimensions of mutual support.
• WM consciousness would help to bring about more sustainable and healthy relationships, given a Nurturance of the unconscious aspects of psyche (clearer ownership of projections, fewer triggers, shorter recovery times)

Endnotes and References

1. Jaime L. Prieto, Jr. Ceiba Connection Tree of Life: A Relational Metaphor of the Human Psyche, Compassionate Connecting, November 27, 2024, available here https://www.compassionateconnecting.com/blog/ceiba-tree-of-life
2. Martín Prechtel, The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun: A Mayan Tale of Ecstasy, Time, and Finding One's True Form, Paperback – Illustrated, July 22, 2005
3. Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D., Nonviolent Communication - A Language of Life, PuddleDancer Press, Encinitas, CA, 2005
4. Inbal Kashtan, and Miki Kashtan, NVC In The Body, The Fearless Heart Publications, The Center for Nonviolent Communication, available here https://thefearlessheart.org/item/nvc-in-the-body-packet/
5. Bill Plotkin, Wild Mind – Field Guide to the Human Psyche, New World Library, Novato, California, 2013
6. Jaime L. Prieto, Jr., Fusion of Jung's Cognitive Functions with Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication (NVC), Compassionate Connecting, June 21, 2023, available here https://www.compassionateconnecting.com/blog/jung-rosenberg
7. Jaime L. Prieto, Jr., Collaborative Empathic Discovery, Compassionate Connecting, July 12, 2023, available here https://www.compassionateconnecting.com/blog/collaborative-empathic-discovery
8. Jaime L. Prieto, Jr., Extending the NVC Wheel of Knowing with Plotkin’s Wild Mind, Compassionate Connecting, Aug 15, 2023, available here https://www.compassionateconnecting.com/blog/wheel-of-knowing-extensions

Conclusion

I'm hoping that you're inspired to participate in this cross-pollination developmental program of NVC and Wild Mind. Would you join me in contributing to the emergence of a life-affirming culture of compassion? Click here to participate.