I can’t believe – and that’s a compliment to you – how quickly you were able to create a safe space. I am not a super closed person, but the emotions further down, I really do not share. I’m really surprised how quickly I became comfortable in this group. You created that space and for some reason, even shy people felt safe enough. We had a few people in the group who were very shy and they also eventually started coming out of their shell.

Working with Ulrike was a transformative experience. We started our sessions in the aftermath of the pandemic, and I was in a bit of a depressed state of mind, focused exclusively on work, unable to find joy or balance in my day-to-day life. One question that caught me off-guard was: What do you do for fun? This made me reflect on my life and recognize that changes had to be made. We have worked together on forming new positive habits – and the experience was really useful. Making a commitment to change and having a witness to your progress helped with the powerful transformation I needed.

The biggest learning for me in our practice group was that happiness comes from inside, from accepting myself and seeing the value in myself. When you’re very critical to yourself you cannot be kind to other people. Being kind to other people is something that’s very important to me. I realised that’s not possible if I’m not kind to myself.

Nearly every session was super important. I took notes of absolutely everything. For example, the very first question “What’s alive in me right now?” and the second question “What would make my life more wonderful?”… You can understand a lot of what’s happening by feeling your bodily reactions. That was a revelation to me. My body talks a lot and I can simply listen to it to understand what it’s telling me.

The influence that NVC has on my dealing with stress today is massive. It changed my whole approach of myself.

I was under a lot of time pressure. I wanted to identify what the main sources of stress are, and see if they are what they are or if they were just in my head. To see my own thoughts materialise in other people’s words… that helped me address my stressors.

I learned something in every session. It was a whole process for me. I am still learning. One particular incident that I remember was when I shared something that was bothering me to a bunch of people that I did not know outside the group. The way they supported me and the way they empathised with me was as if they were in my shoes. That meant a lot to me. They were taking time out to support me and to be there for me. What you and other group members said brought me a lot peace. It was a really important day for me in this whole process.

What impressed me the most was that we created a bit of a bubble where everyone was very eager to listen and to share. Obviously, we were all strangers and meeting every week online. It was such an immediate safe space that was completely unexpected from me.

Mir hilft konkret, dass ich das Verhalten, das ich nicht sachlich/ unprofessionell finde, einordnen zu können. Wenn ich das einordnen kann, dann habe ich einfach meinen wunden Punkt erkannt, dann fällt es mir leichter, das beiseite zu schieben und zu sagen, der Fokus ist jetzt aber, dass wir das Projekt voranbringen. Wenn ich meinen wunden Punkt für mich formuliere, kann ich das akzeptieren und mich auf das Projektziel fokussieren. Dieses Selbstverständnis und Mitgefühl für mich selber – das hilft mir. Ich komme dann einfach schneller zu dieser Akzeptant dadurch, dass ich es klar formulieren kann. Dabei tue ich mich eigentlich eher schwer, Dinge zu akzeptieren. Aber das logische Nachvollziehen hilft mir dabei.