Communication in Intimate Relationships

A 5-Week ONLINE Program with Newt Bailey and Leeza Pesenson

Sundays October 18 & 25 and November 1, 8 & 15, 2026
10am to 12pm Pacific

Join us for five Sunday mornings devoted to developing communication practices that can help intimate partners deepen their connection and navigate/resolve conflict with greater ease.

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This is a five-week committed ONLINE program.
Class times/dates: 10am to 12pm Pacific on Sundays October 18th and 25th, and November 1st, 8th and 15th, 2026.

Pricing

Earlybird price through October 13th, 2026: $199 per person (plus a non-refundable Humanitix booking fee. Sales tax may also be charged depending on the US state associated with your billing address.)

Sliding-scale financial request: $340 to $225 per person for the program (plus a non-refundable Humanitix booking fee. Sales tax may also be charged depending on the US state associated with your billing address.) We would love to receive $340 per person in support of the sustainability of the Communication Dojo. We also want to welcome those for whom that amount is not affordable, so a range of ticket prices is available.

Humanitix dedicates 100% of the profits from its booking fees to charity, funding education, healthcare and literacy programs. As a registered charity and social enterprise, Humanitix uses these fees to support disadvantaged children.

If money is an obstacle, please write to us at info@communicationdojo.com to ask about possible payment plans or partial/full scholarships.

Upon receipt of your payment, we will email you program details, including the Zoom link for the weekly sessions.

“In the past my husband and I would hold onto hurts, giving each other the cold shoulder, and also have frequent blowups. Since doing the NVC for intimate relationships class, when we do have a disagreement or misunderstanding, we can self-connect and within minutes reconnect with each other. In the past it used to be hours, days, even weeks of disconnect. I tell my friends and my clients about NVC and how it’s helped me and us.”
~ Former participant in the Communication in Intimate Relationships program

Description of the Communication in Intimate Relationships Program

Communication in Intimate Relationships

“It may be most difficult to empathize with those we are closest to”
— Marshall Rosenberg, PhD., Founder of the Center for Nonviolent Communication

We know that intimate relationships can become fertile ground for highly disconnected modes of communication. There can be fierce fights where we resort to the usual tactics of blame, judgment, criticism, demands, threats and "the silent treatment." Fueling the fire we have the well-known hot-button topics between primary partners: money, children, physical intimacy, jealousy & attachment, priorities, religion & politics, etc.

I hear variations on the following comments often:

"I don't like how we communicate, but we don't seem to be able to change it, and it's maybe getting worse"

"Our issues are not really about communication."

"If only my partner would change, I think we'd get along much better."

Regardless of who starts it, it takes two to continue a fight or to engage in disconnected, frustrating and ineffective communication. So, even if just one of you becomes more open to dialogue, and less willing to fight, positive change happens. If you both want this change, it will happen even more quickly.

In this program we'll be covering the essentials of healthy communication within intimate relationships. Even if you don't believe that your issues are really about communication, you will not be able to address them effectively unless you have a way of communicating that works for you both. We invite you to take the plunge and join us! Our workshop participants are often surprised by how much fun they have as they work together on improving their communication!

Communication Dojo: Working Together to Connect!

As soon as you concern yourself with the 'good' and 'bad' of your fellows, you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter. Testing, competing with, and criticizing others weaken and defeat you.
— Morihei Ueshiba, Founder of Aikido

The Communication Dojo is a learning environment designed for everyone, regardless of prior experience with Nonviolent Communication. Now the Communication Dojo approach is being taught as a 5-week committed program - it's a great recipe for building skills, knowledge, and community from week to week!

The Communication Dojo approach is inspired in part by teaching from martial arts. Class participants watch a brief demonstration of this structured approach to dialogue and then break into pairs and "learn by doing."

Participants simply follow a few guidelines while having a conversation on topics of their choosing. Most seem to become quickly at ease with the basic dialogue structure, and can then start to incorporate new skills, principles and awareness at their own pace.

Program Format

Details of the Communication Dojo 5-week online program workshops with weekly live classes:

5 X 2-hour live online workshops
Dedicated online resource area for this program with:
- Video recordings of online classes, so you can review classes after you've attended them or catch up if you're unable to attend any of the classes live
- Additional class notes
- Handouts
- Weekly practice requests
- Extra videos and materials
Daily article for the duration of the program with bonus material:
- “Lifescripts” i.e.examples of specific dialogues and wording to bring the principles more alive and help you to integrate them
- Videos
- Articles
- Quotations/Poetry/Readings to capture the essence of the topic
Same cohort of students for the whole program
Practice suggestions each week
Opportunity to form ongoing practice relationship with other students
More week-to-week support in overcoming obstacles and forming new communication habits
Class size typically between 15 and 35

Some features of the Communication Dojo:
* Efficient use of class time to maximize learning
* High proportion of practice time in pairs - learning communication by communicating.
* Minimal reliance on "jargon" i.e. language that might be confusing or alienating for those not familiar with NVC.
* Little likelihood of people developing any sense of “Doing it wrong” or "Trying to do it right."

Class Recordings and Online Resource Area

The live classes are conducted over Zoom. If you miss a class or want to review one, you can view the class recordings in our dedicated online resource area.

The resource area will become available by October 21st, 2026, and will remain available until April 21st, 2026, or longer.

Recordings are intended for registered participants only.

Pair and small-group breakout practice will not be recorded, to maintain your privacy when you're doing practice exercises and discussions.

Who’s It For?

“Nonviolent Communication (or Connected Communication) has helped me and my partner speak in a much more conscious and effective way. It was a perfect transition and supplement to our prior couples therapy. It helps in every way—at work, with friends, with family, etc. I can’t recommend these classes and Newt as a teacher enough. I wish we all had to take NVC classes in school; it would change the world.”
~ Elise H., San Francisco

It’s not just for couples. Many people attend with a partner, but others attend without their partner. We also welcome anyone who has been part of a couple in the past or intends to be again in the future.

Attending with a partner? You can practice exclusively with your intimate partner and, if you wish to, you may also choose to practice with other participants. We will say more about this choice in the first class.

Attending without a partner? You can fully participate in the program. The skills apply to current, past and future intimate relationships, and exercises can be practiced with other members of the group.

No previous experience with NVC? This program has served as an introduction to Nonviolent Communication for many previous participants.

Experienced with NVC? This program may be especially useful if your attempts to use NVC with someone close to you do not always create the connection you want, or if you would like a structured way to bring NVC into intimate relationships.

Other close pairings welcome! We’ve welcomed participants who asked if they could attend with a parent and believe this program could be a great support to other pairings like siblings, co-founders, friends and many others.

Location and Contact

Location: Online using Zoom conferencing software. Details will be provided upon registration.

Questions? Please email info@communicationdojo.com.

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