Building Understanding Through Nonviolent Communication
بناء التفاهم من خ لال التواصل اللاعنفي
A 28-hour community training in Arabic for newcomers and community leaders in Ottawa.
November 20-22 & 27-29, 2026
Why This Training
This training is for community leaders, settlement workers, educators, parents, volunteers, and anyone in Ottawa's Arabic-speaking communities who wants to communicate with more clarity and compassion in their personal, professional, and community life.
In Arabic-speaking communities, everyday stresses, cultural transitions, and experiences carried from home can shape how people relate to one another. Misunderstandings rooted in exhaustion, grief, or unfamiliar social norms can quietly erode the trust that communities need to thrive.
Nonviolent Communication (NVC), developed by Marshall Rosenberg, offers a practical approach to transforming how we speak, listen, and connect. Rooted in empathy and honesty, NVC helps people move from reactive patterns toward more conscious, compassionate dialogue.
This training brings NVC to Ottawa's Arabic-speaking communities in their own language, with trainers who understand the cultural, social, and emotional realities of displacement, resettlement, and rebuilding life in a new country.
It is also, by design, an experience of coming together. Participants from different backgrounds, faiths, and national histories sit together as equals. They practise hearing one another without judgment. They put aside the identities and divisions that may have defined them at home, and engage with one another as neighbours building a shared community in Canada.
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Participants who complete the full 28-hour training receive a Certificate in Nonviolent Communication (28-h), issued by the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution (CICR)
Weekend 1: Foundations
(14 hours)
Participants will develop the capacity to:
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Distinguish observation from judgment: describe what you see and hear without adding interpretation or evaluation.
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Recognize and name feelings: develop a vocabulary for emotions and learn to tell feelings apart from thoughts and opinions.
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Identify universal human needs: understand how unmet needs drive conflict, and how naming them creates space for connection.
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Make clear, actionable requests: replace demands and expectations with specific, respectful invitations to action.
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Recognize communication patterns that block empathy: judgments, comparisons, demands, and denial of responsibility.
Participants will develop the capacity to:
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Practise empathic listening: receive difficult messages (criticism, blame, anger) as expressions of unmet needs, rather than personal attacks.
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Develop self-empathy: respond to your own mistakes and struggles with compassion rather than self-criticism.
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Apply NVC in real-life contexts: family relationships, community interactions, workplace dynamics, and settlement challenges.
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Engage with conflict constructively: use the NVC framework to transform disagreements into opportunities for understanding.
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Create a personal action plan: identify concrete next steps to continue practising NVC in daily life and community leadership.
Meet your Trainers
Rasha Kaba - رشا كبا
Rasha Kaba is a certified TPN trainer with CICR and an international development professional with over a decade of experience in conflict resolution, community development, and humanitarian programming.
She holds a Master's degree in International Development and Globalization from the University of Ottawa.
Souleiman Kassouha, PhD — سليمان كاسوحة
Dr. Kassouha is a certified Third Party Neutral (TPN) trainer with CICR and a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC).
A psychologist, university professor, and master trainer with over 25 years of experience, he has dedicated his career to psychosocial support, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding across diverse contexts.