The Certification Pathway

Two Paths, One Heart

While TCCP primarily supports the Certified Trainer (CT) path, we are also preparing to support the emerging Recognized Practitioner (RP) role within the CNVC ecosystem. Both paths are rooted in the same NVC consciousness and commitment to care, integrity, and relationship.

the certified trainer path

NVC Certified Trainer (CT) — The Global Sharing Path

This is the established certification for individuals who feel a calling to teach and share Nonviolent Communication broadly. The focus on this path is on deep integration of NVC consciousness and the capacity to share and support NVC practice across a wide range of domains. Certified Trainers can participate in all aspects of CNVC governance and programs, including teaching at IITs and becoming assessors.

six spheres of rp practice

Recognized Practitioner (RP) — The Specialized Application Path

This role has been approved by CNVC and is currently in development. TCCP is not yet accepting candidates solely for this path. The focus on this path is in integrating NVC deeply into a specific professional or life domain. Recognized Practitioners will be members of CNVC but are not eligible to vote in special elections or serve as IIT trainers.

Learning in Home Circles: Community as the Container

Candidates and members participate in identity-based, regional, and focus-area circles, including Tech Cohorts, BIPOC Circles, Queer/LGBTQ+ spaces, and regional Home Circles. Candidates move through certification in these small Home Circles that provide continuity, trust, and relationship over time.

Home Circles support:

  • Belonging and mutual care
  • Honest feedback grounded in relationship
  • Shared learning across difference
  • Accountability that is relational rather than punitive

Many candidates appreciate the sense of closeness and shared commitment that comes from meeting regularly and engaging in brave, honest dialogue with one another.

The Certification Journey

TCCP understands certification as a multi-phase journey that unfolds over time, in relationship, and with increasing clarity of commitment and responsibility. Below we describe what typically happens during both the Application Phase and the Candidacy Phase, so candidates have a clear sense of what to expect beyond being accepted.

Phase 1: Application Phase

The Application Phase is a period of mutual discernment. Candidates explore their readiness, and the Advocate Circle explores whether TCCP is the right container to support their continued learning and integration.

This phase typically includes:

 

1. Preparation and Reflection
Applicants review the TCCP values, systems, and expectations, and reflect on their motivations, learning edges, and capacity for community-based certification.

2. Written Application Materials
Applicants submit materials such as training logs, teaching experience, reflections on NVC integration, and letters of recommendation.

TCCP is designed to support people who already have substantial immersion and fluency in Nonviolent Communication. Readiness for application typically includes:

  • At least 30 days of training with CNVC Certified Trainers
  • A well-established personal practice of growth and learning grounded in NVC consciousness
  • A high level of integration of NVC skills in daily life and relationships
  • Ongoing involvement in the application of NVC through a community project (such as teaching, facilitating practice groups, family camps, schools, or other NVC-based initiatives)
  • At least one year of experience teaching or sharing NVC
  • A recommendation from a CNVC Certified Trainer who is familiar with the applicant’s teaching and integration

These criteria are offered to support mutual discernment and help ensure that the certification journey is grounded, relational, and sustainable for both the candidate and the community.

3. Advocate Circle Review

Members of the Advocate Circle review applications collaboratively, with attention to readiness, alignment, capacity, and the health of the overall community.

4. Community Transparency
Applications are shared within the TCCP community to invite relevant feedback from members who may have experience working or learning with the applicant.

At the conclusion of the Application Phase, applicants are either invited into candidacy, invited to continue preparing and reapply later, or supported in discerning a different pathway.

Phase 2: Candidacy Phase

The Candidacy Phase is a longer-term period of deep integration, practice, feedback, and discernment. Candidates are supported to live and demonstrate NVC consciousness consistently across teaching, relationships, and community participation.

During candidacy, participants typically:

  1. Participate in a Home Circle
    Candidates join a Home Circle that provides continuity, peer support, honest feedback, and shared learning over time.
  2. Engage in Mentoring and Feedback
    Candidates receive ongoing mentoring from assessors or assessors-in-training, and actively seek 360-degree feedback from peers, participants, and community members.

  3. Portfolio Development and Pre-Assessment Preparation
    Included in the candidacy period is a pre-assessment phase, during which candidates work on their Certification Preparation Packet (CPP), following the requirements established by the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC). TCCP aligns with and supports the CNVC certification process.

    The portfolio is understood as a living reflection of the candidate’s integration of NVC, rather than a fixed or standardized product. Portfolios may take many forms and are co-designed by the candidate and their assessor, based on the candidate’s context, learning style, and areas of practice.

    Feedback on the portfolio is part of the ongoing assessment and learning process. In addition to the assessor, candidates may choose who else reviews parts of their portfolio with them, such as mentors, peers, or community members, to support deeper reflection and integration.

    You can learn more about CNVC’s certification requirements, including the CPP, here: https://www.cnvc.org/certification

  4. Deepen Teaching and Integration
    Candidates continue teaching, facilitating, and applying NVC in real-world contexts, while reflecting on impact, power dynamics, and learning edges.
  5. Participate in Community Life
    Candidacy includes active participation in retreats, learning gatherings, and community systems related to feedback, restoration, and care.
  6. Ongoing Discernment Toward Certification
    Assessment is not a single event, but an ongoing conversation. When a candidate and the Advocate Circle sense readiness, the formal certification recommendation process is initiated.

Timelines during candidacy vary widely. TCCP values sustainability, integration, and integrity over speed.

Phase 3: From Candidacy to Certification

The transition from candidacy to certification is a relational and collaborative discernment process, not a final exam or single evaluative moment. Over time, candidates and the Advocate Circle build a shared understanding of readiness based on lived practice, impact, and integration.

This phase typically includes:

  1. Shared Sense of Readiness
    Through ongoing feedback, mentoring conversations, and community participation, a shared sense of readiness begins to emerge. This includes clarity about how the candidate lives NVC consciousness in teaching, relationships, and community life.
  2. Certification Recommendation Process
    When readiness is sensed by both the candidate and the Advocate Circle, a formal recommendation process is initiated. This includes gathering final reflections, feedback, and documentation needed for CNVC certification.
  3. Community Acknowledgment and Transparency
    As with earlier phases, transparency is held throughout this process. The community is informed and invited into celebration and acknowledgment of the candidate’s journey.
  4. Transition Into the Wider CNVC Trainer Community
    Certification marks not an ending, but a transition into a broader field of responsibility, collaboration, and service within the global NVC community.

You can learn more about people who have completed this journey on our Certified Trainers page, where we share full recommendation announcements and celebrate their paths.

Meet the TCCP graduates!
quotes

“Quote to come.”

TCCP Certification Candidate