Improve Communication.
Build Stronger Relationships.
Maybe Even Start a New Career.
Transform your life with our 8-week Introduction Course
I didn't know what to do. I'd never experienced anything like this before...
I call it my aha moment. When I realized the power of NVC and the potential it has to change people’s lives instantly.
You may have never heard of NVC and are wondering what the heck it is. Or you’ve heard of NVC and you’re wondering what the heck I’m getting at. Let me explain through a story.
At this point in my life, I had been introduced to and done a little training in Nonviolent Communication, was encouraged by it and saw potential in it. But I didn’t realize how much potential it has until that day.
One of my good friends called me asking for help. Her daughter, who I loved dearly, was pissed. For the sake of this story we’ll call the mother Jane and the daughter Susie. Susie had just found out that Jane had a boyfriend. This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but she was super close to her dad and her parents had recently gone through a divorce, and this was the first boyfriend Jane had since. Susie was livid, she had written in lipstick the name of the boyfriend, his phone number and his kids’ names on the mirror. She had broken stuff in the kitchen. And in less than 24 hours she had made multiple charges on her mother’s credit card with the accompanying text “If you think this is a high price to pay you haven’t seen anything yet.”
So Jane was on the phone with me and asked me to talk with Susie. To help in any way I could. At that moment I didn’t know what to do. I’d never experienced anything like this before. I had a range of emotions going through my head - fear, sadness, anger, confusion. Luckily, something inside of me said to practice NVC. So when Susie came to my house that day, I practiced the most basic form of NVC. I sat silently and listened in a way I never had before - essentially using NVC empathy.
I don’t want to go into too much detail of the how and what happened after because I tell this story and dissect it in the course. But her entire demeanor changed. She connected with the entire feelings of losing her father and where all her emotions were coming from. And it was incredibly powerful to witness. Miraculous even. A situation that soon before seemed in despair and like it was only going to get worse didn’t. I remember driving around the following day in awe and thinking about how so many situations could be avoided in people’s lives if we all just had these NVC skills.
I tell this not to belittle or demean the people involved, in fact I love them both and they are very close to me. But instead I tell this story because that day I experienced the power of giving someone empathy. Of being completely present with them and understanding of where they were right there. And the immediate impact it had on them, and me. And the impact it has now to change people’s lives. To change your life. To give you hope in all situations, to give you tranquility, power, confidence, connection, and fulfillment.
I have multiple stories like this one now from my years of teaching NVC and running a restorative justice program. I’ve seen this means of communication and empathy change the lives of all types of people. From youth in my restorative justice program who were deemed near impossible to motivate and get to cooperate that not only became motivated and cooperated, but many even returned to volunteer because of the impact it had on their lives. To our program having a waiting list of volunteers, from all walks of life, because of its impact and how fast it was growing.
In my 10+ years of teaching NVC, I’ve fine-tuned my award-winning approach into The Bigbie Method. I want to share my method with you through this course. To make your life better. Give you fulfillment in your relationships. Bring more peace to all corners of your life. And to hopefully make the world a better place one person at a time.
You may have never heard of NVC and are wondering what the heck it is. Or you’ve heard of NVC and you’re wondering what the heck I’m getting at. Let me explain through a story.
At this point in my life, I had been introduced to and done a little training in Nonviolent Communication, was encouraged by it and saw potential in it. But I didn’t realize how much potential it has until that day.
One of my good friends called me asking for help. Her daughter, who I loved dearly, was pissed. For the sake of this story we’ll call the mother Jane and the daughter Susie. Susie had just found out that Jane had a boyfriend. This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but she was super close to her dad and her parents had recently gone through a divorce, and this was the first boyfriend Jane had since. Susie was livid, she had written in lipstick the name of the boyfriend, his phone number and his kids’ names on the mirror. She had broken stuff in the kitchen. And in less than 24 hours she had made multiple charges on her mother’s credit card with the accompanying text “If you think this is a high price to pay you haven’t seen anything yet.”
So Jane was on the phone with me and asked me to talk with Susie. To help in any way I could. At that moment I didn’t know what to do. I’d never experienced anything like this before. I had a range of emotions going through my head - fear, sadness, anger, confusion. Luckily, something inside of me said to practice NVC. So when Susie came to my house that day, I practiced the most basic form of NVC. I sat silently and listened in a way I never had before - essentially using NVC empathy.
I don’t want to go into too much detail of the how and what happened after because I tell this story and dissect it in the course. But her entire demeanor changed. She connected with the entire feelings of losing her father and where all her emotions were coming from. And it was incredibly powerful to witness. Miraculous even. A situation that soon before seemed in despair and like it was only going to get worse didn’t. I remember driving around the following day in awe and thinking about how so many situations could be avoided in people’s lives if we all just had these NVC skills.
I tell this not to belittle or demean the people involved, in fact I love them both and they are very close to me. But instead I tell this story because that day I experienced the power of giving someone empathy. Of being completely present with them and understanding of where they were right there. And the immediate impact it had on them, and me. And the impact it has now to change people’s lives. To change your life. To give you hope in all situations, to give you tranquility, power, confidence, connection, and fulfillment.
I have multiple stories like this one now from my years of teaching NVC and running a restorative justice program. I’ve seen this means of communication and empathy change the lives of all types of people. From youth in my restorative justice program who were deemed near impossible to motivate and get to cooperate that not only became motivated and cooperated, but many even returned to volunteer because of the impact it had on their lives. To our program having a waiting list of volunteers, from all walks of life, because of its impact and how fast it was growing.
In my 10+ years of teaching NVC, I’ve fine-tuned my award-winning approach into The Bigbie Method. I want to share my method with you through this course. To make your life better. Give you fulfillment in your relationships. Bring more peace to all corners of your life. And to hopefully make the world a better place one person at a time.
Cindy Bigbie

What's Included With The Course

This is where the magic happens! This is where your news skills are actually developed and hardwired into your brain with some group discussion and one-on-one practice.

Here you’ll be able to go at your own pace and take in all of the new concepts and strategies you’ll be learning.

Many people that go through this Phase 1 course “drink the kool aid”, love the power and potential it has to change the world, and they go on to become certified trainers for schools, individuals, and organizations. This is step one of that process.

Sometimes you just need to pull out a nice little template or cheat sheet to remember what to do in certain situations. We got you covered with our situational templates. Like the cheat sheets you'd make for an exam. But you won't get int trouble for using these.

Being able to give and receive empathy is a skill. And just like any skill you must practice it to become good at it. Our online Empathy Gym allows a deeper dive into topics and practice. You can "level-up" your skills weekly, and work towards certification with live group training sessions.
How It Works
Who's This Course For
Advocacy Workers and
RJ Practitioners
Are you working on an initiative that deals with instances of trauma? Are you looking to bring Nonviolent Communication into your community?
School Administrators and Business Executives
Are you looking to decrease days of instruction and production loss? Do you want to super charge your team and have a more connected, lighter workplace culture?
Aspiring Teachers, Trainers, and Coaches
Do you want to make a career
out of this? Are you looking for a career with a greater sense of fulfillment and impact? Graduates of this course can go on to become certified Bigbie Method trainers.
out of this? Are you looking for a career with a greater sense of fulfillment and impact? Graduates of this course can go on to become certified Bigbie Method trainers.
Anyone that wants to:
Be a better communicator. Be a better parent. Be more present for their loved ones. Learn how to defuse heated situations and have tough conversations without igniting emotions. Get relief from trauma. Learn NVC.
The Bigbie Method Curriculum
Week 1: Use Needs Rather Than Blame And Judgement To Create Safety
Week 2: Use Empathy For Other Rather Than Other Conversational Responses
Week 3: Use Silent Empathy For Other And The NVC Dance Floor
Week 4: Use Observations Rather Than Evaluations and Feelings Rather Than Thoughts
Week 5 and 6: Use Requests Rather Than Demands
Week 7: Use WAIT And Self-Empathy When Triggered
Week 8: Review And Put It All Together
What Some Of Our Past Students Have Said
Write your awesome label here.
Dr. Cindy Bigbie
The Bigbie Method was developed by “Dr. B,” aka “America’s Communications Coach.” Dr. B is a sought-after NVC (Nonviolent Communications) practitioner, trainer and speaker with years of successful experience working with incarcerated youth. She is also a champion of Restorative Practices, and in 2019 won the Dennis Maloney Award for Youth-Based Community and Restorative Justice Programs.
For 25 years, thanks to her Ph.D. in Instructional Design, she traveled the United States and evaluated hundreds of different educational programs. She saw millions of dollars in grant money being used to support these programs in an attempt to advance our educational systems with little long-term results. And time and time again, she returned to the conclusion that our educational system is not advancing because we are overlooking the social-emotional component that is at the base of all. As a result, she has dedicated her career to bringing restorative practices and Nonviolent Communication (NVC) to all segments of society.
And now she's compiled her 25+ years of institutional teaching experience into an award-winning approach that you can have access to anywhere.
For 25 years, thanks to her Ph.D. in Instructional Design, she traveled the United States and evaluated hundreds of different educational programs. She saw millions of dollars in grant money being used to support these programs in an attempt to advance our educational systems with little long-term results. And time and time again, she returned to the conclusion that our educational system is not advancing because we are overlooking the social-emotional component that is at the base of all. As a result, she has dedicated her career to bringing restorative practices and Nonviolent Communication (NVC) to all segments of society.
And now she's compiled her 25+ years of institutional teaching experience into an award-winning approach that you can have access to anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
How is this course taught?
This is a hybrid online course. The course is delivered via live sessions and pre-recorded videos. Each week you will have pre-recorded content to consume at your own pace before each weekly live online session that happens at the same time each week. You will have lifetime access to the self-paced content.
What happens in the live session?
All the magic! No, but for real this is where you get your hands dirty so to speak and practice the skills you've been learning in the pre-recorded sessions. This is where we come together to self-connect, discuss mournings and celebrations, and break off into dyads to practice giving and getting empathy. We'll also play some games, discuss different concepts we're learning, and answer questions that come up from the trainings. This is where the learning really happens, so please make sure you choose a cohort that meets at a time you can attend each week.
How much time will this course take?
This is an 8-week course plus 1 week of orientation to start. The pre-recorded content will take about 60-90 minutes to go through each week and the live class itself each week is a 75 minute session.
What do you mean by you could potentially start a new career?
We need more certified Bigbie Method trainers. We are growing and are consistently adding new school and business contracts to our roster. And we need more trainers to fulfill these contracts in the future!
All of our current trainers came through this same method of starting out at the Introduction level and then continuing their learning to eventually become a certified trainer. When you take the class, if it fires you up and it's something you could see yourself teaching as a new career then you are on the right path to be doing just that!
All of our current trainers came through this same method of starting out at the Introduction level and then continuing their learning to eventually become a certified trainer. When you take the class, if it fires you up and it's something you could see yourself teaching as a new career then you are on the right path to be doing just that!
What kinds of industries or professions does this work for?
The short answer is all of them. We are currently or have taught these trainings to physicists, athletes, construction workers, developers, in schools, in restorative justice programs. Communication and connection is at the core of how we operate and thrive as humans. So this type of communication is not-limited by industry or profession. But instead it enhances connection and quality of life for people everywhere.
How do I know when the cohort will meet each week?
You will choose your weekly meeting time when you sign up. Please make sure you choose a cohort that meets at a time you can attend each week.
Can I ask another question?
Yes, please do! Feel free to reach out to drb@thebigbiemethod.com with any other questions you have.