StretchLearn Course

Say What You Mean. Hear What They Need.

Evidence-based communication skills that reduce conflict and deepen closeness — starting with your very next conversation.

Preview Curriculum Back to Catalog

Beginner9 hrSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

Chronic miscommunication is the leading driver of relationship dissatisfaction, yet most people never receive explicit instruction in how to speak and listen well. This beginner course translates Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication model, John Gottman's repair-attempt research, and needs-based dialogue into practical daily tools. You will leave with concrete scripts, a personal conflict map, and the habit of expressing needs without triggering defensiveness.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Apply the four-step NVC framework (observation, feeling, need, request) in everyday conversations

Demonstrate active listening using reflection, validation, and curiosity without interrupting

Identify your personal conflict triggers and map the underlying unmet needs driving them

Execute a repair attempt within minutes of a conflict escalation to prevent shutdown

Distinguish a complaint from a criticism and reframe critical language into need-based requests

Design a weekly connection ritual that sustains intimacy through routine dialogue

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: The Communication Blueprint — Observation, Feeling, Need, Request

Introduce the Nonviolent Communication (NVC) four-step model and distinguish it from the blame-and-criticism patterns that erode trust. Build the foundational vocabulary of feelings and needs.

3 lessons

Why Most Communication Fails: Jackal vs. Giraffe LanguageContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

Feelings vs. Faux Feelings — Building Your Emotional VocabularyContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Needs, Not Strategies — The Heart of the ModelContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Active Listening — How to Hear What Is Really Being Said

Move beyond hearing words to understanding the emotional and needs-based message beneath them. Learn the three-tier listening model and the specific micro-skills that make a partner feel genuinely heard.

3 lessons

Three Levels of Listening and Why Level One Destroys ConversationsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Reflection, Validation, and Curiosity — The Three Micro-SkillsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Listening Under Fire — Active Listening During ConflictContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Making Requests and Repairing Ruptures

Learn how to make requests that invite rather than demand, and master the Gottman-researched toolkit of repair attempts that stop a conflict from escalating into lasting damage.

3 lessons

The Art of the Request — Specific, Positive, Present-TenseContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Repair Attempts — How to Stop a Spiral in Its TracksContent · 45 min

LMS Access

From Criticism to Complaint — Reframing the Four HorsemenContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Sustaining Connection — Intimacy Rituals, Difficult Conversations, and Daily Practice

Move beyond conflict resolution into proactive relationship architecture: connection rituals, the art of the difficult conversation, and building a lasting communication practice that compounds over time.

3 lessons

Connection Rituals — The Daily Deposits into the Emotional Bank AccountContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Having the Difficult Conversation — A Step-by-Step ProtocolContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Building a Communication Practice — 90 Days to a New DefaultContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

nonviolent communicationactive listeningconflict repairneeds-based dialogueGottman methodemotional intimacycouples communication