A Year-Long Journey in Compassion
52 Weeks That Change How You Relate to Yourself and Others
Since 2011, The Compassion Course guides people through a practical, week-by-week path to deeper empathy, honest communication, and real connection — built on the work of Marshall Rosenberg and Nonviolent Communication.
How It All Began
Thom Bond discovers Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication and sees a human-oriented technology that changes everything.
He closes his engineering firm, studies with Rosenberg, and co-founds the New York Center for Nonviolent Communication.
The Compassion Course Online is born — one concept, one story, one practice per week, delivered by email for a full year.
A global community spanning 120+ countries, 20 languages, with 50,000+ alumni and growing every year.
How the Course Works
No classrooms, no rigid schedules. The Compassion Course fits into the life you already have.
52 Wednesday Lessons
Starting in June, a new message is published via email every Wednesday at noon ET for 52 consecutive weeks. Each installment provides a concept to learn, a real story illustrating it, and practices for integrating it into daily life — plus links to previous weeks, videos, exercises, and supplementary resources. Over the year, you’ll explore over 50 concepts covering self-empathy, empathy, emotional triggers, anger, beliefs, dialogue, appreciation, requests, and more.
12 Monthly Live Conferences with Thom Bond
Thom, along with guest trainers from around the globe, hosts 12 monthly 90-minute conferences via Zoom on the second Monday of each month. Each session includes review, deeper exploration of the material, and interactive Q&A. Conferences are also hosted in other languages by affiliated course leaders. All sessions are recorded and may be accessed at any time throughout the course.
Global Compassion Network
The online community where participants connect from around the globe. Ask questions, discuss course material, share successes and challenges. Access specialized discussion groups covering parenting, relationships, empathy skills, self-compassion, and workplace issues. Find practice groups, mentors, empathy buddies, practice partners, and empathy cafés and circles. Create a personalized profile with credentials and connect with the worldwide community.
11 monthly Deep-Dive Sessions — Guided by our global leadership
On the fourth Monday of every month:
- Our featured guest trainer offers a specialized deep-dive session on one of the four weekly topics
- Participants experience how a single NVC distinction can be applied in radically different contexts
- Learning moves from "understanding the idea" to "seeing how it lives in the world"
This creates:
- Consistency of core principles
- Diversity of lived expression
A Peek Inside the Course
The 52-week journey is built on one core idea: everything we do, we do to meet a need. Each week builds on the last, gradually shifting how you see yourself, others, and conflict itself.
First 10 Weeks
Then You'll Explore
50+ concepts and differentiations across 52 weeks — each one practiced in real life, not just understood in theory.
What Empathy Is… and What It’s Not
A preview of the full weekly message — expand sections, play the audio narration, and try the practice journal.
The Power of Appreciation
A preview of the full weekly message — expand sections, play the audio narration, and try the practice journal.
What Makes This Different
The Compassion Course is rigorous. It is challenging and approaches a year of gradual, real change.
Months, Not Days
Click to revealReal change takes practice. The weekly rhythm gives concepts time to become habits — integrated into your actual life, not just understood in theory.
Click to flip backThree Traditions Combined
Click to revealDraws on Marshall Rosenberg's NVC, Werner Erhard's transformational approach, and Albert Ellis's cognitive techniques — both of whom influenced Marshall.
Click to flip backTruly Global Access
Click to revealAvailable in 20 languages with dedicated teams of translators and facilitators. Financial accessibility is a founding value — cost is never meant to be a barrier.
Click to flip backCommunity, Not Isolation
Click to revealEmpathy buddies, practice groups, mentors, monthly live sessions — you're not learning alone. If you want to go far, go with others.
Click to flip backThe Leadership Track
Compassion Course alumni who would like to organize and/or facilitate a group of Compassion Course Participants, or become a CCO Mentor, can get guidance and support through The Leadership Track.
Monthly Community Meetings
The core of The Leadership Track includes monthly community meetings where we address subjects like:
- Working with Agreements
- Planning for group sessions
- Check-ins, review practice group progress and preview upcoming concepts and exercises
- Troubleshooting and support
- Q&A time for questions about your group, mentee or course content
- How to adapt exercises for groups and individuals
Community & Support
- Facilitators and Mentors can list their group in our Practice Group and Mentor directories, available to Compassion Course participants.
- To keep the community connected 24/7, Mentors and Facilitators also have access to our secure and private Leadership forum.
The Leadership Track is a wonderful way to provide an important service to the community, experience growth, and even make some money.
Requirements
Practice Group Facilitation experience is not necessary for this track. However, previous participation in a practice group, completion of The Compassion Course, and agreement to the Facilitation Agreement are required.
To become a CCO Mentor, you must have a Certificate of Completion and have had at least 6 mentoring sessions.
Tuition
Tuition for The Leadership Track is $240–$190 for the year and includes tuition for the Compassion Course for Mentors and Practice Group Facilitators.
My way of making the skills of compassionate living available to anyone, regardless of time and money constraints.
— Thom Bond, on creating the courseMeet Thom Bond
Thom Bond spent the first half of his career as an environmental engineer — developing energy-auditing software, microprocessor-based building controls, and LED lighting products. He was good at it. But in 2002, when he encountered Marshall Rosenberg’s work on Nonviolent Communication, he saw a different kind of technology — one oriented around people instead of buildings.
He closed his engineering firm to study and teach with Rosenberg full-time. In 2003, Thom and Nellie Bright co-founded the New York Center for Nonviolent Communication (NYCNVC), formerly a United Nations Civil Society Organization. In 2011, he created The Compassion Course Online to bring these skills to anyone in the world.
Today, Thom leads monthly live conferences for participants, trains Organizer/Facilitators who run local practice groups worldwide, and continues developing new tools like the COMPASS Companions digital guides for conflict resolution.
He is the author of The Compassion Book: Lessons from The Compassion Course and formerly served on the Advisory Board for the Communications Coordination Committee for the United Nations.
Common Questions
The Compassion Course is offered once a year. It begins on June 24 2026 and runs for 52 consecutive weeks. Registration opens March 1st and closes 14 days after the course starts .
You’ll receive a welcome email before launch with everything you need to get started. Each Wednesday at noon Eastern Time, a new lesson is delivered directly to your email inbox for 52 weeks. Monthly 90-minute live conferences are hosted by Thom Bond on the second Monday of each month at 12 PM ET via Zoom. You also get access to the Global Compassion Network — the online community hub with forums, practice groups, mentors, and resources.
Each Wednesday lesson takes about 15–20 minutes to read. The real learning happens through brief practice moments woven into your everyday life — conversations, reactions, quiet reflections. No extra time block required. The course is ungraded, so you can participate at whatever level fits your schedule and energy.
Thom Bond wrote the Compassion Course and leads the monthly conferences, supported by 0 guest trainers around the world. He brings over 24 years of experience studying and teaching compassionate communication, and co-founded the New York Center for Nonviolent Communication (NYCNVC). Learn more about Thom and the team
Not at all. The course starts from the ground up and builds gradually over 52 weeks. Whether you've never heard of Nonviolent Communication or you've been practicing for years, the weekly rhythm and progression is enjoyed by everyone.
All 52 lessons and conference recordings remain accessible throughout the year. There are no deadlines or grades. Many participants revisit earlier lessons as their understanding deepens — the course is designed for exactly that.
Monthly conferences take place on the second Monday of each month at 12:00 PM Eastern Time via Zoom (video or phone). All conferences are recorded and made available to all participants — you can access recordings at any time throughout the course via the weekly message links.
Yes! Participants receive an invitation to join the Global Compassion Network, the private online community. There you’ll find discussion forums, practice groups, empathy buddies, mentors, and specialized groups for parenting, relationships, workplace issues, and more.
No, joining the Global Compassion Network is not required. However, it provides access to recordings, practice groups, mentors, discussion forums, and the empathy buddy directory — so it is highly recommended.
Yes. The Compassion Course is translated and facilitated in 20 languages including Arabic, German, Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, Italian, and Finnish. Each language community has its own dedicated team and monthly conferences.
Yes. For an additional US$75, you can earn a Certificate of Completion by tracking your weekly progress and keeping a private journal throughout the year and submitting it for verification.
Standard tuition for Participants is US$240. If you can afford it, we ask that you pay this amount. Participants can also pay a reduced tuition of US$190. Tuition for the Leadership Track is the same, however it has prerequisites. Accessibility is a founding value of the course — the course is available to any inspired human, regardless of ability to pay. Alternative payment options are available, too; reach out to us at coursecoordinator@nycnvc.org
Full refunds are available if you cancel 7 or more days before the course start date, minus a $30 coordination fee. Cancellations within 7 days of the start or during the course receive no refund but a credit toward a future training. For questions, contact coursecoordinator@nycnvc.org or call (646) 201-9226.
Registration Opens March 1st
The next Compassion Course begins in June. Join 50,000+ people who have taken this journey toward more compassionate living.