My gratitude goes first of all to Marshall Rosenberg with whom I trained in Nonviolent Communication (NVC). Meeting Marshall and learning what he taught brought me back to life at a time I was becoming a nice, dead person! Through his clarity, coherence, and integrity, this process of understanding oneself and others has contributed to changing—through and through—both my professional and emotional life.
My gratitude next goes to Anne Bourrit, a Nonviolent Communication trainer, in whose company I was lucky enough to decipher and clarify in myself the fundamental challenges that were making life so difficult for me. Valérie, my wife, and I keep Anne close to our hearts.
My deep gratitude also goes to Guy Corneau for his preface to this book and for his constant encouragements to write it. During many years of shared work and friendship, I have been touched and inspired by his great compassion for human beings and by his faith in life itself. He conveyed to me his desire to translate into simple language the psychological challenges that can seem so complex, as well as to contribute in this way toward enabling all, through a better understanding and a greater love of self, to become true co-creators of their lives.
My gratitude also goes to Pierre-Bernard Velge, the founder and living spirit of the nonprofit Flics et Voyouz (Cops and Hoods) organization. In the work we did with young people in difficulty over a period exceeding ten years, he awakened in me an ability to listen from the heart: listening without judging, listening to understand and love more.
And certainly my gratitude also goes to all those who placed their trust in me at workshops, private consultations, and conferences. It was out of the authenticity of our encounters and the beauty of the transformations undergone that my project of writing this book arose.
I further am infinitely grateful to Liliane Magi for patiently decoding my handwritten notes.
Finally, my gratitude goes to all of the NVC trainers in Switzerland, France, and Belgium with whom I have been privileged to work … for their friendship and support.