(This folder is heavily weighted toward Nonviolent Communication (NVC) trainer-certification-level materials — dense, technical documents aimed at training NVC facilitators rather than direct coaching content. Per Martin's guidance to extract what's genuinely useful to a peer support specialist, the more practically-actionable items are covered in full below; the deeper NVC theory/trainer documents are noted but not fully extracted.)

Sentence Stems for Supportive Conversations

Source: Training Development Resources/Communication — "Sentence Stems" and "Coaching Sentence Stems" (the latter sourced from Bright Morning / "Art of Coaching," Elena Aguilar's coaching framework — also referenced in Coaching_Clients.md); the two files overlap substantially and are combined here

A ready-to-use bank of conversation openers for when a coach is at a loss for what to say next, organized loosely around John Heron's categories of helping interventions. Active listening / clarifying stems: "What I'm hearing is...", "Is that correct? Am I missing anything?", "I'd be interested in hearing more about...", "Tell me what you mean when you...". Cathartic stems (making space for feelings): "I'm noticing you're experiencing some feelings — would it be okay to explore those?", "What's coming up for you right now?". Catalytic/facilitative stems (prompting reflection without directing): "Tell me about a previous time when you... how did you deal with that?", "What would you do differently next time?", "How do you want to remember this time or situation in fifteen years?". Supportive stems (naming strengths without empty praise): "I noticed how when you... others were...", "What did you do to make that so successful?", "Your commitment is really inspiring to me.". Reframe stems: "Is there any other way to see this situation?", "What do you think would happen if...?", "Who do you want to be in this situation?". Informative/prescriptive stems (more directive, used sparingly): "There's a useful resource on that by...", "Would it be okay if I shared some advice? You're welcome to take it or leave it.". The source material stresses that these categories are fluid (a clarifying question can also do cathartic work), that a coach should modify the wording to sound like themselves rather than reciting a script, and that tone, pacing, and nonverbal delivery matter as much as the words chosen.

(The remaining files in this folder — NVC-Theory.pdf, NVC-Basics.pdf, Convergent-Facilitation-Primer.pdf, Nonviolent-Facilitation-as-a-Path-to-the-Future.pdf, Naturalizing-the-Language-of-NVC.pdf, Principle-Based-Teaching-of-NVC.pdf, Inner-Work-for-NVC-Trainers.pdf, and Introduction-to-Learning-Packets.pdf — are Center for Nonviolent Communication / "The Fearless Heart" reference and trainer-certification materials. NVC-Basics.pdf and NVC-Theory.pdf both errored on this tool as too large (84,000+ characters); based on the readable table of contents, NVC-Theory.pdf covers the theoretical underpinnings of NVC, core NVC skills, approaches to NVC, and NVC applications, but is written as a trainer's reference packet rather than a youth- or coach-facing tool. Given the volume and technical depth of this material, it's flagged here as lower priority for this pass — worth a dedicated follow-up review if Martin wants NVC specifically taught to coaches, rather than folded into this general knowledge base.)