Marshall Rosenberg, the founder and director of educational services for the Center for Nonviolent Communication, an international peacemaking organization, states that "empathy is a respectful understanding of what others are experiencing."

Many times people focus on changing other people's behaviors and are only concerned with getting what they want. When this occurs, the person asking has a closed heart to the other person's feelings and needs.

We all communicate in different ways in conflict situations. Some of us communicate in healthy ways and others in unhealthy ways. Below are some different types of communication personified by animals. Which do you most identify with? Which do you want to most identify with?