ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV
1
Observation: a difficult moment when you had some skill, and you wish you had more.
A challenging moment presenting which you navigated with some skill and wish you had more.
DefinitionUnskilled
No knowledge of the skill; unconsciously incompetent.
Awakening
Becoming aware of the skill; consciously incompetent.
Capable
Able to use the skill, with effort; consciously competent.
Integrated
Naturally uses the skill with ease and flow;
unconsciously competent.
2
1PresenceBeing attentive to what is happening right now. Not lost in thinking, emotional reactions, etc.Unconsciously lost in the past or the future; identified with thinking and doing.Becoming aware of the difference between being alert to what is actually happening and being lost in thought.Able to witness thoughts and feelings, and to respond rather than react; able to bring oneself back to alertness when aware of having been lost in thought.Relaxed alertness to what is happening in each moment, with a deep sense of purpose and choice; openness to what is, with resourcefulness, interdependence, and a perspective of past and future.
3
2ObservingNoticing (and possibly describing) our sensory and mental experiences, and distinguishing these experiences from the interpretations we ascribe to them.Habitually confuses interpretation with observation; assumes that evaluations and interpretations are facts.Becoming aware of interpretations as distinct from observations when reviewing past events; little skill or clarity of this distinction when interacting in real time.Increasingly remembering and making the distinction between observation and interpretation.Effortlessly able to distinguish observations from interpretations.
4
3Feelings awarenessAbility to identify and experience our physical sensations and emotions.

Little or no understanding of emotions; identifies with and/or resists emotions.
Beginning to notice and have a sense that feelings have value.Able to recognize, accept, and allow emotional experience, with effort.Effortless recognition, acceptance, and allowing of emotional experience.
5
4Needs consciousnessAwareness of (and the willingness to honor) needs, the essential universal elemental qualities of life (like sustenance, love and meaning).Not aware of universal needs; treats strategies like needs, resulting in attachment and resistance.Intellectual understanding of universal needs; confuses need with strategy, thinking one must have a particular strategy.Sees difference between needs and strategies; has a vocabulary to express feelings and needs; connects feelings with underlying needs (sometimes with effort, particularly when triggered).Living from the awareness that everything we do is an attempt (effective or not) to survive and thrive.
6
5Request consciousness & making requestsWillingness to ask for what one wants, with openness to any response; not attached to any particular outcome.Demands what one wants or is unwilling/unable to ask for what one wants.Becoming aware of how attachment, making demands, and failing to ask for what we want, are less likely to address needs.Generally willing and able to make specific requests, and when noticing attachment to a specific strategy, strives to move from constriction to openness and creativity.Willingness to ask for what one wants; has presence, creativity and compassion, even when the response is "no".
7
6EmpathyBeing present with another's experience, with unconditional acceptance of the person.Habitually responds to others with sympathy, advice, criticism, shifting the focus to oneself, etc.Easily gets lost in the story. Sometimes able to guess observations, feelings, needs and requests (with support of feelings/needs lists). Dawning intention to give others space, presence and focus.Capable of being with another without trying to lead them, and able to reflect another's experience without affirming or adding opinions or evaluations.Naturally focused and energized when being present with another's experience, with unconditional acceptance of the person.***************
8
7Honest self-expressionOwning one's experience and having the willingness to express authentically without blame or criticism.Habitually expresses with complaint, blame or criticism when upset; shares opinions and beliefs as certainties.
Developing an increasing awareness of how some patterns of thinking and expressing tend to lead to disconnection; starting to explore alternatives.Usually capable of expressing authentically with an intention to connect, even when stressed.Expresses with vulnerability, holding everyone's needs as precious; has openness to outcome.
9
8GratitudeFinding the value in, appreciating, and enjoying what is.Focuses on what is missing and complains; uses and looks for validation through praise and reward. Noticing that the strategies of praise/rewards and external validation do not support connection; starting to notice the value in appreciating met needs.Willing and able to connect to, savor, and express the gift(s) in what is happening.Lives in appreciation that everything can be a stimulus for enjoyment and/or growth.
10
Anything else?
11
12
Copyright © 2011 Jacob Gotwals, Jack Lehman, Jim Manske, and Jori Manske.Legal information: This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License, which allows you to share, copy, distribute, publicly perform, and adapt this work - under certain conditions. To view a copy of this license, visit www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. If you distribute or publicly perform this work (titled "Pathways to Liberation Self-Assessment Matrix, Version 1.2") (or any adaptation of it, or collection including it), you must attribute this work to its original authors (“Jacob Gotwals, Jack Lehman, Jim Manske, and Jori Manske”), and include a link to URI radicalcompassion.com/matrix – for additional details, see the Legal Code of the license, especially section 4(b). “The Center for Nonviolent Communication” logo is a registered trademark of The Center for Nonviolent Communication – for guidelines on the use of this logo, visit www.cnvc.org .
13
Jack, Jim, and Jori are Certified Trainers with The Center for Nonviolent, www.cnvc.org • cnvc@cnvc.org +1-505-244-4041
14
Inspired by the work of Marshall Rosenberg, Ph. D., Noel Burch of Gordon Training Institute, and the contributions of hundreds of Nonviolent Communication trainers throughout the world. Special thanks to River Dunavin, Christa Morf and Hawkeye Lannis for planting some important seeds.
15
16
Strength: a skill you had access to, even if you efforted to do so.
17
Edge: A skill you wish you had in this situation.
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65