School of Languages and Communication Studies Holds First Session Happiness Workshop Themed “Self-Empowerment, Communication from the Heart”. On May 8th, 2023, the first session of the Happiness Workshop of the School of Languages and Communication Studies, themed “Rooted in Needs, Seeing Choices Lead to Freedom”, was successfully held online. Organized by the Party Committee of the School of Languages and Communication Studies and undertaken by the Party Branch of the Department of Communication, the activity was hosted by Zhang Xiaohan, School Special Responsible Officer for External Liasion, with more than 30 teachers participating online. At the beginning of the activity, Wang Hongying, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School, and Zhang Jie, Secretary of the Party Branch of the Department of Communication, expressed their expectations for the activity as well as their care and blessings to the teachers. They hoped to launch the “Nonviolent Communication” campaign in the School, encouraging everyone to “dig and dig” in the “garden” of the School of Languages and Communication Studies, plant seeds of love, and bloom flowers of happiness. This series of training sessions themed “Self-Empowerment, Communication from the Heart” was delivered by Duan Ningchun (Teacher Achun), a national second-level certified psychological counselor, a candidate for certified trainer at the Center for Nonviolent Communication, and a conflict mediation instructor. Nonviolent Communication is a communication system discovered and summarized by a psychologist, Marshall Rosenberg. It focuses not only on the practice of external communication methods but also on the cultivation of internal strength and awareness. Practicing and applying it enables people to care for themselves while respecting others in communication, achieving cooperation and win-win outcomes. The online Workshop aimed to explore thinking ways and skills based on the concept of Nonviolent Communication with teachers, help them see different perspectives and choices, and enhance their abilities in self-care, self-expression, and empathy on the basis of receiving support and understanding. In this way, teachers can achieve self-empowerment, communicate from the heart, and improve their ability to embrace happiness both in daily life and in teaching. In the first phase, Teacher Achun led everyone to quickly enter the teaching atmosphere of the Workshop through a simple warm-up game. Guided by her, all teachers closed their eyes and took deep breaths for one minute. While focusing on their breathing, they felt their inner moods and emotions, and then described their current feelings using weather-related terms. In the second phase, Teacher Achun connected the main content of the session, “Rooted in Needs, Seeing Choices Lead to Freedom” through three questions. First, she introduced the topic with the question “Why do we learn Nonviolent Communication” to know the teachers’ existing knowledge and understanding of the Nonviolent Communication system. Then, she encouraged the teachers to ask questions about Nonviolent Communication and shared the origin and process of her own choice, learning, and in-depth practice in the field of Nonviolent Communication. Finally, Teacher Achun invited the participating teachers to talk about their confusions and negative emotions they encountered in daily life. In response to these problems, she skillfully provided diverse solutions and ideas in the form of small stories, drawing on cases from her previous students and her own experiences. In the third phase, Teacher Achun made a brief summary of the training. Firstly, we need to accept all our emotions, be positive or negative. The stronger and more uncomfortable the feelings are, the more they can reflect the psychological needs of life at that moment. Secondly, when facing the negative emotions of others, we should remember that no matter what the other person says or does, it is not aimed at you and they are just expressing their own feelings and needs. Thirdly, all communications and expressions can be summed up in two points without exception, namely “please” and “thank you”. In daily life, we need to pay attention to self-expression and alternative choices, reduce intrapersonal conflicts, and achieve self-empowerment through Nonviolent Communication. We should fill our hearts with love, support others with overflowing love, and then apply this to the teaching process, which is conducive to improving educational effectiveness. At the end of the Workshop, the participating teachers shared their gains and insights and expressed sincere gratitude to Teacher Achun.