Melanie Sears has been a trainer for the Center of Nonviolent Communications since 1991. She works with businesses, hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, individuals, couples and parents in transforming their usual way of operations, interpersonal interactions and dealing with conflict to one which is more compassionate, conscious and effective.

Melanie presents Nonviolent Communication at conventions, at universities, and at churches. She has been interviewed on the radio and on TV and is the author of several books including: Humanizing Health Care with Nonviolent Communication and Choose Your Words: Harnessing the Power of Compassionate Communication to Heal and Connect. Her presentations have been described as exciting, inspiring, educational, and transformative. Melanie says, "Everything is about communications. Any problem can be resolved within minutes when negative energy is transformed into caring connections."

Melanie has worked in most areas of health care as an RN, administrator and supervisor for thirty years. She has observed common communication themes in each area she experienced. These themes adversely affected both patient and staff satisfaction which resulted in increased operating costs, increased staff turnover, increased sick leave and in general poor team work and lack of harmony. Melanie discovered that by shifting the communication patterns used, everything else shifted to create more positive outcomes for staff, patients and administration.