Marina Smerling

Marina is patient, insightful, helpful, funny, balanced, and super compassionate. I participated in her 8 week NVC Women’s Group. I went in with 0 NVC experience but could appreciate the love and support that emanated each and every session. The group itself is a wonderful weekly opportunity to practice empathy and receive support and meet compassionate women. Highly recommend!

Marina’s Non-​Violent Communication women’s group was like Christmas morning for my heart. Every. Single. Time. This group is jazzercise for your empathy muscle and both a playground and safe refuge for your spirit. I’ve taken about a year’s worth of NVC classes in different environments and with different groups of folks, but Marina’s class is by far one of my favorite venues. This is partly because of who Marina is (real, funny, silly, humble, grounded, patient and super-​smart) and partly because of the space of the private home the group met in (bring your slippers and toothbrush, you’ll want to move right in). Listening to Marina get her NVC on is like watching your favorite, relaxed musician on stage: that shit looks so natural one forgets that years of dedicated practice and study are at play. As for NVC itself, it’s nothing short of life-​changing; offering a practical roadmap of choice for how to perceive and react to both internal feelings and the world around us. NVC is seeing in color after a lifetime of black and white. I’m feeling so, so grateful for Marina’s class. Truly, it met my need for intimate and deep connection, authenticity, brave vulnerability and beauty.

I participated in a 12 week NVC women’s group and deeply appreciated Marina’s skill at holding space for authentic and meaningful conversations. She role models the practice of NVC in her very being – speaking and engaging herself and others in an intentional and ever-​unfolding exploration of feelings and needs. She balances her role as a very skillful NVC practitioner with a sense of vulnerability and warmth that creates an immediate sense of ease.

Marina seems to carry within her, a deep wisdom about the human condition, and what it means to bring some compassion to it. Although she usually doesn’t say much about the subject ‘in words’ (aka humility :)), her presence, authenticity, care and the work she offers are deeply healing and nourishing.
She really cares and it shows in the way she holds space and works with you. She is also a very skilled coach and facilitator — gentle and yet very clear and focused. Her NVC women’s groups are brilliant. I’ve been part of 3 and loved them. They really helped me to translate my judgmental lens of myself and others into a more empathic lens — and what a difference just that makes!
I so so so recommend her to anyone looking for personal growth in any form!

Marina is incredible. Anybody who has the opportunity to work with her should do so. I have participated in weekly women’s Non Violent Communication groups she leads for the past two years as well as a weekend retreat and have learned and grown so much. Marina brings her full vulnerable self each week and has an amazing ability to create a safe space for all. She artfully combines teaching and practice. I am sure she would be incredible one on one.

Marina. Has an incredible gift of connection! So full of love, inspiration and truth. To experience time with her and the ability to have you be be all that you can be is a god/​goddess blessing. You rock. Marina

My experience working with Marina has been pretty life-​changing. I’ve participated in her 8 and 12-​week Women’s NVC groups and am currently embarking on my second 12 week. Her consistent authenticity, empathic radiance and yearning to crack the love light of the world has helped me to open up to deeper a more beautiful parts of myself and my relationships. I didn’t know how great the possibilities could be!

Fantastic experiences only have I had with Marina, in groups, retreat and in personal work. I am so grateful for her existence and only hope that more people experience the benefit of her presence, intelligence, compassion and guidance. That way lies world and inner peace for all!

Marina is incredible. She’s helped me twice with writing difficult letters to family members. Her loving, gentle guidance is invaluable and her presence is so solid and trustworthy. I’ve also sent various coaching clients of mine to her who were having challenging relationships and who needed her guidance to bridge the gap. She’s a special human being who is really gifted in empathy and open, honest, compassionate communication. Highly recommend her!

What can I say about Marina that hasn’t already been said before? Loving, caring, hugely supportive, without a hint of judgement are things that come to mind when thinking about dear Marina. I saw Marina for private sessions over the course of about one year. During that time, she helped me to find my voice, encouraging and supporting me in how to express myself more fully and without fear of how others may respond. I grew enormously from my sessions with Marina and am eternally grateful for her unique support. She is an angel. A miracle worker. A Saint.

LOved being in the 8 week group facilitated by Marina, using NVC communication techniques. She is an amazing modeler of NVC appropriate responses to situations that we would often throw at her. She orchestrated and managed the circle and energy so well that we all felt supported and safe to express ourselves with vulnerability and openness.
It is obvious that Marina is doing her deeper work in this lifetime and is really passionate about the energy and potency of words. Being around her and being in her group has left me with a much deeper connection to the power of the spoken word and how to use them more skillfully to dissipate anger and create potential for healing. I am looking forward to starting the next 8 week NVC group at the end of the month.
Many blessings for your work Marina.

Its been a powerful time doing some inner work and cleansing my relationship with my woman Erin. Marina is a top counselor. She has been helping us walk through fragile conversations with amazing skill and presence. Her soft and intelligent ways allowed me to tap into old wounds that have been floating in the unconscious. Having this exposed is so liberating! It’s amazing to once again see how vulnerability rules! Thank you so much Marina! BTW, friends in the conscious path, she works with couples and individuals and she also works over Skype.

Marina is amazing, totally amazing. She really is a gift to the planet. She is very authentically caring and you can tell her anything and she won’t judge you. Wow what a gift she gives. I am in one of her groups and I get so much out of it. She’s a great group leader. I also see her for coaching. So worth it. When I win the lottery and become rich, first I’ll buy a house, then I’ll buy a house for my dog, and the rest will go to Marina. Why? Because she deserves it.

Marina is awesome. Truly awesome. I’m so glad to be in her Monday night NVC group. I really appreciate her loving and playful presence and approach. And I’m grateful for her willingness and trust to allow life to emerge and unfold in our group as needed. The process feels very authentic, as does she! Working with Marina inspires me to be more me.

Marina is a wonderful human being and terrific counselor. Since meeting and working with her over the last three months she has helped give me the tools to become aware of and deal with many difficult issues and negative emotions and habits (some that have just come up, and some that I have been carrying around my entire life). Marina has that magic balance of being both extremely professional and caring and accessible and I felt completely comfortable in the space (both physical and emotional) that she provided at each meeting. She was also very flexible with my schedule, which was very full at the time. I am in such a better place in my life after meeting with her and feel ready to take on so many other challenges because of her guidance. The world is a better place with her in it and I would highly recommend her services to anyone seeking help and clarity.

Marina is a godsend. She is a guardian angel. First of all, her energy is fantastic. She holds a safe, caring, compassionate space so that I could be with all the icky emotions that I was dealing with. This then allowed me to create something powerful and positivie.
I had told a toxic client that I couldn’t perform services for her in the future. I had worked hard to deliver the message with compassion and non-​judgment, but she was enraged and went on a rampage to smear my company’s name and reputation. She posted outright lies on Unilocal and to the BBB.
I had to respond since they were lies and I couldn’t leave those words out there in cyberspace unaddressed. I knew that many companies that respond to negative online reviews often look worse than if had they said nothing.
Marina walked me through her process and helped me address each criticism line by line. She showed me what to ignore and how to address the ones that needed attention.
After I wrote the piece, Marina reviewed it with me and helped me edit it to perfection.
I am very proud of our response and I feel anyone who is the type of person I wish to do business with will be attracted by my response.
Thank you, Marina! You are a life saver.

I’m honored and grateful to be part of Marina’s weekly NVC group. What a world of difference diving into NVC has made in my life over just these past month or so! I’m feeling much more grounded, empowered, and certain of the strength of my intuition than ever. I have also been blessed to have had private counseling sessions with Marina via Skype. In every session, I felt like I met myself anew. With Marina’s gentle invitation to be authenticly and genuinely me, I opened more and more to acceptance, self-​love, and connection, stepping one foot at a time into the woman that I am but had never quite acknowledged.

I wanted to let you know how much I value your ability to be with me through life’s challenges, light up with me through life’s celebrations, and support me in living and loving fully. I am looking forward to learning more from you, wise Marina. Being with others in empathy is important to me, and I feel gratitude for your expertise in this area, your skill as a leader, and that your presence in my life meets so many needs. I am also humbled to witness your own commitment to love, compassion, empathy, and heart opening vulnerability, and am inspired to meet the needs of others the way I experience my needs met with you. Thank you for holding space, and for supporting me in holding myself with care and acceptance.

I feel like I can share openly and fully with Marina without judgment, like I can share deep parts of myself where I haven’t previously had a space to do so. I get the sense that Marina is really with me, allowing me to show up more fully and authentically. Ultimately, I feel heard and appreciated and loved by her, leaving me lighter and brighter after our session.
Go and see this woman, pronto!

Marina’s a warm and wise coach, immensely talented at making one feel at ease while also pushing one into growing spaces. She has a grace about her coaching – an ability to probe gently at the tough spots and walls, and ask insightful questions that helped connect me deeply, in my body, to the feelings behind the thoughts and ideas I was expressing. She is very, very talented in intuiting what next step to take throughout a coaching session – whether in conversation, in silence at key moments, in somatic work, and in really helping me to identify the most fundamental needs that cloak themselves in other desires. Highly recommended. Be prepared for powerful work together!