Doug NollI'm called in when human dynamics are getting in the way of strategic leadership execution.

What My Clients Say About the Skills

1 Dec 2025 · 3 min

Watch on YouTube

3:05

The video presents a series of testimonial excerpts from individuals who have applied the skills taught by Doug in his program. Wilton Kirway Jr., a senior minister, emphasizes that learning to listen and connect to the heart creates healing relationships. An unnamed speaker highlights the originality of Doug’s approach, especially its revolutionary impact in prison settings. Peggy Cooper, with 12 years of experience in high‑conflict work, describes how the training transformed her from an extreme avoider into a fearless confrontational presence. Additional speakers report broader life benefits: improved relationships, calm, confidence, and the ability to validate affect labels for themselves and others. In educational contexts, teachers note that the techniques calm students, foster problem‑solving, and increase classroom productivity. One speaker recounts a life‑or‑death moment where affect‑labeling averted murder. Across all accounts, the common claim is that Doug’s methods are original, practical, and produce measurable, life‑changing outcomes in personal, professional, and institutional environments.

Chapters

My name is Wilton Kirway Jr. I am the senior minister of the Whitney Avenue Church of Christ, and I consider myself a peacemaker. My biggest takeaway from what I learned from Doug in this program is connection and relationship, that just by listening to people, you are connecting to the heart. And when you connect to the heart, you establish that relationship, and that relationship brings healing.
Doug was not bringing something that was a reworking of someone else's work. It just seemed really original, and it, it, it wasn't just some ideas that Doug came up with. The fact of, of what I saw with his work with the prisons, just thought, okay, I need to talk to this guy because this is, um, seems rather revolutionary.
My name is Peggy Cooper, and I have been for, for 12 years now, I have been working with people who find themselves in high-conflict situations And I myself have always been an extreme avoider of high-conflict situations. I have found that I am now fearless in facing people who might confront me. I've found myself very much more able to deal with just the things that come up in my life.
Now that I have this skill set, I have better better relationships, better communication. I feel more calm, confident, and I think that that then ripples into everything that I do. So in many ways, it's really helped every aspect of my life because now if I'm upset, if I'm triggered, I can validate an affect label myself. If I'm with friends, family, colleagues, and something happens, I can validate them. So it's really improved, I would say, every area of my life.
And the number of kids that I see on a daily basis in school and can bring them down to calm and to more peace and more problem solving and then be able to return to their original classrooms and be more productive. It's, it's life-changing for them too.
In the face of any sort of strife, it's— we all feel really insecure and awkward, and— or most of us— and uncomfortable and really unsafe. Learning this skill, it's so empowering because you can be more aware of how you're feeling. Then you get to hold a safe space for someone else. Which then also really protects you. It really is a game changer for making people feel safe.
Me, I think it shook Lindsay, but I gotta say that in this moment of survival, if we didn't have your tools and we didn't utilize affect labeling, there would have been a murder. She'd have killed me or I'd have killed her.