The working assumptions that orient our practice

These are the guiding principles and working assumptions on which all of our work is based:

 

• Human beings are a gift. As humans, our natural tendency is to care about one another and to want to contribute. Of course, whenever we are hurt, frustrated, or burnt out, we tend to hide how much we care.

 

• Each person has a valuable contribution to make. All of us are continually trying to make sense of the world around us, given the information we have available. Yet when we feel threatened, we can become protective and defensive.

 

• No one likes feeling stuck. While all of us can get stuck in unproductive beliefs or unhelpful interactional patterns, feeling stuck is not fun for anyone. At the same time, when we are able to bring empathy to all of the various parts of a stuck situation, shared understandings deepen and shifts happen.

 

• Whenever we experience a shift in perspective, new possibilities become apparent. As Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems by using the same kind of thinking that we used when we created them.”

 

• We can all learn to create spaces in which “shift happens”. While clients often comment that this work “feels like magic,” my deepest satisfaction comes from helping others develop their skills in this area. My experience has been that shifts happen spontaneously, whenever we create a space that is conducive for shared meaning-making.