Can you imagine what might happen if you and the people with whom you live, learn, work or worship were to gather once a week for 16 weeks and commit to sharing honestly and intimately about life? Now imagine that you learned some particular insights about your own emotional world including the roots of violence and the need to dominate others. Imagine what might happen in your life and in your world if you had a community in which to practice this knowledge. This is a personally transformative experience, but it is also a part of what it may take for us to transform the world and to succeed with the challenges of our times.

We’re not promising world peace and justice, nor an answer to all of your personal or humanity’s problems. But what we can promise is that your experience of a root community will empower you to much more deeply understand yourself and the people around you. To share more than this would tempt some people to avoid committing to the experience. In our own lives and practice we have discovered that it is not enough to learn the concepts. Root Community is where the real growth lives.

Now more than ever.

Most people feel that something needs to change. Though they may not be able to describe it, they know that there must be a better way to live together than the ways we have inherited. Many have experienced enough trauma or isolation in their relationships at home or work or school to have begun to suspect there is something bigger going on than just the specific issues they are facing. They sense a loss of civility and a rise in violent reactions. Could there be a connection between the isolation of modern life and the lack of civility in our culture? The people we talk to seem to know that there must be a better way but they lack the insights and experience to approach things differently. Root Communities enable us to recognize what patterns in our lives create suffering for us and others and offer support for us to address them if we desire.

Organizations, schools and faith groups have often tried to address interpersonal issues but even the most popular psychological, spiritual or organizational theories often meet with only limited success. No matter what an organization may demand of its members or a corporation of its employees, the patterns of interpersonal conflict defy proclamations and policies. We believe that many of these dynamics are scripted from childhood, and change, while possible, requires personal commitment, authentic community and the creative use of some powerful insights.

What we offer is an opportunity for real transformation. It is possible to discover a more fulfilling way to live together but it doesn’t usually just happen. It will mean committing to some self-awareness, participating in a learning community, and discovering some of the deeper messages to be found in reflecting on both our common and unique experiences.

Change is possible through strengthened relationships

Roots of Change begins with people like you and me. The journey involves participating in a small group we call a “root community.” It is a place where you make a covenant with others to share honestly and practice the insights we gain. In the root community you commit to being present, telling the truth and keeping everything in confidence. These commitments are required in order to begin practicing new skills. Without this environment of authenticity and confidentiality, the learning we experience will lack any grounding in our present reality. But by participating in an authentic learning community, people often have transformative experiences.

The material we present provides some insights that are not common knowledge in the public discourse. We have drawn from an eclectic group of theories and cutting edge ideas that are unlikely to seem familiar. But past participants often express how this material has given them the language and perceptions to manage aspects of their personal and interpersonal experiences in much more fulfilling ways than they did previously. This process can deeply impact emotional health in every place where we interact with others.

For organizations or corporations we focus on the emotional realities of the workplace and the goals of the organization. In schools we focus on the emotional component in the learning process and the kind of environments that are supportive to learning. For faith groups we focus on the human condition and current scholarship.

The content we provide is drawn from theologians, philosophers, psychologists and authors who have struggled with the questions facing humans for many years. We share insights from the works of Walter Wink, Rene Girard, Sam Keen, Alfred Korzybski, David Bohm, Jon Dominic Crossan, Silvan Tomkins and Donald Nathanson. Understanding our own emotional vocabulary is a central aspect to the experience.