Edwin
How was Stanford Presentation?
I have a lot of projects and I'm losing the tread between the meetings.
better to meet more often to get the first Listening more deeply workshop together
William Miller - how to do active Listening
it is a restatement of watÂ
Susan
The meeting was a meet-and-greet for the Empathy Movement and curriculum project led by Edwin Rutsch. Participants introduced themselves and shared their backgrounds in empathy, focusing, education, healthcare, research, and organizational training. Edwin explained the Empathy Center’s work, the core practice of the Empathy Circle, and the vision for a widely accessible empathy curriculum. Bill described the facilitator training and the use of empathy circles in various settings, including healthcare. Kathy discussed her history with focusing and empathic listening, and recent challenges with health and publishing. Ken, Mohamed, Jillian, Kent, and Katelyn each described their interests and relevant expertise, including moral psychology, corporate communication, customer experience, and trauma-informed compassion. The group discussed definitions and distinctions between empathy and compassion, the power of being listened to, and the potential for empathy circles to foster mutual understanding and conflict mediation. Several participants expressed interest in contributing to curriculum development, presenting at future Empathy Summits, and experiencing empathy circles together.
Edwin and Kathy discussed LinkedIn engagement and social media activities. Edwin showed Kathy how to create events on LinkedIn, specifically demonstrating an invitation for co-creating an MPC movement training curriculum that had attracted 223 interested participants. They also discussed the differences between LinkedIn and Facebook, with Kathy expressing concerns about Facebook's current environment and limitations on content sharing.
Kathy and Edwin discussed their personal and professional experiences, including Edwin's past role as director of the Center for Empathy in Santa Barbara, which ultimately fell apart due to family conflicts. Kathy shared her recent health challenges, including AFib, and her decision to focus on publishing her books rather than pursuing a career. They also briefly mentioned a publishing contact who is involved in election-related database work.
The meeting was a meet-and-greet session for the empathy movement building project and curriculum development. Edwin Rutsch, the director of the Empathy Center, introduced the organization's various initiatives including empathy training programs, Empathy Circles, and the Empathy Tent. Participants shared their backgrounds, with Kathy discussing her long history in empathic listening and focusing, Ken describing his background in market research and his recent focus on understanding disagreement, and Bill sharing his experience as a retired special education teacher working with Edwin on empathy training.
Ken introduced himself as interested in learning about the group's work and contributing to structuring and relationship building. Edwin explained the organization's focus on developing relational skills through activities like political rally listening and empathy circles. Mohamed introduced himself as the founder and CEO of Customer Experience University, sharing his extensive background in academia and training in listening and empathy, including conducting over 2,000 workshops worldwide and developing interactive video modules on empathy.
Jillian announced she had passed her qualifying exams and become a PhD candidate in psychology and cognitive science, studying moral psychology and developing an online moral compass tool for students. Edwin noted Jillian's previous presentation at their Empathy Summit and mentioned his interview with her advisor Fritz Breithaupt. New participants Kent and Katelyn introduced themselves, with Kent sharing his background as an 83-year-old former piano tuner turned philosopher and Katelyn describing her experience as an acute care nurse and clinical leader who focuses on trauma-informed communication and the distinction between empathy and compassion in medical settings.
Edwin discussed a project to create an empathy curriculum based on mutual active listening, with the empathy circle serving as the foundational practice. Bill explained that the empathy circle training is designed to help facilitators work with diverse populations, consisting of four Saturday sessions totaling about 10 hours. The training aims to give participants experience in empathy circles and help them develop confidence to facilitate their own circles, with potential for advanced training if needed.
Edwin presented a curriculum development project for empathy training that includes a website with onboarding steps and opportunities for involvement. The project features weekly empathy circles led by Bill, including a new Tuesday session at 10 AM Pacific time, and offers a free 10-hour training program held four times a year. The curriculum encompasses five components: empathy, self-empathy, imaginative empathy, mutual listening, and empathic action, with opportunities for participants to join curriculum design teams, serve as advisors, or present at upcoming empathy summits.
Edwin discussed empathy training initiatives, including past summits with presenters and a draft curriculum being developed. Mohamed expressed interest in participating and confirmed his availability to speak in January, with his session lasting 15 minutes. Mohamed shared information about a card game called Banga that he has used for 45 years to facilitate "aha" experiences and behavioral change, noting it's available on Amazon.
Kathy discussed her YouTube videos on empathy and focusing, mentioning that some videos were moved to the Focusing Institute channel due to ad placement. The group discussed potential speaking opportunities, with Kathy considering attending an event in January featuring Alan Rolfs. Bill shared experiences from their empathy training program, which began in 2020 with medical personnel in Brooklyn and later expanded to include an Afghan refugee in a Pakistan camp, highlighting how even brief periods of reflective listening could significantly impact participants' well-being.
The group discussed organizing an empathy circle with four participants including Kathy, Bill, Jillian, and Edwin, who agreed to schedule and potentially record the session. Ken expressed interest in joining future empathy circles after participating in some initial sessions. Kent shared plans to create a school on the SKOOL platform focused on promoting peace and social awareness, while Katelyn mentioned she is writing a book expanding on her TEDx talks about compassion and stress science. The conversation ended with plans to reconvene the following week to discuss progress and continued involvement in curriculum development and empathy initiatives.