Gentle Teaching is about helping a person feel safe and loved and then building on this foundation. This approach is deeper that dealing with behaviors. It deals with often destructive and chaotic memories that propel a person into marginalization. Addictions, aggression, abusiveness, self-harm, running away, mistrust, and a mountain of other reactions to these memories leave the person disoriented, without a moral compass, and in a state of chaos. Of course, old memories cannot be eradicated; our hope is to help the person evolve new ones starting with feelings of being safe and loved. It is also our initial role to prevent harmful “behaviors” as much a possible so that our most central focus is on helping plant the seedlings for the growth of new moral memories.

 

These memories are not intellectual ones, but deeper ones that become part of our life-compass. They are memories underneath memories that lead to:

  • Enjoying being with the caring community
  • Doing activities with others
  • Helping others
  • Displaying friendship with embraces or other rituals
  • Expressing empathy toward others.
  • The key factor is to focus on who the person is becoming, not what we are getting rid of