This month we welcome Samuel Mahaffy as he shares thoughts on Relational Practices to Change the World...   

Won't You Please Come to Chicago,

Just to Sing...?

An Invitation to Relational Practices

 

Remember the words from the song by Graham Nash: "Won't you Please Come to Chicago, Just to Sing..."? Yes, I date

myself! The song was written in the days of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and was a plea to come to Chicago to raise money for the defense of the Chicago 8. These were the formative days of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. With sometimes unruly behavior, we raised our collective voice in opposition to the Vietnam War and in favor of peace. We were out to change the world! It was an exciting time when we were empowered that by raising our collective voices, we could make this world a better place.

 

We've learned some things since then. That the voice for justice must never be quieted. That we must find ways to give voice to the voiceless. That positive messages are more powerful than negative ones.

 

Where is the compelling voice for a better world today? One place I hear it clearly is in the movement toward more relational practices. The Taos Institute is the epicenter for enhancing a relational paradigm, much as Chicago in 1968 was the epicenter for the anti-war movement.

 

In November 2012, I experienced firsthand the power of the relational approach to change the world. It was at a gathering of peacemakers from around the globe in San Diego, California. The conference was called Relational Practices in Conflict Transformation, Mediation and Peacebuilding: From the Intimate to the International. Sponsored by The Taos Institute, the commitment of those present at this gathering to be instruments of positive change in the world was palpable.

 

In the Mission Bay harbor of this beautiful city, peacemakers from around the world gathered to share the rich possibilities of peacemaking from a relational perspective. I was deeply moved and honored to be part of this gathering. This gathering was not about peace as an abstraction, but about living into peace in the world. In the words of Diana Whitney, captured in poetic verse by Gita Baack: "remind people--they already know how to do peace - be peace." After more than two decades of

mediating conflicts in organizations, I left this conference convinced that relational practices are the greatest pathway to peace-building and conflict transformation.

 

Much of the work in relational practices first grew out of communities-of-practice of psychotherapists. Indeed, one of the most significant new works on relational practices has just emerged from a family therapy center in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The subtitle of Patterns in Interpersonal Interactions is Inviting Relational Understandings for Therapeutic Change. It could just as well be Inviting Relational Understandings for Global Change! This work is about focusing on wellness patterns rather than pathologizing ones (http://samuelmahaffy.com/2015/01/patterns-interpersonal-interactions-inviting-relational-understandings-therapeutic-change/).

 

The universe of relational practices has grown far larger than the world of psychotherapy and the human sciences. It has grown to become a global network of scholars and practitioners focusing, in diverse disciplines and communities, on the "processes by which humans generate meaning together." (www.taosinstitute.net/theoretical-background).

 

The relational practices and understanding brought forward in the community known as the Taos Institute is extraordinary. It is a pivotal time, I believe, for this community. This is the time for some transmission of vision and process from those who first rattled the academic and practice world with social constructionist ideas. I expect now we are in the wide open process of discovering multiple ways to bring those ideas forward in many arenas.

 

Relational understandings of human engagement are causing us to redefine the boundaries of academic disciplines. More importantly, the emerging conversation about relational practices is challenging us to explore new and life-giving practices at the family, community, and global level. In the social constructionist world "everyone has a role to play in making change."

 

"Won't you please come to Chicago, just to sing?" If we have constructed a world that is divided by conflict and engaged in un-sustainable practices, we can surely re-construct it differently.

 

Together, we can change the world!

 

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Samuel Mahaffy received his Ph.D. from Tilburg University.  He is an Associate of the Taos Institute and involved in peacemaking work in his community and around the world. He can be contacted through his website at

www.samuelmahaffy.com.

  Friends of the Taos Institute Workshops

  - Contact the presenters to register for these workshops:
 
Workshops sponsored by the Evanston Family Therapy Center   
• Level 2 Narrative Therapy Intensive in Evanston, Illinois | May 9-13, with Jill Freedman and Gene Combs
• Advanced Narrative Therapy Intensive in Tuscany, Italy | May 25-29, with Jill Freedman and Gene Combs
 
Workshops sponsored by the Corporation for Positive Change
 
The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: Theory and Practice
• April 21-24, West Coast Center for Positive Change, Orange County, CA, with Ralph Weickel and Tenny Poole
• June 9-12, Rocky Mountain Center for Positive Change, Golden, CO, with Amanda Trosten-Bloom and Barbara Lewis
• June 16-19, European Center,  Amsterdam, with Ralph Weickel
• June 25-28,- Hong Kong Center for Positive Change, Hong Kong, with Dorothy Tsui
• Oct. 19-22, Virgina Beach, Virginia, Linda Berardi
• Nov. 19-22, Hong Kong Center, with Dorothy Tsui
 
Applications of Appreciative Inquiry  
• June 10-12, 2015 - West Coast Center, Orange County, CA, with Tenny Poole and Ralph Weickel
 
Appreciative Inquiry Summit (On-line) 
• September 24, 2015 through November 12, 2015 (8:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. MDT) - Rocky Mountain Center for Positive Change, with Amanda Trosten-Bloom and Barbara Lewis
 
Appreciative Leadership Development Program 
• April 21-24, 2015 - Rocky Mountain Center for Positive Change, Golden, CO, with Amanda Trosten-Bloom and Barbara Lewis
• July 20-24,  West Coast Center for Positive Change, Orange County, CA, with Tenny Poole and Ralph Weickel
• September 17-20, Hong Kong Center for Positive Change, Hong Kong, with Dorothy Tsui
• Nov. 24-27, Amsterdam, Netherlands, with Ralph Weickel
• Dec. 10-13, Hong Center, with Dorothy Tsui
 
 Appreciative Coaching
• Sept. 15-16, Amsterdam, Netherlands, with Ralph Weickel
 
For details and registration information see:  
www.taosinstitute.net/friends-of-taos-institute-workshops  
 
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Sponsored by the International Certificate Program in Collaborative Practices, TI is a co-sponsor:
• Second Latin American Conference: Collaborative and Dialogic Practices, Tucuman, Argentina , April 22-25, 2015
  http://colaborativotuc2015.com.ar/en

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Conferences: www.taosinstitute.net/upcoming-conferences  

The Taos Institute is a co-sponsor of these events:
• 7th Annual Summer Institute with Attractor/Ramboll  - July 1-3, Copenhagen, Denmark
 
The Taos Institute is a Friend of the Conference at:  
• 2015 World Appreciative Inquiry Conference - Building Flourishing Societies Together: Elevating, Aligning and Reflecting our Best to Create a Prosperous World for All, South Africa, July 6-10, 2015. www.2015waic.com 

For details, registration and more workshop listings, visit our website.
www.taosinstitute.net/friends-of-taos-institute-workshops

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Taos Institute Europe Events:

Relational Welfare - a Conference - June 26th - 28th 2015 - Copenhagen, Denmark 

For details visit: www.taosinstitute.net/europe-events

Also visit the Taos Institute Europe website at

www.taosinstituteeurope.com