Facilitating Change: intro & welcome

Building a non-violent world is humanity's most urgent priority.

Domestic violence and abuse is a primary way in which people experience and learn abusive behavior. Domestic violence has immense effects on people's lives, and to society. Not only does it cause pain and suffering, there are direct personal and social costs in treating injuries, criminal jsutice interventions, and lost wages and productivity. More significant still are the lifetime costs borne by children exposed to abuse: reduced educational attainment and lifetime earnings, increased rates of substance use and mental health problems, increased risk of incarceration, increased rates of chronic illness and reduced life expectancy.

In abuse intervention programs, trained group facilitators help participants see with their own eyes and in their lives the processes which led them to choose abusive behavior, and then to practice more peaceful, mutual, and just ways of relating to their partners, families, and others.

I have always hated to see people hurt, and I am grateful and gratified and in awe when I witness healing. Since 2020 I have been privileged to do this work with others and for myself, and it has been immensely gratifying.

Facilitating Change speaks to the work of helping people and communities change hurtful, harmful, abusive, and violent acts and patterns of behavior.

Most often this directly relates to the work of abuse intervention and prevention with domestic violence, but often this relates to broader movements seeking to build a more peaceful and just world.

It is my hope that this forum will be a place for sharing ideas and for building a community of practice which supports peace in our world, peace in our communities, peace in our homes, and peace in our hearts.

In the coming days I will be sharing drawing on what seem to me practical ways to further this work in a time of political change and the ascendency of pro-abuse ideologies and policies.

Thank you for all that you do to make these dreams real, and welcome!



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