The Empathy Project

It’s time to tell you the latest about the progress of the Empathy Project.

The great news is that there is now a team of four in place to establish The Empathy Foundation.

We are writing a draft Charter and creating an initial structure which will allow us to launch the EF as an organisation.

Once the draft Charter of the Empathy Foundation is written it will be circulated widely to attract feedback and comment and help the foundation to evolve.

Are you inspired to help set up the Empathy Foundation systems?

One key goal of the EF is to become the global online hub for resources related to empathy. People are already sending in their thoughts and references about empathy. There’s lots to do to get these systems in place and record the research in an accessible way.

We are seeking team members who are inspired by the Empathy Foundation vision and would be interested  to donate their time and expertise to setting up the information systems and administration of the project.

“The human brain and heart that are met primarily with empathy in the critical early years cannot and will not grow to choose a violent or selfish life.” Robin Grille, Parenting for a Peaceful World

Modern research shows that the capacity for empathy is directly related to the experience of empathy which a child receives, that the capacity for empathy can be grown and that more empathic people treat others and the earth with more care.

The Empathy Foundation will provide a platform from which to spread understanding of the importance of
empathy, as the key to creating a world that is environmentally sustainable, socially just and spiritually fulfilling.

What are the goals of the Empathy Foundation?

The Empathy Foundation will act as a not for profit organization with the mission of spreading the understanding of the importance of empathy, and the ability to practice it, to the future of humankind on the planet. It acts as a not-for-profit educational and training organization which creates programs that communicate, motivate and train people in a wide range of settings to effectively practice and grow
their capacity for empathy.

These programs are designed to bring about understanding of the dysfunctional behaviour of people,
such as those reasons stemming from childhood experience, as well as how to progress into the future by transforming the way children are raised.

The Empathy Foundation will bring cultural change to all levels of human groups and organizations
by targeting a broad range of society from families to schools, workplaces, the arts, government and business. It will transform how people relate to each other in organizations of all kinds by fostering the practical expression of empathy.
People will be empowered and will help each other to learn and grow and be more collaborative, creative and effective.

What will the Empathy Foundation do?

There are two major aspects envisaged as the work of the Empathy Foundation – communication of the
empathy message broadly in society and creating empathy training programs to suit a wide range of sections of society.

The Empathy Foundation’s message will be communicated through many media and platforms using high level modern communication methods. For example, the first Empathy Foundation talk “Can Empathy Save the World?” at the Early Childhood Australia conference in 2008 introduced the project and attracted interest from experienced early childhood leaders.

The Empathy Foundation’s training programs will be designed to easily fit with current models in professional development and other training and self-development programs for private citizens, such as parent training programs. This training is uniquely contexted in the new historical understanding that the evolution of childrearing leads the evolution of society. It will present the evidence that human
conflict and dysfunctional behaviours originate from childhood emotional development and our new knowledge as a species of how to raise empathic children and the benefits. The training will give highly effective ways to release limiting emotions and go beyond our personal childhood conditioning. By
dropping limiting emotions people are enabled to relate with empathy towards each other, and so to foster collaboration and maximize the potential for growth, creativity and effectiveness.

What does the Empathy Foundation make possible?

That “empathy training” becomes a household word and a part of the education of every
parent and school child and member of the public from the police to administrative officers, from education to business and the arts. At every level it would be understood and accepted that empathy is essential to humanity developing in a just and sustainable way. Fostering and protecting empathy will be paramount in government policy at all levels. A truly transformative understanding will become widely adopted - that the future of humanity is determined by our ability to raise emotionally healthy, empathic children, to foster a healthier, more creative generation than has ever been seen on earth, who will become the source of the rapid changes that are needed for a sustainable and just future
for humanity.

To catalyse the growth of greater capacity for loving relationships in all people.

To spread the word that practicing empathy is the most powerful action that we can take to ensure a sustainable, socially just and peaceful world.

To promote the growth and repair of the empathy centres of the human brain which allow loving relationships with people and the Earth.

To help people to release the emotional blocks caused by not having their emotional needs met.

To describe the research about the emotional needs of young children and how to meet those needs.

To spread the understanding that a strong empathic brain :

·is essential to relating in a loving way to ourselves and others

· assists us to contribute our unique and true creative work

· supports a healthy and harmonious relationship with nature

To promote the following understandings:

· That relating with understanding and kindness, to ourselves, children and other adults is the key to a sustainable environment, social justice and world peace for all humanity.

· That relating with appropriate forms of respect and kindness, and trust in the innate goodness and knowingness present in everyone, builds the capacity of the empathic brain of both giver and receiver.

· That appropriate forms of empathically relating to ourselves and others are able to be learned and practiced

· That to learn and practice the specific skills of treating ourselves and others with emapthy is the greatest possible act of peace creation, and activism for a sustainable environment.

To promote the irrefutable research-based findings that:

· the capacity of the “empathic brain centres” is the key factor which allows people to relate to others with kindness and compassion.

· treating children with empathy builds the empathic capacity of the human brain, thus the ability to have healthy caring relationships with people and the earth

· authoritarian parenting does not meet the emotional growth needs of children and measurably stunts the growth of the empathic capacity

· adults whose empathic centres are stunted are more prone to addictions, rage and violence

· there is powerful connection between authoritarian and abusive parenting styles and the social ills of injustice, over-consumption, autocratic leaders and gullible followers, crime and violence, and disregard for and over exploitation of the environment.

· relating to babies and young children with respect and kindness, as a loving guide or helpful parent, and meeting their emotional needs, is the key to bringing up emotionally healthy people.

· meeting the psychological needs of human children has profoundly positive effects on society

To present an inspiring vision of our individual power to create a world that works for everyone, by the constant practice of empathy.

To demonstrate that for individuals, societies and the globe there is only gain from creating an Empathic (or No-Blame) World.

To also show that wherever we are, whatever our situation, it is possible to practice empathy and create a “No-Blame World of One.”

To present why this personal journey of practicing empathy, that is, of creating a no-blame inner world of our own (by letting go of our oppositional, critical, blaming stance, of ourselves and each other) is a necessity, not an optional extra for humanity to succeed in the project of creating a peaceful and sustainable world.

To weave into this inspiring vision, the logical, scientific, evidence-based case that personal transformation towards living in an inner no-blame, peaceful world, is at least equally vital for global transformation into a sustainable, peaceful world, as is taking effective outer action to save the environment and stop wars.

To bring this message of universal empathy to as many people as possible, particularly, but not limited to, parents and teachers and all who work with the young.

To enable caring people to live and work as they have always wanted to work, through transcending social constraints and personal inhibitions and acting from the heart.

Action Plan

To create a high impact presentation (multi media eventually) of an inspiring line of reasoning, backed by evidence, which results in:

• understanding of the connection between our own childhood experience and our personal emotional reactivity

• knowledge of the counter productive effects of emotional reactivity on our quest to create a peaceful and sustainable world

• conviction that we need to release our personal reactivity if we are to create a peaceful and sustainable world

• widespread knowledge of inner transformational tools for releasing personal reactivity which are effective, accessible and simple to practice.

• conviction about the personal and global benefits of personal inner transformational work

• readiness to practice the inner technologies to release personal reactivity, as a powerful and effective way of being the change that we want to see in the world

The following evidence and arguments would be presented

• the relationship between childhood experience and human being’s treatment of each other and the earth, in a historical context of the evolution of the treatment of children

• evidence for the need for individual and collective creativity and the negative effect of the socializing approach to children (praise and blame) on human creativity and growth and ability to collaborate effectively in creative teamwork

• simple summary of well established psychological understanding of the emotional needs of young children

• the proven effect on their structural neurology of children’s emotional needs not being met.

• the proven effects of stunted “emotional brain” growth on the ability of future adults to have empathy for people and nature

• the inevitable consequences of stunted empathic centres of the brain on the leaders we choose, the way we treat each other and kind of societies we live in

• that depending on the level of damage, growth of emotional intelligence is possible to a greater or lesser extent throughout life.

• that being treated with empathy is the primary factor that supports the growth of the empathic capacity in the brain