Introduction
The Looking for Bears Principles and Concepts encompass a range of values, skills, and approaches that promote empathy, understanding, growth, and positive change. These principles serve as invaluable tools when providing support to individuals experiencing difficult times, including ourselves. They guide our actions and interactions, enabling us to create a safe and nurturing environment for those in need. Emphasizing empathy, active listening, and unconditional support, these concepts allow us to establish a genuine connection with ourselves or the people we are assisting. By embracing these principles, we foster an atmosphere of understanding, compassion, and non-judgment, empowering individuals to express their emotions, share their experiences, and seek solace and guidance. They also remind us to approach each person's struggles with respect for their unique journey, recognizing that everyone's process of healing and growth is different. Through the application of these Principles and Concepts, we can provide effective and meaningful support, helping others and ourselves navigate challenges and work towards a brighter future.
Approaches
- Behavior as Communication: Recognizing that difficult behavior is a form of communication, often conveying underlying emotions, needs, or distress, and seeking to understand the meaning behind the behavior.
- Collaborative Problem Solving: Engaging in a collaborative and inclusive approach to problem-solving, equally involving all relevant stakeholders, and seeking mutually beneficial solutions.
- Creating Psychological Safety: Cultivating an environment where individuals feel safe to express their thoughts, emotions, and concerns without fear of judgment or negative consequences.
- Cultivating Compassion and Self-Acceptance: Encouraging individuals to show kindness, understanding, and acceptance towards themselves and others, fostering a compassionate and non-judgmental mindset.
- Humanizing the Issue: Recognizing the full humanity and dignity of all individuals involved, seeking to understand their unique experiences, and avoiding dehumanization or objectification.
- Multidisciplinary: Collaborating with professionals from various disciplines and fields of expertise to provide comprehensive support, combining diverse perspectives and knowledge.
- Restorative Justice: Emphasizing repairing harm caused by a wrongdoing, focusing on healing, accountability, and restoration rather than punitive measures.
- Trauma-Informed: Recognizing the prevalence and impact of trauma, integrating trauma knowledge into practices, and creating a safe and supportive environment for individuals who have experienced trauma.
- Understanding Root Cause: Delving beyond surface-level manifestations of a problem to identify and address the underlying root causes or contributing factors.
Skills
- Active Listening: Engaging in attentive and focused listening, seeking to understand the speaker's perspective, and demonstrating empathy.
- Constructive Dialogue: Engaging in respectful and open communication, promoting active listening, understanding diverse perspectives, and working towards mutual understanding and resolution.
- Effective Communication: Employing clear, respectful, and empathetic communication strategies to convey thoughts, feelings, and information in a way that promotes understanding and connection.
- Perspective Shift: Cultivating the ability to understand and share the feelings and perspectives of others, fostering empathy and promoting a shift in one's own perspective.
- Follow-up and Accountability: Ensuring that actions and commitments are followed through and holding individuals accountable for their responsibilities and agreements.
- Skill Development and Education: Promoting the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and tools that empower individuals to navigate challenges, communicate effectively, and develop personally and professionally.
- Validation: Providing validation and acknowledgement of individuals' feelings, experiences, and perspectives.
Values
- Accountability and Growth: Encouraging individuals to take responsibility for their actions, learn from their mistakes, and actively work towards personal growth and positive change.
- Building a Supportive Network: Promoting the development of a strong support system, consisting of trusted individuals who provide emotional support, guidance, and encouragement.
- Building Trust and Connection: Fostering an environment of trust, respect, and genuine connection, where individuals feel safe to express themselves and build meaningful relationships.
- Least Harm: Actively seeking and implementing solutions in a given situation or crisis that prioritize minimizing the negative consequences and harm to all parties.
- Having a Hard Time: Recognizing that people aren't giving us a hard time; they're having a hard time. Difficult behaviors are rooted in nervous system dysregulation.
- Prioritizing Safety: Making safety a primary concern, ensuring physical, emotional, and psychological safety for all individuals involved in any given situation.
- Providing Resources and Support: Offering access to resources, services, and support networks that can address individuals' needs and facilitate their well-being and growth.
Combination
- Intersectionality (Perspective and Approach): Recognizing the importance of intersectionality, acknowledging that individuals have multiple identities (such as race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, disability, neurodiversity, class, and age) and face unique challenges based on their intersecting social, cultural, and personal experiences. It emphasizes the need to consider these intersections when understanding and addressing individual situations.
- Cultural Sensitivity (Value and Skill): Promoting cultural sensitivity and recognizes that individuals from different cultural backgrounds may have diverse perspectives, values, and needs. It emphasizes the importance of understanding and respecting cultural differences to foster inclusivity and effective communication.
- Continuous Learning (Skill and Approach): Encouraging continuous learning and personal growth. It acknowledges that understanding and applying the principles of empathy, compassion, and self-reflection require ongoing effort and a willingness to challenge preconceived notions and biases.
- Community Engagement (Approach and Skill): Emphasizing the importance of community engagement and collective responsibility. It recognizes that creating positive change often requires collaboration and collective action, involving not only individuals but also communities, institutions, and systems.
- Self-Care and Wellbeing (Value and Skill): Recognizing the significance of self-care and prioritizing one's own wellbeing. It emphasizes the need for individuals to take care of themselves emotionally, physically, and mentally, to be better equipped to support and engage with others, including self-nurturing and healthy boundaries.