Health realization
Encyclopedia
Health realization is a resiliency
approach to personal and community psychology
first developed in the 1980s by Roger C. Mills and George Pransky, and based on ideas and insights these psychologists elaborated from attending the lectures of philosopher and author Sydney Banks. HR first became known for its application in economically and socially marginalized communities living in highly stressful circumstances (see Community Applications below).
HR focuses on the nature of thought
and how it affects one's experience of the world. Students of HR are taught that they can change how they react to their circumstances by becoming aware that they are creating their own experience as they respond to their thoughts, and by connecting to their "innate health" and "inner wisdom."
HR also goes under the earlier names "Psychology of Mind" and "Neo-Cognitive Psychology," and it is closely related to "Innate Health" and the "Three Principles" understanding.
"Mind" has been likened to the electricity running a movie projector, and "Thought" to the images on the film. "Consciousness" is likened to the light from the projector that throws the images onto the screen, making them appear real.
According to HR, people experience their reality and their circumstances through the constant filter of their thoughts. Consciousness makes that filtered reality seem "the way it really is." People react to it as if this were true. But, when their thinking changes, reality seems different and their reactions change. Thus, according to HR, people are constantly creating their own experience of reality via their thinking.
People tend to experience their reality as stressful, according to HR, when they are having insecure or negative thoughts. But HR suggests that such thoughts do not have to be taken seriously. When one chooses to take them more lightly, according to HR, the mind quiets down and positive feelings emerge spontaneously. Thus, HR also teaches that people have health and well-being already within them (in HR this is known as "innate health"), ready to emerge as soon as their troubled thinking calms down. When this happens, according to HR, people also gain access to common sense
, and they can tap into the universal capacity for creative problem solving
or "inner wisdom." Anecdotal reports suggest that, when a person grasps the understanding behind HR in an experiential way, an expansive sense of emotional freedom and well-being can result.
that focus on the content of the clients' dysfunctional thinking, HR focuses on "innate health" and the role of "Mind, Thought, and Consciousness" in creating the clients' experience of life.
The HR counselor does not attempt to get clients to change their thoughts, "think positive
," or "reframe
" negative thoughts to positive ones. According to HR, one's ability to control one's thoughts is limited and the effort to do so can itself be a source of stress
. Instead, clients are encouraged to consider that their "minds are using thought to continuously determine personal reality at each moment."
HR characterizes feelings and emotions as indicators of the quality of one's thinking. Within the HR model, unpleasant feelings or emotions, or stressful feelings, indicate that one's thinking is based on insecurity, negative beliefs, conditioning
or learned patterns that are not necessarily appropriate to the live moment here and now. They simultaneously indicate that the individual has temporarily lost sight of what HR asserts is his or her own role in creating experience. Pleasant or desired feelings (such as a sense of well-being, gratitude, compassion, peace, etc.) indicate, within the HR model, that the quality of one's thinking is exactly as it needs to be.
HR holds that the therapeutic "working through" of personal issues from the past to achieve wholeness is unnecessary. According to the HR model, people are already whole and healthy. The traumas of the past are only important to the extent that the individual lets them influence his or her thoughts in the present. According to HR, one's "issues" and memories are just thoughts, and the individual can react to them or not. The more the clients' experience is that they themselves are creating their own painful feelings via their own "power of Thought," HR suggests, the less these feelings bother them. Sedgeman has compared this to what happens when we make scary faces at ourselves in the mirror: because we know it is just us, it is impossible to scare ourselves that way.
Thus HR deals with personal insecurities and dysfunctional patterns almost en masse, aiming for an understanding of the "key role of thought", an understanding that ideally allows the individual to step free at once from a large number of different patterns all connected by insecure thinking. With this approach, it is rare for the practitioner to delve into specific content beyond the identification of limiting thoughts. When specific thoughts are considered to be limiting or based on insecurity or conditioning, the counselor encourages the individual to disengage from them.
, rather than the result of disease. That is, some people who are, in HR terms, "unaware" of their own "innate health" and their own role in creating stress via their thoughts turn to alcohol
, drugs, or other compulsive behaviors in the attempt to quell their stressful feelings and regain some momentary sense of control. HR aims to offer deeper relief by showing that negative and stressful feelings are self-generated and thus can be self-quieted and it seeks to provide a pathway to well-being that does not depend on external circumstances.
, drug dealing, teenage pregnancy
, child abuse
, child neglect
, school absenteeism
, unemployment
, and families on public assistance. Jack Pransky has chronicled the transformation that unfolded there, in his book Modello, A Story of Hope for the Inner City and Beyond.
Later projects in some of the most severely violence-ridden housing developments in New York, Minnesota, and California and in other communities in California, Hawaii, and Colorado built upon the early experience in the Modello/Homestead work. The Coliseum Gardens housing complex in Oakland, California, for example, had previously had the fourth highest homicide
rate of such a complex in the US, but after HR classes were launched, the homicide rate began to decline. Gang
warfare and ethnic clashes between Cambodian and African-American youth ceased. In 1997, Sargeant Jerry Williams was awarded the California Wellness Foundation Peace Prize on behalf of the Health Realization Community Empowerment Project at Coliseum Gardens. By the year 2006, there had been no homicides in the Complex for nine straight years.
The HR model has also found application in police departments, prisons, mental health clinics, community health clinics and nursing, drug and alcohol rehabilitation
programs, services for the homeless, schools, and a variety of state and local government programs. The County of Santa Clara, California
, for example, has established a Health Realization Services Division which provides HR training to County employees and the public. The Services Division "seeks to enhance the life of the individual by teaching the understanding of the psychological principles of Mind, Thought and Consciousness, and how these principles function to create our life experience," and to "enable them to live healthier and more productive lives so that the community becomes a model of health and wellness." The Department of Alcohol and Drug Services introduced HR in Santa Clara County in 1994. The Health Realization Services Division has an approved budget of over $800,000 (gross expenditure) for FY 2008, a 41% increase over 2007, at a time when a number of programs within the Alcohol and Drug Services Department have sustained budget cuts.
HR community projects have received grant
funding from a variety of sources. For example, grant partners for the Visitacion Valley Community Resiliency Project, a five-year, multimillion-dollar community revitalization project, have included Wells Fargo
Bank, Charles Schwab Corporation Foundation, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, Isabel Allende Foundation, Pottruck Family Foundation, McKesson Foundation, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, S.H. Cowell Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, Milagro Foundation, and Dresdner RCM Global Investors. Other projects based upon the HR approach have been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health
, the U.S. Department of Justice
, the National Institute on Drug Abuse
, the California Wellness Foundation, and the Shinnyo-en Foundation.
and development, teamwork
, leadership
, change and diversity
. According to HR/Three Principles adherents, these results flow naturally as the individuals exposed to the ideas learn how their thoughts have been creating barriers to others and barriers to their own innate creativity, common sense, and well being. As people learn how to access their full potential more consistently, HR adherents say, they get better results with less effort and less stress in less time.
Two peer-reviewed articles on effectiveness with leadership development were published in professional journals in 2008 (ADHR) and 2009 (ODJ). See "Organizations and Business" section below (Polsfuss & Ardichvili).
or religion
; he is neither academically trained nor well read. His philosophy focuses on the illusionary, thought-created nature of reality, the three principles of "Mind", "Thought", and "Consciousness", the potential relief of human suffering that can come from a fundamental shift in personal awareness and understanding and the importance of a direct, experiential grasp of these matters, as opposed to a mere intellectual comprehension or analysis. Mr. Banks suggests that his philosophy is best understood not intellectually but by "listening for a positive feeling;" and a grasp of HR is said to come through a series of "insights," that is, shifts in experiential understanding.
, and listening respectfully to all. Facilitators ideally teach in the moment, from "what they know" (e.g. their own experience), trusting that they will find the right words to say and the right approach to use in the immediate situation to stimulate the students' understanding of the "Three Principles". Rapport
with students and a positive mood in the session or class are more important than the specific content of the facilitator's presentation.
article evaluating the effectiveness of HR suggests that the results of residential substance abuse
treatment structured around the teaching of HR are equivalent to those of treatment structured around 12-step programs. The authors note that "these results are consistent with the general findings in the substance abuse literature, which suggests that treatment generally yields benefits, irrespective of approach."
A small peer-reviewed study in preparation for a planned larger study evaluated the teaching of HR/Innate Health via a one-and-a-half day seminar, as a stress- and anxiety-reduction intervention for HIV-positive patients. All but one of the eight volunteer participants in the study showed improved scores on the Brief Symptom Inventory after the seminar, and those participants who scored in the "psychiatric outpatient" range at the beginning of the seminar all showed improvement that was sutained upon follow-up one month later. The study's authors concluded that "The HR/IH psychoeducational approach deserves further study as a brief intervention for stress-reduction in HIV-positive patients."
A recent pilot study funded by the National Institutes of Health
evaluated HR in lowering stress among Somali
and Oromo
refugee women who had experienced violence and torture
in their homelands, but for whom Western-style psychotherapeutic treatment
of trauma
was not culturally appropriate. The pilot study showed that "the use of HR with refugee trauma survivors was feasible, culturally acceptable, and relevant to the participants.” In a post-intervention focus group, "many women reported using new strategies to calm down, quiet their minds and make healthier decisions." Co-investigator Cheryl Robertson, Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota
, was quoted as saying, "This is a promising intervention that doesn't involve the use of highly trained personnel. And it can be done in the community."
The Visitacion Valley Community Resiliency Project (VVCRP) was reviewed by an independent evaluator hired by the Pottruck Foundation. Her final report notes that "Early program evaluation...found that the VVCRP was successful in reducing individuals’ feelings of depression and isolation, and increasing their sense of happiness and self-control. The cumulative evaluation research conducted on the VVCRP and the HR model in general concludes that HR is a powerful tool for changing individuals’ beliefs and behaviors." In the Summary of Case Studies, the report goes on to state, "The VVCRP was effective over a period of five years of sustained involvement in two major neighborhood institutions...at influencing not just individuals, but also organizational policies, practices, and culture. This level of organizational influence is impressive when the relatively modest level of VVCRP staff time and resources invested into making these changes is taken into account. The pivotal levers of change at each organization were individual leaders who were moved by the HR principles to make major changes in their own beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, and then took the initiative to inspire, enable, and mandate similar changes within their organizations. This method of reaching “critical mass” of HR awareness within these organizations appears to be both efficient and effective when the leadership conditions are right. However, this pathway to change is vulnerable to the loss of the key individual leader."
and education, citing about 20 manuscripts, most of which were conference papers, and none peer-reviewed
journal articles, although two were unpublished doctoral dissertations. (Kelley (2003) cites two more unpublished doctoral dissertations.) Pransky concludes, "Every study of Health Realization and its various incarnations, however weak or strong the design, has shown decreases in problem behaviors and internally experienced problems. This approach appears to reduce problem behaviors and to improve mental health and well-being. At the very least, this suggests the field of prevention should further examine the efficacy of this ... approach by conducting independent, rigorous, controlled, longitudinal studies...."
Since at least 2008 peer-reviewed professional journal articles on its effectiveness have been published. See C.L.Polsfuss, A.Ardichvili articles in "Organizations and Business" section below.
In a criticism of the philosophy of Sydney Banks and, by implication, the HR approach, Bonelle Strickling, a psychotherapist and Professor of Philosophy, is quoted in an article in the Vancouver Sun as objecting that "it makes it appear as if people can, through straightforward positive thinking, 'choose' to transcend their troubled upbringings and begin leading a contented life." She goes on to say that "it can be depressing for people to hear it's supposed to be that easy. It hasn't been my experience that people can simply choose not to be negatively influenced by their past." Referring to Banks's own experience, she says, "Most people are not blessed with such a life-changing experience.... When most people change, it usually happens in a much more gradual way."
The West Virginia Initiative for Innate Health (at West Virginia University
Health Sciences Center), which promotes HR/Innate Health and the philosophy of Sydney Banks through teaching, writing, and research, was the center of controversy soon after its inception in 2000 as the Sydney Banks Institute for Innate Health. Initiated by Robert M. D'Alessandri, the Dean of the medical school there, the institute reportedly was criticized (without attribution) as pushing "junk science," and Banks's philosophy was characterized (also without attribution) as "a kind of bastardized Buddhism" and "New Age." William Post, an orthopedic surgeon who quit the medical school because of the institute, was reported along with other unnamed professors to have accused the Sydney Banks Institute of promoting religion in a state-funded institution, and Harvey Silvergate, a civil-liberties lawyer, was quoted as agreeing that "essentially [the institute] seems like a cover for a religious-type belief system which has been prettified in order to be secular and even scientific." A Dr. Blaha, who resigned as chairman of Orthopedics at WVU, was quoted as criticizing the institute as being part of a culture at the Health Sciences Center that, in his view, places too much emphasis on agreement, consensus, and getting along. Other professors reportedly supported the institute. Anthony DiBartolomeo, chief of the rheumatology section, was quoted as calling it "a valuable addition" to the health-sciences center, saying its greatest value was in helping students, residents, and patients deal with stress.
Reportedly in response to the controversy, the WVIIH changed its name from The Sydney Banks Institute to the West Virginia Initiative for Innate Health, although its mission remains unchanged.
A large body of peer-reviewed
case literature in psychotherapy by Milton Erickson, M.D., founding president of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, and others working in the field of Ericksonian psychotherapy, supports the notion that lasting change in psychotherapy can occur rapidly without directly addressing clients' past problematic experiences.
Many case examples and a modest body of controlled outcome research in solution focused brief therapy
(SFBT), have likewise supported the notion that change in psychotherapy can occur rapidly, without delving into the clients' past negative experiences. Proponents of SFBT suggest that such change often occurs when the therapist assists clients to step out of their usual problem-oriented thinking.
The philosophy of social constructionism
, which is echoed in SFBT, asserts that reality is reproduced by people acting on their interpretations and their knowledge of it. (HR asserts that thought creates one's experience of the world.)
A major body of peer-reviewed research on "focusing
," a change process developed by philosopher Eugene Gendlin
, supports the theory that progress in psychotherapy is dependent on something clients do inside themselves during pauses in the therapy process, and that a particular internal activity — "focusing" — can be taught to help clients improve their progress. The first step of the six-step process used to teach "focusing" involves setting aside one's current worries and concerns to create a "cleared space" for effective inner reflection. Gendlin has called this first step by itself "a superior stress-reduction method." (HR emphasizes the importance of quieting one's insecure and negative thinking to reduce stress and gain access to "inner wisdom," "common sense," and well-being.)
Positive psychology
emphasizes the human capacity for health and well-being, asserts the poor correlation between social circumstances and individual happiness, and insists on the importance of one's thinking in determining one's feelings.
Work by Herbert Benson
argues that humans have an innate 'breakout principle' which provides creative solutions and peak experiences which allow the restoration of a 'new-normal' state of higher functioning. This breakout principle is activated by severing connections with current circular or repetitive thinking. This is heavily reminiscent of Health Realization discussion of the Principle of Mind and of how it is activated.
Finally, resilience research, such as that by Emmy Werner
, has demonstrated that many high-risk children display resilience and develop into normal, happy adults despite problematic developmental histories.
Psychological resilience
Resilience in psychology refers to the idea of an individual's tendency to cope with stress and adversity. This coping may result in the individual “bouncing back” to a previous state of normal functioning, or using the experience of exposure to adversity to produce a “steeling effect” and function...
approach to personal and community psychology
Community psychology
Community psychology deals with the relationships of the individual to communities and the wider society. Community psychologists seek to understand the quality of life of individuals, communities, and society...
first developed in the 1980s by Roger C. Mills and George Pransky, and based on ideas and insights these psychologists elaborated from attending the lectures of philosopher and author Sydney Banks. HR first became known for its application in economically and socially marginalized communities living in highly stressful circumstances (see Community Applications below).
HR focuses on the nature of thought
Thought
"Thought" generally refers to any mental or intellectual activity involving an individual's subjective consciousness. It can refer either to the act of thinking or the resulting ideas or arrangements of ideas. Similar concepts include cognition, sentience, consciousness, and imagination...
and how it affects one's experience of the world. Students of HR are taught that they can change how they react to their circumstances by becoming aware that they are creating their own experience as they respond to their thoughts, and by connecting to their "innate health" and "inner wisdom."
HR also goes under the earlier names "Psychology of Mind" and "Neo-Cognitive Psychology," and it is closely related to "Innate Health" and the "Three Principles" understanding.
The health realization model
In the health realization ("HR") model, all psychological phenomena, from severe disorder to glowing health, are presented as manifestations of three operative "principles" first formulated as principles of human experience by Sydney Banks:- MindMindThe concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different traditions, ranging from panpsychism and animism to traditional and organized religious views, as well as secular and materialist philosophies. Most agree that minds are constituted by conscious experience and intelligent...
- the universal energy that animates all of life, the source of innate health and well-being. - ConsciousnessConsciousnessConsciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
- the ability to be aware of one's life. - ThoughtThought"Thought" generally refers to any mental or intellectual activity involving an individual's subjective consciousness. It can refer either to the act of thinking or the resulting ideas or arrangements of ideas. Similar concepts include cognition, sentience, consciousness, and imagination...
- the power to think and thereby to create one's experience of reality.
"Mind" has been likened to the electricity running a movie projector, and "Thought" to the images on the film. "Consciousness" is likened to the light from the projector that throws the images onto the screen, making them appear real.
According to HR, people experience their reality and their circumstances through the constant filter of their thoughts. Consciousness makes that filtered reality seem "the way it really is." People react to it as if this were true. But, when their thinking changes, reality seems different and their reactions change. Thus, according to HR, people are constantly creating their own experience of reality via their thinking.
People tend to experience their reality as stressful, according to HR, when they are having insecure or negative thoughts. But HR suggests that such thoughts do not have to be taken seriously. When one chooses to take them more lightly, according to HR, the mind quiets down and positive feelings emerge spontaneously. Thus, HR also teaches that people have health and well-being already within them (in HR this is known as "innate health"), ready to emerge as soon as their troubled thinking calms down. When this happens, according to HR, people also gain access to common sense
Common sense
Common sense is defined by Merriam-Webster as, "sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts." Thus, "common sense" equates to the knowledge and experience which most people already have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have...
, and they can tap into the universal capacity for creative problem solving
Problem solving
Problem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Consideredthe most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of...
or "inner wisdom." Anecdotal reports suggest that, when a person grasps the understanding behind HR in an experiential way, an expansive sense of emotional freedom and well-being can result.
Health realization as therapy
In contrast to psychotherapiesPsychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
that focus on the content of the clients' dysfunctional thinking, HR focuses on "innate health" and the role of "Mind, Thought, and Consciousness" in creating the clients' experience of life.
The HR counselor does not attempt to get clients to change their thoughts, "think positive
Norman Vincent Peale
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale was a minister and author and a progenitor of the theory of "positive thinking".-Early life and education:...
," or "reframe
Reframing (NLP)
The term reframing designates a communication technique which has origins in family systems therapy and the work of Virginia Satir. Milton H. Erickson has been associated with reframing and it also forms an important part of Neuro-linguistic programming...
" negative thoughts to positive ones. According to HR, one's ability to control one's thoughts is limited and the effort to do so can itself be a source of stress
Stress (medicine)
Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
. Instead, clients are encouraged to consider that their "minds are using thought to continuously determine personal reality at each moment."
HR characterizes feelings and emotions as indicators of the quality of one's thinking. Within the HR model, unpleasant feelings or emotions, or stressful feelings, indicate that one's thinking is based on insecurity, negative beliefs, conditioning
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is a form of psychological learning during which an individual modifies the occurrence and form of its own behavior due to the association of the behavior with a stimulus...
or learned patterns that are not necessarily appropriate to the live moment here and now. They simultaneously indicate that the individual has temporarily lost sight of what HR asserts is his or her own role in creating experience. Pleasant or desired feelings (such as a sense of well-being, gratitude, compassion, peace, etc.) indicate, within the HR model, that the quality of one's thinking is exactly as it needs to be.
HR holds that the therapeutic "working through" of personal issues from the past to achieve wholeness is unnecessary. According to the HR model, people are already whole and healthy. The traumas of the past are only important to the extent that the individual lets them influence his or her thoughts in the present. According to HR, one's "issues" and memories are just thoughts, and the individual can react to them or not. The more the clients' experience is that they themselves are creating their own painful feelings via their own "power of Thought," HR suggests, the less these feelings bother them. Sedgeman has compared this to what happens when we make scary faces at ourselves in the mirror: because we know it is just us, it is impossible to scare ourselves that way.
Thus HR deals with personal insecurities and dysfunctional patterns almost en masse, aiming for an understanding of the "key role of thought", an understanding that ideally allows the individual to step free at once from a large number of different patterns all connected by insecure thinking. With this approach, it is rare for the practitioner to delve into specific content beyond the identification of limiting thoughts. When specific thoughts are considered to be limiting or based on insecurity or conditioning, the counselor encourages the individual to disengage from them.
Relationships
From the perspective of HR, relationship problems result from the partners' low awareness of their role in creating their own experience via thought and consciousness. Partners who respond to HR reportedly stop blaming and recriminating and react differently to each other. HR counselors aim to get couples to consider that each one's own feelings are not determined by one's partner and that the great majority of issues that previously snarled their interactions were based on insecure, negative, and conditioned thinking. HR counselors further suggest that every person goes through emotional ups and downs and that one's thinking in a "down" mood is likely to be distorted. HR teaches that it is generally counterproductive to try to "talk through" relationship problems when the partners are in a bad mood. Instead HR suggests that partners wait until each has calmed down and is able to discuss things from a place of inner comfort and security.Chemical dependency and addiction
HR sees chemical dependency and related behaviors as a response to a lack of a sense of self-efficacySelf-efficacy
Self-efficacy is a term used in psychology, roughly corresponding to a person's belief in their own competence.It has been defined as the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner to attain certain set of goals. It is believed that our personalized ideas of self-efficacy affect...
, rather than the result of disease. That is, some people who are, in HR terms, "unaware" of their own "innate health" and their own role in creating stress via their thoughts turn to alcohol
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
, drugs, or other compulsive behaviors in the attempt to quell their stressful feelings and regain some momentary sense of control. HR aims to offer deeper relief by showing that negative and stressful feelings are self-generated and thus can be self-quieted and it seeks to provide a pathway to well-being that does not depend on external circumstances.
Community applications
The Health Realization ("HR") model has been applied in a variety of challenging settings. An early project, which garnered national publicity under the leadership of Roger Mills, introduced HR to residents of a pair of low-income housing developments in Miami known as Modello and Homestead Gardens. After three years, there were major documented reductions in crimeCrime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
, drug dealing, teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...
, child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, child neglect
Child neglect
Child neglect is defined as:# "the failure of a person responsible for a child’s care and upbringing to safeguard the child’s emotional and physical health and general well-being"...
, school absenteeism
Truancy
Truancy is any intentional unauthorized absence from compulsory schooling. The term typically describes absences caused by students of their own free will, and usually does not refer to legitimate "excused" absences, such as ones related to medical conditions...
, unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
, and families on public assistance. Jack Pransky has chronicled the transformation that unfolded there, in his book Modello, A Story of Hope for the Inner City and Beyond.
Later projects in some of the most severely violence-ridden housing developments in New York, Minnesota, and California and in other communities in California, Hawaii, and Colorado built upon the early experience in the Modello/Homestead work. The Coliseum Gardens housing complex in Oakland, California, for example, had previously had the fourth highest homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
rate of such a complex in the US, but after HR classes were launched, the homicide rate began to decline. Gang
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
warfare and ethnic clashes between Cambodian and African-American youth ceased. In 1997, Sargeant Jerry Williams was awarded the California Wellness Foundation Peace Prize on behalf of the Health Realization Community Empowerment Project at Coliseum Gardens. By the year 2006, there had been no homicides in the Complex for nine straight years.
The HR model has also found application in police departments, prisons, mental health clinics, community health clinics and nursing, drug and alcohol rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
programs, services for the homeless, schools, and a variety of state and local government programs. The County of Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
, for example, has established a Health Realization Services Division which provides HR training to County employees and the public. The Services Division "seeks to enhance the life of the individual by teaching the understanding of the psychological principles of Mind, Thought and Consciousness, and how these principles function to create our life experience," and to "enable them to live healthier and more productive lives so that the community becomes a model of health and wellness." The Department of Alcohol and Drug Services introduced HR in Santa Clara County in 1994. The Health Realization Services Division has an approved budget of over $800,000 (gross expenditure) for FY 2008, a 41% increase over 2007, at a time when a number of programs within the Alcohol and Drug Services Department have sustained budget cuts.
HR community projects have received grant
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
funding from a variety of sources. For example, grant partners for the Visitacion Valley Community Resiliency Project, a five-year, multimillion-dollar community revitalization project, have included Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
Bank, Charles Schwab Corporation Foundation, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, Isabel Allende Foundation, Pottruck Family Foundation, McKesson Foundation, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, S.H. Cowell Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, Milagro Foundation, and Dresdner RCM Global Investors. Other projects based upon the HR approach have been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health
National Institute of Mental Health
The National Institute of Mental Health is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health...
, the U.S. Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
, the National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institute on Drug Abuse
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a United States federal-government research institute whose mission is to "lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction."-History:...
, the California Wellness Foundation, and the Shinnyo-en Foundation.
Organizational applications
From the original applications, as people in the business world have been introduced to HR or the "Three Principles" (as the core understanding is known), they have started to bring these ideas into the business world they have come from. The approach has been introduced to people in medicine, law, investment and financial services, technology, marketing, manufacturing, publishing, and a variety of other commercial and financial roles. It has been reported anecdotally to have had significant impact in the areas of individual performancePerformance improvement
Performance improvement is the concept of measuring the output of a particular process or procedure, then modifying the process or procedure to increase the output, increase efficiency, or increase the effectiveness of the process or procedure...
and development, teamwork
Teamwork
Teamwork is action performed by a team towards a common goal. A team consists of more than one person, each of whom typically has different responsibilities....
, leadership
Leadership
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...
, change and diversity
Diversity (business)
The "business case for diversity" stems from the progression of the models of diversity within the workplace since the 1960's. The original model for diversity was situated around affirmative action drawing strength from the law and a need to comply with equal employment opportunity objectives...
. According to HR/Three Principles adherents, these results flow naturally as the individuals exposed to the ideas learn how their thoughts have been creating barriers to others and barriers to their own innate creativity, common sense, and well being. As people learn how to access their full potential more consistently, HR adherents say, they get better results with less effort and less stress in less time.
Two peer-reviewed articles on effectiveness with leadership development were published in professional journals in 2008 (ADHR) and 2009 (ODJ). See "Organizations and Business" section below (Polsfuss & Ardichvili).
Philosophical context
Health Realization ("HR") rests on the non-academic philosophy of Sydney Banks, which Mr. Banks has expounded upon in several books. Mr. Banks was a day laborer with no education beyond ninth grade (age 14) in Scotland who, in 1973, reportedly had a profound insight into the nature of human experience. Mr. Banks does not particularly attempt to position his ideas within the larger traditions of philosophyPhilosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
or religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
; he is neither academically trained nor well read. His philosophy focuses on the illusionary, thought-created nature of reality, the three principles of "Mind", "Thought", and "Consciousness", the potential relief of human suffering that can come from a fundamental shift in personal awareness and understanding and the importance of a direct, experiential grasp of these matters, as opposed to a mere intellectual comprehension or analysis. Mr. Banks suggests that his philosophy is best understood not intellectually but by "listening for a positive feeling;" and a grasp of HR is said to come through a series of "insights," that is, shifts in experiential understanding.
Teaching of health realization
Health Realization ("HR"), like Sydney Banks's philosophy, is deliberately not taught as a set of "techniques" but as an experiential "understanding" that goes beyond a simple transfer of information. There are no steps, no uniformly-appropriate internal attitudes, and no techniques within it. The "health of the helper" is considered crucial; that is, trainers or counselors ideally will "live in the understanding that allows them to enjoy life," and thereby continuously model their understanding of HR by staying calm and relaxed, not taking things personally, assuming the potential in others, displaying common senseCommon sense
Common sense is defined by Merriam-Webster as, "sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts." Thus, "common sense" equates to the knowledge and experience which most people already have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have...
, and listening respectfully to all. Facilitators ideally teach in the moment, from "what they know" (e.g. their own experience), trusting that they will find the right words to say and the right approach to use in the immediate situation to stimulate the students' understanding of the "Three Principles". Rapport
Rapport
Rapport is a term used to describe, in common terms, the relationship of two or more people who are in sync or on the same wavelength because they feel similar and/or relate well to each other....
with students and a positive mood in the session or class are more important than the specific content of the facilitator's presentation.
Evaluations of health realization
A recent peer-reviewedPeer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
article evaluating the effectiveness of HR suggests that the results of residential substance abuse
Substance abuse
A substance-related disorder is an umbrella term used to describe several different conditions associated with several different substances .A substance related disorder is a condition in which an individual uses or abuses a...
treatment structured around the teaching of HR are equivalent to those of treatment structured around 12-step programs. The authors note that "these results are consistent with the general findings in the substance abuse literature, which suggests that treatment generally yields benefits, irrespective of approach."
A small peer-reviewed study in preparation for a planned larger study evaluated the teaching of HR/Innate Health via a one-and-a-half day seminar, as a stress- and anxiety-reduction intervention for HIV-positive patients. All but one of the eight volunteer participants in the study showed improved scores on the Brief Symptom Inventory after the seminar, and those participants who scored in the "psychiatric outpatient" range at the beginning of the seminar all showed improvement that was sutained upon follow-up one month later. The study's authors concluded that "The HR/IH psychoeducational approach deserves further study as a brief intervention for stress-reduction in HIV-positive patients."
A recent pilot study funded by the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
evaluated HR in lowering stress among Somali
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
and Oromo
Oromo people
The Oromo are an ethnic group found in Ethiopia, northern Kenya, .and parts of Somalia. With 30 million members, they constitute the single largest ethnic group in Ethiopia and approximately 34.49% of the population according to the 2007 census...
refugee women who had experienced violence and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
in their homelands, but for whom Western-style psychotherapeutic treatment
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
of trauma
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
was not culturally appropriate. The pilot study showed that "the use of HR with refugee trauma survivors was feasible, culturally acceptable, and relevant to the participants.” In a post-intervention focus group, "many women reported using new strategies to calm down, quiet their minds and make healthier decisions." Co-investigator Cheryl Robertson, Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, was quoted as saying, "This is a promising intervention that doesn't involve the use of highly trained personnel. And it can be done in the community."
The Visitacion Valley Community Resiliency Project (VVCRP) was reviewed by an independent evaluator hired by the Pottruck Foundation. Her final report notes that "Early program evaluation...found that the VVCRP was successful in reducing individuals’ feelings of depression and isolation, and increasing their sense of happiness and self-control. The cumulative evaluation research conducted on the VVCRP and the HR model in general concludes that HR is a powerful tool for changing individuals’ beliefs and behaviors." In the Summary of Case Studies, the report goes on to state, "The VVCRP was effective over a period of five years of sustained involvement in two major neighborhood institutions...at influencing not just individuals, but also organizational policies, practices, and culture. This level of organizational influence is impressive when the relatively modest level of VVCRP staff time and resources invested into making these changes is taken into account. The pivotal levers of change at each organization were individual leaders who were moved by the HR principles to make major changes in their own beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, and then took the initiative to inspire, enable, and mandate similar changes within their organizations. This method of reaching “critical mass” of HR awareness within these organizations appears to be both efficient and effective when the leadership conditions are right. However, this pathway to change is vulnerable to the loss of the key individual leader."
Research efforts on effectiveness
Pransky has reviewed the research on HR (through 2001) in relation to its results for preventionCrime prevention
Crime prevention is the attempt to reduce victimization and to deter crime and criminals. It is applied specifically to efforts made by governments to reduce crime, enforce the law, and maintain criminal justice.-Studies:...
and education, citing about 20 manuscripts, most of which were conference papers, and none peer-reviewed
Peer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
journal articles, although two were unpublished doctoral dissertations. (Kelley (2003) cites two more unpublished doctoral dissertations.) Pransky concludes, "Every study of Health Realization and its various incarnations, however weak or strong the design, has shown decreases in problem behaviors and internally experienced problems. This approach appears to reduce problem behaviors and to improve mental health and well-being. At the very least, this suggests the field of prevention should further examine the efficacy of this ... approach by conducting independent, rigorous, controlled, longitudinal studies...."
Since at least 2008 peer-reviewed professional journal articles on its effectiveness have been published. See C.L.Polsfuss, A.Ardichvili articles in "Organizations and Business" section below.
Criticism
In their writings about HR, authors Roger Mills and Elsie Spittle note several kinds of objections to it.In a criticism of the philosophy of Sydney Banks and, by implication, the HR approach, Bonelle Strickling, a psychotherapist and Professor of Philosophy, is quoted in an article in the Vancouver Sun as objecting that "it makes it appear as if people can, through straightforward positive thinking, 'choose' to transcend their troubled upbringings and begin leading a contented life." She goes on to say that "it can be depressing for people to hear it's supposed to be that easy. It hasn't been my experience that people can simply choose not to be negatively influenced by their past." Referring to Banks's own experience, she says, "Most people are not blessed with such a life-changing experience.... When most people change, it usually happens in a much more gradual way."
The West Virginia Initiative for Innate Health (at West Virginia University
West Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
Health Sciences Center), which promotes HR/Innate Health and the philosophy of Sydney Banks through teaching, writing, and research, was the center of controversy soon after its inception in 2000 as the Sydney Banks Institute for Innate Health. Initiated by Robert M. D'Alessandri, the Dean of the medical school there, the institute reportedly was criticized (without attribution) as pushing "junk science," and Banks's philosophy was characterized (also without attribution) as "a kind of bastardized Buddhism" and "New Age." William Post, an orthopedic surgeon who quit the medical school because of the institute, was reported along with other unnamed professors to have accused the Sydney Banks Institute of promoting religion in a state-funded institution, and Harvey Silvergate, a civil-liberties lawyer, was quoted as agreeing that "essentially [the institute] seems like a cover for a religious-type belief system which has been prettified in order to be secular and even scientific." A Dr. Blaha, who resigned as chairman of Orthopedics at WVU, was quoted as criticizing the institute as being part of a culture at the Health Sciences Center that, in his view, places too much emphasis on agreement, consensus, and getting along. Other professors reportedly supported the institute. Anthony DiBartolomeo, chief of the rheumatology section, was quoted as calling it "a valuable addition" to the health-sciences center, saying its greatest value was in helping students, residents, and patients deal with stress.
Reportedly in response to the controversy, the WVIIH changed its name from The Sydney Banks Institute to the West Virginia Initiative for Innate Health, although its mission remains unchanged.
Support for specific tenets of HR from other philosophies and approaches
Some of the tenets of HR are consistent with the theories of philosophers, authors and researchers independently developing other approaches to change and psychotherapy.A large body of peer-reviewed
Peer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
case literature in psychotherapy by Milton Erickson, M.D., founding president of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, and others working in the field of Ericksonian psychotherapy, supports the notion that lasting change in psychotherapy can occur rapidly without directly addressing clients' past problematic experiences.
Many case examples and a modest body of controlled outcome research in solution focused brief therapy
Solution focused brief therapy
Solution focused brief therapy , often referred to as simply 'solution focused therapy' or 'brief therapy', is a type of talking therapy that is based upon social constructionist philosophy. It focuses on what clients want to achieve through therapy rather than on the problem that made them seek help...
(SFBT), have likewise supported the notion that change in psychotherapy can occur rapidly, without delving into the clients' past negative experiences. Proponents of SFBT suggest that such change often occurs when the therapist assists clients to step out of their usual problem-oriented thinking.
The philosophy of social constructionism
Social constructionism
Social constructionism and social constructivism are sociological theories of knowledge that consider how social phenomena or objects of consciousness develop in social contexts. A social construction is a concept or practice that is the construct of a particular group...
, which is echoed in SFBT, asserts that reality is reproduced by people acting on their interpretations and their knowledge of it. (HR asserts that thought creates one's experience of the world.)
A major body of peer-reviewed research on "focusing
Focusing
In psychotherapy-related disciples, the term focusing is used to refer to the simple matter of holding a kind of open, non-judging attention to something which is directly experienced but is not yet in words. Focusing can be used to become clear on what one feels or wants...
," a change process developed by philosopher Eugene Gendlin
Eugene Gendlin
Eugene T. Gendlin is an American philosopher and psychotherapist who developed ways of thinking about and working with the implicit. Gendlin received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago where he also taught for many years...
, supports the theory that progress in psychotherapy is dependent on something clients do inside themselves during pauses in the therapy process, and that a particular internal activity — "focusing" — can be taught to help clients improve their progress. The first step of the six-step process used to teach "focusing" involves setting aside one's current worries and concerns to create a "cleared space" for effective inner reflection. Gendlin has called this first step by itself "a superior stress-reduction method." (HR emphasizes the importance of quieting one's insecure and negative thinking to reduce stress and gain access to "inner wisdom," "common sense," and well-being.)
Positive psychology
Positive psychology
Positive psychology is a recent branch of psychology whose purpose was summed up in 1998 by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise, which achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving in...
emphasizes the human capacity for health and well-being, asserts the poor correlation between social circumstances and individual happiness, and insists on the importance of one's thinking in determining one's feelings.
Work by Herbert Benson
Herbert Benson
Herbert Benson, M.D. , is an American cardiologist and founder of the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He graduated from Wesleyan University and Harvard Medical School....
argues that humans have an innate 'breakout principle' which provides creative solutions and peak experiences which allow the restoration of a 'new-normal' state of higher functioning. This breakout principle is activated by severing connections with current circular or repetitive thinking. This is heavily reminiscent of Health Realization discussion of the Principle of Mind and of how it is activated.
Finally, resilience research, such as that by Emmy Werner
Emmy Werner
Emmy E. Werner is an American developmental psychologist. She received her Ph. D. from the University of Nebraska and is currently a professor emeritus in the Department of Human and Community Development at the University of California at DavisDr...
, has demonstrated that many high-risk children display resilience and develop into normal, happy adults despite problematic developmental histories.
Further reading
A number of writers have produced books and articles that incorporate and elaborate the ideas on which health realization is based. A partial list appears here. In addition, Sydney Banks has written several books, listed below, presenting his ideas, and his lectures are reproduced in a number of videotapes and audio CDs.Community applications
- L. L. Halcón, C. L. Robertson, K. A. Monson, & C. C. Claypatch A Theoretical Framework for Using Health Realization to Reduce Stress and Improve Coping in Refugee Communities. Journal of Holistic NursingJournal of Holistic NursingThe Journal of Holistic Nursing is a peer-reviewed nursing journal, published by SAGE Publications. The journal was established in 1983 and aims to facilitate integration of holistic perspectives with traditional Western medicine...
, 25(3), 2007, pp. 186–194. - R.C. Mills and E. Spittle, The Health Realization Primer, Lone Pine Publishing. 2003. ISBN 155105020X, ISBN 978-1551050201
- J. Pransky, Modello: A Story of Hope for the Inner City and Beyond: An Inside-Out Model of Prevention and Resiliency in Action through Health Realization, NEHRI Publications 1998. ISBN 0965905713, ISBN 978-0965905718
General
- J. Bailey, Slowing Down to the Speed of Love, McGraw-Hill, 2004. ISBN 0071438734, ISBN 978-0071438735
- R. Carlson, You Can be Happy No Matter What, 2nd ed., New World Library 1997. ISBN 1577310640, ISBN 978-1577310648
- R. Carlson and J. Bailey, Slowing Down to the Speed of Life, HarperSanFrancisco 1998. ISBN 0062514547, ISBN 978-0062514547
- T.M. Kelley, Falling in Love with Life, Bookman 2004. ISBN 1594533539, ISBN 978-1594533532
- R.C. Mills, Realizing Mental Health: Toward a new Psychology of Resiliency, Sulberger & Graham Publishing, Ltd. 1995. ISBN 0945819781
- R.C. Mills and E. Spittle, The Wisdom Within, Lone Pine Publishing. 2001. ISBN 1551052881, ISBN 978-1551052885
- J. Pransky, Somebody Should Have Told Us, Airleaf Publishing 2006. ISBN 1594539189, ISBN 978-1594539183
- E. Spittle, Wisdom for Life, Lone Pine Publishing. 2005. ISBN 1551055104, ISBN 978-1551055107
- S.G. Wartel, A Strengths-Based Practice Model: Psychology of Mind and Health Realization, Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, pp. 185 – 191, 84(2) 2003; ISSN 1044-3894
Organizations and business
- R.C. Kausen, We've Got to Start Meeting Like This, Life Education 2003. ISBN 0945787502, ISBN 978-0945787501
- R.C. Kausen, Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed, Life Education 1989. ISBN 0945787553, ISBN 978-0945787556
- C.L. Polsfuss & A.Ardichvili, "Three Principles Psychology: Applications in Leadership Development & Coaching", Advances in Developing Human Resources Journal, 2008; 10; 671 DOI: 10.1177/1523422308322205. Online article at: http://adh.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/10/5/671.
- C.L. Polsfuss & A.Ardichvili, "State of Mind as the Master Competency for High-Performance Leadership", Organizational Development Journal, Volume 27, Number 3, Fall 2009.
Parenting
- J. Pransky, Parenting from the Heart: A Guide to the Essence of Parenting, Authorhouse 2001 ISBN 1588203832, ISBN 978-1588203830
Prevention
- J. Pransky, Prevention from the Inside Out, Authorhouse 2003. ISBN 1410703754, ISBN 978-1410703750
- J. Pransky and L. Carpenos, Healthy Feeling/Thinking/Doing from the Inside Out: A Middle School Curriculum and Guide for the Prevention of Violence and Other Problem Behaviors, SaferSocietyPress 2000. ISBN 1884444601, ISBN 978-1884444609
- K. Marshall, Resilience in our Schools: Discovering Mental Health and Hope from the Inside-Out. in Persistently Safe Schools 2005: The National Conference of the Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence. Retrieved on October 31, 2007.
Recovery/substance abuse
- J. Bailey, The Serenity Principle: Finding Inner Peace in Recovery, HarperSanFrancisco, 1990. ISBN 0062500392, ISBN 978-0062500397
Relationships
- G. Pransky, The Relationship Handbook, Pransky and Associates, 2001. ISBN 0971198802, ISBN 978-0971198807
Youth
- A. Chen Mills-Naim, The Spark Inside: A Special Book for Youth, Lone Pine Publishing. 2005. ISBN 1551055562, ISBN 978-1551055565
- T.M.Kelley, A critique of social bonding and control theory of delinquency using the principles of psychology, Adolescence Vol. 31 Issue 122, 1996, pp. 321–38.
- T. M. Kelley, Health Realization: A Principle-Based Psychology of Positive Youth Development, Child & Youth Care Forum, Vol. 32, Issue 1, 2003, pp. 47–72.
- T.M. Kelley, Positive Psychology and Adolescent Mental Health: False Promise or True Breakthrough? Adolescence, June 22, 2004
- T.M. Kelley, & S.A. Stack, Thought Recognition, Locus of Control, and Adolescent Well-being, Adolescence, Vol. 35 Issue 139, 2000, pp. 531–51.
Sydney Banks
- S. Banks, Dear Liza, Lone Pine Publishing 2004. ISBN 1551053322, ISBN 978-1551053325
- S. Banks, The Enlightened Gardner, Lone Pine Publishing 2001. ISBN 1551052989, ISBN 978-1551052984
- S. Banks, The Enlightened Gardner Revisited, Lone Pine Publishing 2006. ISBN 1551051583, ISBN 978-1551051581
- S. Banks, In Quest of the Pearl, Duvall-Bibb Publishing 1989. ISBN 0937713023, ISBN 978-0937713020
- S. Banks, The Missing Link: Reflections on Philosophy and Spirit, Lone Pine Publishing 1998. ISBN 0968164501, ISBN 978-0968164501
- S. Banks, Second Chance, Duvall-Bibb Publishing 1983. ISBN 0937713015, ISBN 9780937713013
External links
- National Resilience Resource Center, University of Minnesota
- "A Quiet Mind..." Innate Health/3 Principles conference proceedings with mp3 audio links.
- The Natural Remedy for Stress and Burnout: An Online Non-Credit Course in HR/Innate Health from West Virginia Univ.
- Vantage Place Organizational resources.