I. COMMUNICATING ABOUT RE-EVALUATION COUNSELING OUTSIDE THE RE-EVALUATION COUNSELING COMMUNITY
I.1. Offering RC Practices and Insights Beyond the RC Community
The Re-evaluation Counseling (RC) Community seeks to offer RC practices and insights as widely as possible in the general population. These include the following: discharge is helpful, listening with respect is more helpful than giving advice, validation of young people should replace punishment, and thoughtful, appropriate, and aware physical contact[127] is a rational need.
Whenever we have the opportunity in a group, we can help people learn how to pay attention to each other. Doing this can include
- ensuring that everyone gets an opportunity to be listened to—including those hesitant to talk—sometimes by taking turns listening to each other in pairs,
- ensuring that people from groups that are traditionally silenced or disrespected are encouraged to speak and be listened to,
- ensuring that no one’s turn is interrupted and no one is criticized,
- helping to create safety in the group by appreciating people’s efforts, and
- noticing oppressive actions or behaviors and interrupting them in a way that models respect for the human without accepting oppression.
REASON
In our experience, many people who are not in RC find the basic insights and practices of RC useful in their lives.
[127] What is appropriate will vary from culture to culture.