The Session: A Useful Organizational Form
We have evolved several organizational forms. We evolved them for other purposes, but they are useful for activists. They meet the basic need of humans for organization. One of them is the session. As we put our attention on other people, a good deal of our time will be spent conducting a session. It may last only a second—“It’s good to see you this morning,” and on you go. On the other hand, I once stayed with a man while he cried enormously for fourteen hours. (He had come in for an interview. He never did become a client beyond that.)
What is the content of the session? Paying attention to one person. We use titles for our organizational forms, but it’s the content that matters. Once you understand the content, you don’t need to put titles on them; you just do them. Sometimes you direct people’s attention away from distress, sometimes you establish a bond, sometimes you get all the discharge you can. You can put the content of the session into any particular slot or crack, if you understand the content. The session occurs in a thousand forms.
Harvey Jackins*
From the July 1986 Peace and
Disarmament Activists’ Workshop
*Harvey Jackins was the founder and the first International Reference Person of the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities.