About Us
The School of Good Listening describes its origins, the concerns that drive it, and how it hopes to offer useful mental health tools to a large number of people who aren’t able to access mental health support.
Hello and welcome. The School of Good Listening emerged out of concern for the increasing emotional suffering we are witnessing as therapists, particularly in today’s youth, coupled with very limited access to psychotherapy. We are offering you mental health resources that can bring relief to you or a loved one.
The School of Good Listening aims to address the poor attention, emotional numbing, and divisiveness that we can observe around us. Extreme opinions have become more common and the sense of a shared perspective is diminishing. It becomes harder to agree on a shared truth, to feel understood, and renders many of us less receptive and able to listen to one another. And this lack of connection leaves most of us feeling worse.
The School of Good Listening is an online resource that broadens access to simple but effective mental health tools for all age groups. With 25 years of clinical experience, we are distilling evidence-based mental health knowledge and tools to render them more widely accessible outside the therapy room. Our special focus is on the Inner and Outer Listening Process, which we feel includes tools that are particularly needed in today’s world.
Recent years have seen an explosion of information and conversations about mental health. On the one hand, the normalisation of mental health difficulties has been a very positive development. On the other hand, unchecked sources of advice and subjective accounts online have led to much fear and confusion. This has led some to pathologize normal human experience or attempt to self-diagnose complex mental health conditions. Misleading information online has also led to dangerous delays in the provision of proper mental health care for those in need.
The School of Good Listening was created with empathy and understanding at its core. We adopt a gentle, humane and nuanced biopsychosocial approach that considers the complex interplay between your biology, psychology, relationships, and current living conditions. We aim to guide you towards relief and an easier way of existing in the world.
The richness of our individual stories and the wisdom and resilience therein are brought to light as we take you through the Listening Process. Your unique story deserves time and commitment to be understood. You can learn how to practice mindful attention, to observe your thoughts and feeling states with non-judgmental curiosity and to direct self-compassion towards your more vulnerable parts. From this safer, more authentic, place it becomes easier to connect compassionately with others, improving relationships, and building more peaceful communities.