John Merges on Social Enjoyment Groups for young people with Autism Spectrum Disorders

“Social enjoyment, as both an important life and employment skill, needs to be taught and practiced as early as possible. We need to provide our young people with safe, predictable situations to practice enjoying a social interaction. The successes I’ve seen in my own work demonstrate that social enjoyment is indeed a skill – and thus, can be learned.”

Pioneering Play and Dramatherapist Dr Sue Jennings on Healthy Attachments and her theory of Neuro-Dramatic-Play (NDP)

“True empathy is part of a very genuine understanding of the other person. And we learn this through dramatic playing which we can observe in the first few hours after a baby is born: they will try to imitate the expression on the mothers face…the baby is responding as if they are the mother; this ‘dramatic response’ continues to develop in those early weeks and months, like a life rehearsal for the development of empathy.”

How Groups Work – An article by Maggie Kindred and Michael Kindred

“We are in groups throughout life. Many different kinds of groups occur in social clubs, health and social care, industry, commerce, education, politics, churches, and voluntary organizations. People of all ages are involved, including small children. Most of them have no idea they are involved in ‘group processes’! Groups are natural, and usually get by without analyzing themselves. So why bother to spend time in training? … We have written this book because we believe that using a group isn’t mystical, but can be considerably more enjoyable and effective if members know a little about how groups function.”

The Psychology of Spirituality – An Interview with JKP author Dr Larry Culliford

“Medical conditions, mental health and social problems all involve people experiencing distress and disability, facing losses and the threat of loss. The basic spiritual skill, of being able to rest, relax and create a still, peaceful state of mind, underpins others, such as empathic ability and emotional resilience, which allow us better to understand, comfort and guide those people in difficulty who are suffering. These are skills that give people the courage to witness and endure distress while sustaining an attitude of hope, and the inner strength to be able to give without feeling drained.”