Collective
Voices
reconnecting, repairing, and rebuilding
From the founder of Collective Voices:
I get many questions about our work with Restorative Practices. I am excited to share this link to an article which explains how in our work, we focus on transforming conflict by using a restorative framework. Enjoy!
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Collective Voices' mission is to help people reconnect, repair, and rebuild relationships and communities;
to interrupt cycles of conflict and violence and to lend a focused,
empathetic listening ear, problem-solve current barriers, and find a path forward.
Through our services, we strive to create an environment for increased understanding and trust by using dialogue to strengthen relationships that may be challenged by hurt, conflict,
power dynamics, and opposing perspectives.
Collective Voices offers a compassionate, trauma-informed and culturally-relevant
approach to communication, conflict, harm, and healing.
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Collective Voices honors the Zulu origins of 'Sawubona' and strives to practice it in our work and every day lives.
“In Zulu, a common greeting is the word ‘Sawubona.’ It roughly translates to ‘I see you’, as in, ‘I acknowledge your presence. By acknowledging you, I bring you into existence and your acknowledgement of me, brings me into existence.’ In Zulu, the failure to acknowledge others is to literally threaten their existence."
"Most of us have been educated from birth to judge, compete, demand, and diagnose – to think and communicate in terms of ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’ Thinking and interacting this way can create misunderstanding and a host of other problems, and ultimately brings us further from our naturally empathetic state.”
~ Marshall Rosenberg, American psychologist, mediator, author, and teacher
Of note:
Our work is a critical response to the disruption of a healthy community, and our services are applicable in the following settings: Tribal communities, the child welfare system, the workplace, corrections, families, couples, friendships, neighborhoods and the streets, governments, and unions.
The current conditions in our world, nation, and communities have resulted in many people and communities experiencing increased feelings of fear, anxiety, PTSD, grief, and loss. People have altered the way they are living, working, and approaching their lives. There continues to be mass upheaval, confusion, violence, and trauma around the globe. As our current conditions spreads fear, illness, and death in its wake, people are struggling with unprocessed feelings, fatigue, panic, and overwhelm.
There is no replacement for healthy connection to address feelings of isolation and insignificance. Whether your community has endured a natural disaster, your workplace feels tense, or your family has unhealed parts, Collectives Voices creates opportunities for people to come together to talk, listen, grieve, celebrate, and be together. Our services are a significant response to a disconnected society.
We offer services for individuals, couple, families, business, unions, and group s of all types. The basic principles of our work remain the same – identifying core issues and concerns, validating challenges and the feelings associated with them, and offering tools to support healing and movement forward.
We look forward to hearing from you.
~ Jessie Kushner, Founder of Collective Voices