Solution-Focused – Restorative Justice & Other Public Health Approaches for Healing

crime prevention Inspiration Public health Restorative Justice Solution-Focused Uncategorized

11th Annual Parole Completion Celebration

By Lorenn | October 11, 2019October 11, 2019 by Lorenn

On the evening of October 9, 2019 we were privileged to provide the 11th annual celebration honoring people who were discharged from parole in Hawai‘i this year and those who helped them. The event was held in the magnificent Ali‘iolani Hale (Hawai‘i Supreme Court) in Honolulu. About 65 guests including those being discharged from parole, their loved ones, judges, lawyers including public defenders and a couple candidates for the 2020 election for prosecutor for the…

Communication drug rehabilitation Non-verbal communication Psychology of possibility Solution-Focused Trauma Victims

Our posture can change our mind and behaviors: important for restorative justice and healing

By Lorenn | September 23, 2014September 23, 2014 by Lorenn

Fascinating research by Amy Cuddy, social psychologist at Harvard Business School, has important implications for restorative justice interventions and for healing. Professor Cuddy and her colleagues have demonstrated how we simply hold our bodies can affect how we feel, think, behave, and even our hormones. Feeling powerful enough that we believe we can cope with trauma is vital for developing resiliency. For many years since I was harmed by abuse as a child and young…

Communication Family Restorative Justice Solution-Focused

Restorative justice & stories for resilient families and happy individuals

By Lorenn | March 18, 2013March 19, 2013 by Lorenn

> Bruce Feiler’s March 17, 2013 New York Times article about happy families and how they influence individual family member’s health and happiness, supports our restorative justice and solution focused work http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/fashion/the-family-stories-that-bind-us-this-life.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Feiler discusses how one night he pondered: “What is the secret sauce that holds a family together? What are the ingredients that make some families effective, resilient, happy?” and went on to learn what he could to answer these questions. His research led…

news prisons Reentry & Transtion Planning Restorative Justice Solution-Focused

3-day Training on Restorative Justice & Solution-Focused Reentry & Transition Planning Circles

By Lorenn | February 1, 2011 by Lorenn

March 16 – 18, 2011, Rochester, New York, Lorenn Walker & Rebecca Greening, will provide a comprehensive training on the innovative reentry and transition planning circle process developed in Hawai’i for imprisoned people and their loved ones. Also discussed on the VERA Institute of Justice website: http://www.vera.org/node/4629 Reentry & Transition Planning Circles are based on the principles and practices of restorative justice (RJ) and solution-focused brief therapy (SF) approaches. The Circles can be used for…

prisons Reentry & Transtion Planning Restorative Justice Solution-Focused

Reentry & Transition Planning for Incarcerated People to help Repair Family Relationships and Increase Criminal Desistance

By Lorenn | January 23, 2011January 24, 2011 by Lorenn

Since 2005 we have been piloting a facilitated group reentry and transition planning process, Huikahi Restorative Circles in Hawai’i for incarcerated people and their loved ones. The Circles use solution-focused brief therapy language and restorative justice to address the needs of individual incarcerated people for desisting from crime and drug use. The Circle process is self-directed by an individual incarcerated person who takes responsibility for addressing how they can meet their and their loved ones’…

Inspiration prisons Psychology of possibility Restorative Justice Solution-Focused

The psychology of possibility: “I am in prison, but prison isn’t in me”

By Lorenn | November 10, 2010November 10, 2010 by Lorenn

Most people have heard that they can look at situations anyway they want, that we don’t have to suffer by adverse situations. “We cannot escape pain, but suffering is optional,” but how exactly do you do this? It’s one thing to know something, but how to actually apply what we know and live it is not the same thing. This year I learned more about applying what we know when I heard a woman say,…

courts Judges Lawyers Restorative Justice Solution-Focused Therapeutic Jurisprudence

Lawyers promote restorative justice & therapeutic jurisprudence

By Lorenn | September 7, 2010 by Lorenn

While a lot of “lawyer dissing” goes on, some of it easily understandable, many lawyers and judges (who are also lawyers) should be recognized for promoting restorative justice and therapeutic jurisprudence. Judge Gordon McConnell was instrumental in the first modern restorative justice case. John Braithwaite, in Restorative Justice and Responsive Regulation, cites a paper by Peachy, D.E., 1989, “The Kitchener Experiment” In Mediation and Criminal Justice: Victims, Offenders and Community, edited by M. Wright and…

Inspiration Restorative Justice Solution-Focused

Restorative justice & solution-focused applications in Washington D.C.

By Lorenn | July 7, 2010July 7, 2010 by Lorenn

The Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Collaborative (CHSFC) is a community based organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people in Washington D.C. It uses restorative justice interventions and provides three basic levels of programs for the community: family group conferencing, youth violence prevention, and work training and jobs for adults. Solution-focused brief therapy principles guide all programs. CHSFC also provides capacity building and training for other agencies. From June 29 to July 2, 2010…

Restorative Justice Solution-Focused Therapeutic Jurisprudence

New Book: “Solution-Focused Judging Bench Book”

By Lorenn | November 29, 2009November 29, 2009 by Lorenn

The Solution-Focused Judging Bench Book was written primarily by Michael King, an Australian law professor and former judge, and was published by The Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration. The book describes how courts can apply therapeutic jurisprudence principals, which “concentrates on the law’s impact on emotional life and psychological well-being” in court hearings. Bench books are used by judges to manage courtrooms, and this one offers some simple suggestions for making court hearings more likely…

Apology Restorative Justice Solution-Focused

www.apologyletter.com To Help Consider & Prepare a Meaningful Apology

By Lorenn | November 18, 2009November 19, 2009 by Lorenn

In October 2009 Ben Furman, a psychiatrist from Finland, and the author of numerous books including the brilliant Solution Talk: Hosting Threaputic Conversations, with his colleague Ahola Tapani, and I, developed and made available, a free web site program: www.apologyletter.org. The simple program combines solution-focused brief therapy and restorative justice to provide a confidential program for considering what to address in forming a meaningful apology. No one escapes hurting others in life. Whether done intentionally…