BeHold, Los Angeles
BeHold is a Los Angeles based non-profit project committed to helping those who help others. Our ultimate goal is to revolutionize the human services industry, to spearhead a shift in values from one that consumes its workers to one that regards every human as a precious resource.
We aim to revitalize the human services industry by bringing Integrated Energy Therapy (IET) sessions to care providers. IET teaches that we should always care for and energize ourselves before attempting to reach out to others. This is the model of service without sacrifice that we are embodying and teaching to our clients. IET also teaches us that the results our clients experience are a reflection of their own readiness and not a function of our abilities: all results are client-paced.
We have recently administered a pilot program at A Place Called Home in South Central Los Angeles (an organization that serves at risk youth), and the individual IET sessions and support that our program provided proved to be highly effective. We implemented measures of success via a survey assessing the workers’ physical, emotional and mental experiences of their jobs. The results of our twelve week pilot program are amazing. We had 12 participants who completed the program and submitted our intake, midpoint, and exit surveys. There was an overall improvement of 45% in the category of Emotional Well-Being, 53% in the category of Health, 50% in the category of Job Effectiveness, and 31% in the category of Job Satisfaction.
EXIT RESULTS
Our 12-week program is designed to reduce each participant’s experience of emotional exhaustion and job dissatisfaction, thereby increasing effectiveness, job retention and attendance (the major criteria on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the most widely used research measure in the field of burnout). We created our own Maslach-type survey to assess the workers’ physical, emotional and mental experiences of their jobs before the intervention, midway through, and at its completion.
To clarify the overall impact of survey results, questions are grouped into four categories: emotional well-being, health, job effectiveness, and job satisfaction. For the agencies that we have served to date, there was an overall improvement of 45% in the category of emotional well-being, 53% in health, 50% in job effectiveness, and 31% in job satisfaction. It is our goal to decrease the cumulative symptoms of compassion fatigue by at least 50% in every category, at every agency who uses our services.
On a scale on 1 to 10:
91% of participants surveyed marked 8 or higher when asked how important their weekly energy sessions have been. (64% marked 10)
83% of participants surveyed marked 9 or higher when asked how they would rate the overall impact that participating in the program made for them personally.
75% of participants surveyed marked 9 or higher when asked how they would rate the overall impact that participating in this program made on their job performance.
58% of participants surveyed marked 9 or higher when asked how they would rate the overall impact that participating in this program made on how they feel about their job.
58% of participants surveyed marked 9 or higher when asked how they would rate the overall impact that participating in the program made on their work relationships.
On a scale of 1 to 5:
91% of participants surveyed marked 4 or higher when asked how much having this program available to them through their employer was an indication of employer support and care. (82% marked 5)
TESTIMONIALS
“I believe you have embarked on a worthwhile and very necessary project. You are healing the world one person at a time! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this World Peace Effort!” –Chief Operating Officer of A Place Called Home
“At first I did not believe that this program was real because of my ignorance to this form of Holistic Healing, but I feel a difference. I truly enjoy the energy sessions and I feel more in touch with myself.” –Participant
“Overall the program was great. The sessions helped me realize how much power a person can have within and how to be able to know yourself from the inside and be able to grow and become a new person. [The program] helped me a great deal to be able to handle my daily problems at work and at home.” –Maria Botello
“I’m more rested and joyful. I find it so much easier to live in the moment and make appropriate responses and changes according to the situation. I feel much more alive and enjoy that. I also lost TONS of fear and anxiety that I used to bring into every situation.” –Angela Hagedorn
“I have learned to focus and not let things frustrate me. I can make choices more confidently.” –Tisha Johns
“I am very happy that I was able to participate in such a great program. I must admit that at first I was a bit skeptical of the procedures. Now, I actually live by it. I have learned a lot about myself. In fact, I have been taking better care of myself and it has
reflected in every part of my life. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” –Richea Jones
“[The biggest benefit of participating in this program has been] paying attention to ME; I don’t think I ever fully understood that my energy, body, spirit, and emotions are working for me daily and that at times they translate specific messages pertaining to me and my well being. Now that I know they are there, it will be easier for me to honor them and myself.” –Participant
Some other quotes from participants:
“The program is wonderful and I find it very interesting. It has helped me feel less stressed. I feel that I am walking into a safe place here on earth. I feel that I am a different person than when I started the program…like a new person is being born inside of me. I want to thank you guys for that.”
“I feel that the program is helping me deal with issues that I didn’t know I had. The program is giving me the tools to deal with issues that had been hidden, and I can now face. The biggest benefit has been that it’s helping me deal with issues and learn how to express myself.”
[From a gang member]: “It makes me feel really good. Lately I’ve been more understanding towards other people’s feelings and I’m actually making them feel all of my goodness. My biggest benefit has been giving and taking in love from others. Since I’ve been a part of this type of therapy, I have turned into a better person as far as receiving others niceness, but I’m still working on giving love.”
About BeHold:
MISSION STATEMENT:
BeHold is committed to empowering people and organizations in the human services field so that they may continue to provide their essential services. BeHold models the truth, integrity and self-empowerment needed to make service work sustainable. These principles are at the foundation of the holistic healing and educational programs we provide.
BeHold serves to hold a light of recognition on the vital but struggling field of service. Human service workers embody the heart of social change. They ease suffering, provide catalysts for growth, and see to the well-being of society’s most neglected, indigent and invisible members. However, their work is largely unsustainable because of excessive demands on their energy, strength and resources. While we may not be able to directly change the structure or resources of an organization, we can definitely impact their workers’ own understanding of who they are and how to be of service.
We are seeking to bring a holistic model of self-healing and empowerment to the human services field. Professional caregivers working within current models of service suffer alarming rates of burnout. A contributing factor is the feeling of failure that human service workers can experience when their clients are not responding to their support. This can create cynicism and blame toward clients, and hopelessness and worthlessness toward themselves. They become depleted and ineffective. With this dynamic in play, human services is not a sustainable field.
It is our vision, our dream, that BeHold will expand to implement its programs across the nation and across the globe. We have been blessed in countless ways and have been Divinely guided each step of this incredible journey. Things are still unfolding, and we are learning more every day. We hope to include the entire IET community in our endeavors as the power and grace of IET continues to change the world one heart at a time. We appreciate all forms of support (including prayers, energy, ideas and financial contributions). If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution to this project, please send a check made out to “BeHold FBO Community Partners” and mail it attention BeHold at 4239 Laurel Grove Avenue, Studio City CA 91604, USA. For more information, please feel free to contact us at that address, or email behold@allonelove.com. For Master Instructors, we plan on presenting more details of our program and its progress at the MI Retreat in October, 2004.
Vicki Frederiksen, Keith Horwitz & Andrea Dunham
IET Master-Instructors from California