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Written by long-time Circle keepers, the book shows how facilitators can use metaphors to help Circle participants explore their values. The values dialogue is, of course, the bedrock of most restorative justice processes.
Building a Home for the Heart is a guide that not only gives in-depth background about using metaphors to talk about values, but also practical suggestions of metaphors that have been successful in the authors' practice with women incarcerated at the Volunteers of America Regional Correctional Center in Roseville, Minnesota. In 1998, Pat Thalhuber and Susan Thompson began keeping a talking Circle with women incarcerated at the Volunteers of America Regional Correctional Center in Roseville, Minnesota. During their years with the Circle, they discovered that metaphors could help the women talk about values and lead to profound realizations that would not otherwise have been possible. In this volume, Pat and Sue share much of what they have learned about using metaphors to facilitate self-healing. Written with Circle participants in mind and relevant for all who journey toward healing, the book follows the seasons through a full year, reflecting on the human condition, our place in the natural world, and our connections to ourselves and each other.
Praise for Building a Home for the Heart
Kay Pranis
Circle trainer and author of Peacemaking Circles
Pat Thalhuber and Susan Thompson have written a wonderful book that stimulates thinking about the meaning of core values and describes specific ways that we can generate dialogue about them in groups. The Circle-based framework that they present could be used by any of us with family, friends, coworkers, or neighbors. These are the critical conversations of our time, and this book is a lovely guide for having those conversations.
Julie Paul
Probation officer, Ramsey County, Minnesota
The talking Circles were instrumental in helping my client work through a very difficult period of her life. Through the Circle, she experienced the support and compassion she needed for healing. . . . I am grateful the Circle was available to my client, and I consider it a valuable resource in working with probation clients.
Susan Coler, B.V.M.
Lawyer
Any time a group of people can sit in a Circle together to resolve their differences, to right a wrong, and to ease human pain, something wonderful has occurred. . . . I welcome these writings and the passion of these authors to use Circles as a means of healing and peace.
