Prejudice is an aspect of the human condition. Education and diplomacy are useful, but not enough. Until humankind develops the tools to understand and resolve intergroup conflict it will remain the elephant in every room, in our personal lives and on the world stage.

Our mission is to develop these tools and make them available for everyone; to help each of us develop a greater capacity to see the world through eyes other than our own. In this project we approach the problem from several directions.

Emotional Imprint™ Human Understanding requires Empathic Imagination – the ability to imagine the emotional experience of the other. This is a task as complex as Shakespeare and rocket science to master, but it can be taught. And it must be taught, in an educational trajectory that's given the same weight as every other academic subject, from elementary through PhD programs. Toward this goal, Changing Our Consciousness has engaged an outstanding team of educators to develop the Emotional Imprint™ curriculum.

Many students graduate from American schools lacking skills necessary for group problem solving, effective leadership, and responding to others whom they perceive to be “different.” They may instinctively treat those perceived as different with distrust, fear and contempt. Such rigid modes of experiencing, feeling and thinking lead to conflict. Furthermore, poor social and emotional skills have been negatively correlated with academic success. Existing social and emotional literacy (SEL) programs have achieved some success in improving students’ ability to collaborate, reason with less bias, and assume leadership roles; however, they are often squeezed into an already full academic day, and are rarely implemented across grades or cohesively taught.

With Emotional Imprint™, we will develop a pedagogical approach to teaching SEL that is integrated with the existing core curriculum. Students will understand their own and others’ emotions, improve their ability to read and respond to emotional communications of others, and internalize that understanding through academic work. Our unique use of thought experiments as a teaching tool will allow students to deepen their understanding of self, other, and text.

"How To Touch A Hot Stove"   (Flash Player required to view site. Download here if needed >> )

Individuals with mental disorders are stigmatized by society.  But those who think, feel, or behave differently from societal norms may truly be difficult to relate to, confusing to understand, and sometimes even frightening.  How to Touch a Hot Stove, a new film co-created by Alice Maher MD and Lois Oppenheim PhD and directed by Sheryll Franko, addresses the complex and difficult problem of how to de-stigmatize those who suffer from mental illness.  

Against a back-drop of the history of stigma, this film examines the theories, treatments, paradoxes, and dilemmas associated with existing models of mental dysfunction.  Interviews with major figures in the mental health field, as well as with many who have experienced marginalization by society first-hand, complement the telling of three exceedingly moving life stories.  

To what extent is this form of stigma similar to, and different from, other forms of prejudice?  What does society lose by our inability to communicate effectively with, and help those suffering from, untreated mental illness?  Given the complexity of the problem and the fact that most of us are not mental health professionals, where do we begin?   These questions are at the crux of a film that is at once intellectually challenging and emotionally affecting, while also an impetus for change. 

Waging Dialogue Forums™ Talking openly and honestly with those who don’t share our beliefs is enormously difficult. We have developed a series of closed dialogue groups where people willing to invest the necessary time and energy can confront this painful reality, struggle together to understand why it’s so hard, and develop theoretical, methodological and educational tools to help facilitate such dialogues.

Rocket science begins with elementary math and develops a lengthy educational and research trajectory. Human Understanding is just as difficult and just as complex, but it's equally possible to achieve.

This project represents a first step down that path.

Please join us and help start the movement to bring Human Understanding onto the world stage and the educational curriculum with the full weight, depth and complexity it deserves.

Read a welcome message from Dr. Alice L Maher.