“EASEL® as a method fits in very well to child protection services, especially when working with children whom have trouble recognizing, verbalizing and expressing their emotions. These factors also normally mean, that these children have problems in social relationships. They have no friends, and are withdrawn or constantly in conflict with their friends and adults, both at home and in school. Child welfare reports are typically filed in when e.g. the school has had discussions with the parents on the child’s behaviour, the child has been held isolated during recess and grounded at home, or the child has repeatedly been in contact with the police due to violence or small crimes. EASEL provides an alternative method for working with children and teenagers in child protection services. The child is given knowledge on emotions and behaviour, and concrete models to change their behaviour, instead of merely stating that he has behaved wrong, which the child most likely knows already.

In my opinion, the knowledge I have gained from this training is something that all social workers should learn in their basic training. Animal assisted social emotional learning can be of great wealth, but EASEL can be done without it. As a result of my training, I have begun to pay more attention to peoples emotional responses, and the messages behind them. It has deepened my understanding when working with clients and interacting with people.

It has become necessary to revise my paradigm for social services, after years of working in the field, and re-evaluate my work methods in the hopes of finding new ways of helping my clients. I have also received concrete work methods from my training, that I have been able to pass on to my colleagues. Verbalizing and dealing with emotions has increased extensively in my work. Reading into the latest publications in the field of social services has strengthened my belief, that EASEL is a modern and child oriented method well fit for child protection services. I feel like I’m on a journey forward into the future, and there’s no going back to the past…”

”The EASEL® method is easy to take on in your teaching, because it is aligned with the new national core curriculum. Taking on EASEL® as our learning environment has added that “missing piece” into my work, which I have been searching for from a number of practical methods. Combined with my own paradigm they form a comprehensive toolkit, which I of course also use to improve myself.

EASEL® is a social emotional learning centered working method, which is used as a part of teaching, coaching or therapy. It is profoundly different from other social emotional learning programs for schools in that it is weaved into every interaction throughout the school day. EASEL® has helped me to bring many lessons back on track, when the children’s hard to deal with emotions are not rejected through denial or orders, but they are dealt with immediately when the need arises. EASEL® as a classroom’s learning environment helps pupils to learn to understand self and others better. While learning curriculum subjects, EASEL helps me to help my pupils to builds self-management, social awareness, empathy and consideration for others, inner motivation etc. Giving classmates the oppurtunity to learn becomes a communal value. It also makes everyone appreciate their work more, and the work of others. Through EASEL®, one can combine teaching an entire class and individually engaging with every pupil.

After a couple of decades of working in the field of learning, and many experiments, I now have a method that also makes my own job easier. My classes now have more laid back atmosphere thanks to EASEL®. I have been able to get to know my pupils even better, and making our school day a good day has become a shared goal for us. Starting the day without hurry, and engaging with every pupil with an understanding of their personal situation, opens up new doors in our joint mission to provide children with the chance to reach their very best potential. Even adults feel better in this sort of a working environment.”

“I thought I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for the EASEL®Facilitator Program. I had researched the EASEL website very thoroughly, reading up on what the course would hold and what EASEL supposedly was. Despite all the preparations, I truly didn’t know what I signed up for. My thoughts on the course were initially narrow minded, and I got a lot more out of the training than what I had anticipated. It is somewhat impossible to tell all the things that have happened during this process. My wish to grow as a facilitator has increased. Many questions have also risen along the way, and an interest to seek answers and fill the gaps in my clearly incomplete theoretical basis. If I can pass on even a fraction of what I have experienced myself, I would be very happy.

Experiential learning has been mind opening and moving on more than one occasion. Interactive activities with animals have been surprisingly moving. I have experienced and learned new tools throughout this process. The will to learn more, apply and deepen my knowledge has woken up during this program. I have always enjoyed realizing new things with regards to knowledge and my life in general. During my process, I feel I have taken on the EASEL frame of mind rather imperceptibly into my life, my working and private self. I have pondered upon my life a lot with the tools I learned from EASEL, and I find myself having conversations with myself. The tool that hit me the most was the “bucket of needs”. I listen and am more forgiving to myself. Consciousness of one’s self and monitoring your own coping has become important to me. I have to look after myself, I work with my personality after all. Doing a good job is still very important to me, but how I want to go about doing it has changed. I find moments with children at work especially important.

I wouldn’t have believed the journey I set out to take. In my experience, EASEL is not just a working method. It becomes a way of life. A lot of big things have happened during the last year of my life. I find these easier to face and deal with now. I look forward to carrying on from here. I warmly recommend the EASEL®Facilitator Program for all social workers working in child protection services.”

“This learning process dove deep. I feel that I cannot express it on paper, in the same light that I lived it with my therapy children and their parents. My year of training has been fruitful in all its challenges. The road to Vihti is long and complicated. The learning process gave me a good picture of what the Circle of Tolerance means to me personally. I would give nothing away from this experience. I have wanted to attend this training for years, and when I finally had the chance, it made me understand, that the mental growth of this process made it worth all the wait!

Occupational therapy and EASEL work well together. Experiential exercises bring impact, and they are natural. Even though I still carry a pretty large bag of tricks with me, I also know that the learning environment is valuable, even with just two people interacting with each other. Easel® links in well with other coaching and therapy methods, as a way of growing one’s emotional intelligence, especially for those customers who feel “just talking” isn’t enough. I feel, that “just talking” is most often not enough, when working with children. Through my training, my methods have become more experiential. EASEL has also provided me with the tools to better work with the children’s parents. I can explain more clearly learning experiences based in social interactions. I have a new found depth in deciphering processes brought about by experiential tools.”