more about EASEL®

What is EASEL®?

We want to work together with our clients to build safe communities, workplaces, families, and relationships—spaces where everyone can genuinely do their best, while also growing, learning, stumbling, succeeding, thriving, and staying well, even in the midst of challenges. As Harry Stack Sullivan put it, intimacy arises when another person’s needs become as important to me as my own. True connection begins with mutual respect and goodwill.

We want to work together with our clients to build safe communities, workplaces, families, and relationships—spaces where everyone can genuinely do their best, while also growing, learning, stumbling, succeeding, thriving, and staying well, even in the midst of challenges. As Harry Stack Sullivan put it, intimacy arises when another person’s needs become as important to me as my own. True connection begins with mutual respect and goodwill.

The English word “respect” comes from the Latin word meaning to look back. That is why EASEL’s bull has two faces at its heart—one looking toward the other, both looking forward.

At the core of EASEL® lies the significance of safety and connection- both the experience of it and the ability to foster it in others – as a foundation for well-being. Our goal is to support the development of these skills so that children, young people, and adults can be their unique selves while also getting along with others. Only in safe and ethical relationships can any individual (or animal) truly do their best, grow, learn, and thrive.

The fundamental principles of meaningful encounters and relationships, as well as how the human mind and body’s biochemistry function under pressure, remain remarkably consistent across different environments. These principles apply at work and at home, across cultures and educational backgrounds, regardless of role, status, or purpose. In fact, they are so universal among all social herd animals that the core dynamics of successful interaction can sometimes be seen even more clearly in a herd of horses and sheep.

The front-page video on the importance of psychological safety offers a glimpse into how we spark reflection and facilitate discussions by connecting knowledge with everyday experiences.

EASEL’s theoretical foundation is integrative and interdisciplinary. Our approach is grounded in both solid theory and hands-on experience, weaving together core elements of evidence-based guidance, education, coaching, adventure pedagogy and experiential learning, and therapeutic approaches. These are further supported by findings from social neurosciences and related fields. For the sake of simplicity, we call our integrative, interdisciplinary method EASEL®.

EASEL®—Experiential Social Emotional Learning and Therapy—is a bit like the LEAN methodology for interaction and well-being: reducing waste, amplifying what works, and responding to the needs of today’s workplaces, children’s balanced development, and families.

EASEL® was created in actual work with teens and evaluated against interdisciplinary findings

What is special about EASEL® is that it was born in actual work out of a concrete need, and its scientific basis was built integrative and interdisciplinary. In the late 1990s I was teaching a class for “challenging” teens in middle school. The students had learning difficulties, some had ADD/ADHD, but most of all, they needed support in strengthening social and emotional and learning skills. Weaknesses in social and emotional skills proved to be a greater source of difficulty for these young people than their learning challenges. It became essential to find ways to strengthen self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, empathy, and social skills – and, through that, to hopefully build their capacity to guide themselves in making responsible and thoughtful choices and the kind of life they deep down wanted.

Before earning my degree as a Professional Teacher with pedagogic stuas have the insights of more than 200 EASEL Facilitators who have integrated the methodology into their, we place what Lazarus beautifully articulated asdies in special education, my background was in biochemistry of health, biology, and related fields. as well as their connections with social interactionsAlthough my four scientific publications were in veterinary pharmacology, I had long been interested in the effects of stress and oxytocin on the body’s biochemistry, connecting with others and emotional responses. A biochemist wants to understand why something happens or why things are done a certain way, which is why emotional intelligence research and advances in social neurosciences became central to EASEL’s scientific foundation.

One of my great inspirations was CASEL (www.casel.org), which had just been founded in the U.S. under Daniel Goleman’s leadership to advance social emotional learning (SEL) in schools. And through a Finnish association, I became acquainted with City-As-School pedagogy in New York that took learning beyond classroom walls. My own enthusiasm in adventure pedagogy and experiential learning we naturally integrated into my pedagogy. Consequently, my students completed parts of their compulsory school subjects at workplaces, in the Turku archipelago, and even in Spain for a week.

EASEL® is woven into everything, instead of separate lessons

Another key principle in EASEL® is that experiential social-emotional learning is woven into everything. We don’t do special SEL lessons. Instead we transform even math lessons into experiential learning. Today, I often describe EASEL by saying that I can teach the same math as the teacher next door, but the way I guide the process and shape the atmosphere—that is EASEL®. Over time, my own further education and professional experience have contributed to EASEL®, but so have also the insights of more than 200 EASEL Facilitators who have integrated the methodology into their own work. The core and the principles have remained unchanged – because human nature has not changed.

The principles of EASEL’s facilitation

The principles of facilitation were similarly developed through hands-on practice and then reflected against research. One such principle came from the late professor Vance Peavy, “You have to go where the client is and start from there.” The Sherpa metaphor also originates from my students. One Friday in 1998, they wrote in the class journal:

“Mari is like a Sherpa (mountain guides in the Himalayas). The client tells the Sherpa which mountain they want to climb (though the Sherpa might try to talk some sense into them if they pick a really foolish one). The Sherpa knows the best routes and what needs to be brought along. They can also read the weather conditions. The Sherpa walks alongside the client at their pace and carries some of their “stuff”. Sometimes, the Sherpa provides extra oxygen and keeps the client safe in other ways, too. The Sherpa doesn’t complain unnecessarily, and many of them have climbed Mount Everest several times but don’t make a big deal about it.”

So, when we speak of EASEL Facilitators as sherpas, this is where it comes from.

Adventure pedagogy and experiential learning, along with Montessori’s core principle “Help me to do it myself,” are reflected in EASEL’s goal to give clients back their power over their own lives and well-being. My love of animals and background with horses brought nature and interactive exercises with my dogs and horses into EASEL’s experiential learning from the very beginning, alongside everyday situations and adventure pedagogy. Richard Lazarus’ book  Passion and Reason, published in 1996, deeply influenced EASEL. At the base of the hierarchical structure of social emotional skills we place what Lazarus beautifully articulated aesthetic experiences as a path to happiness, gratitude and compassion. We have all in this work seen beautiful sceneries, moving experiences of connection between a client and a horse, sunsets, etc., that transform a client’s attitude towards self and others profoundly.

In EASEL®, we may practice making friends also with animal

When working with young people struggling with behaviour, focus, and emotional regulation, one must set boundaries with care and firmness. The relationship must be strong enough to withstand mutual boundary-setting. It must be grounded in genuine care, mutual respect, and goodwill.

Animal-assisted activities in EASEL® are based on the same relationship-building process as between humans. Working with horses felt natural to me, as I had sought connection with all kinds of animals since childhood. I had also learned from my childhood riding instructor in Finland and my mentor during my riding instructor studies in England to take, in the words of philosopher Martin Buber, the I-Thou relationship (as opposed to I-It) as a given—both between people and between humans and horses. In England, my teacher often spoke about how working with horses teaches people about themselves and requires personal growth.

Interactions with social herd animals, who have been raised in safe relationships and trained for client work, are deeply moving experiences. They reveal the core principles of good interaction in their purest form—free from the layers of complexity that characterise human social structures. EASEL horses, sheep, and dogs are similar enough to humans to allow for meaningful interactions. Yet, their clear, straightforward communication and their inherent difference from us make them feel socially non-threatening. If a horse walks away, it does not feel as uncomfortable as a classmate turning their back.

In EASEL Facilitator training programs, participants engage in specific exercises with our animal co-facilitators regardless of their prior experience or skills. ®It is perfectly fine to feel afraid as EASEL® is about attuning to oneself and others, moving forward voluntarily, and ensuring that both parties feel at ease. In EASEL’s relationship-building process, the first step is mutual respect and goodwill. Only on this foundation can a shared language and a sufficient sense of safety develop, making deeper learning possible. This applies just as much to interactions with social animals.

History of EASEL Facilitator training programs

According to feedback from over 200 professionals who have participated in EASEL Coach training, the program provides both theoretical and practical competencies for applying the EASEL® method in their work. The first facilitator trainings, short workshops, and lectures at universities, conferences, and professional associations began in 2005 at the request of interested professionals after I had returned to Finland and completed a year-long EponaQuest Instructor training in the USA. As a result, I also contributed to the development of the ethical guidelines for equine-assisted psychotherapy in the U.S.. The first EASEL Facilitators received their certificates in 2007, and since then, trainings have been held in Finland, Sweden, and Belgium.

In addition to 200+ EASEL Facilitators, more than 30 EASEL Coaches have completed our two-year training program, and there are eight EASEL Trainers who have co-facilitated at least one Facilitator training program.

In addition to feedback you can read in the multiple references expressing a transformative experience, a study conducted under the supervision of the University of Jyväskylä’s Department of Psychology measured participants’ EQ and mindfulness skills before and after in five training groups. The results showed statistically significant improvements in mindful awareness (MAAS) and emotional intelligence (SREI, Schutte et al.) In fact, participants’ scores exceeded the average scores of psychotherapists tested during the development of SREI. However, the results of psychological self-assessment forms should only be considered as indicative. The results were not published because the research grant application submitted to the Academy of Finland for further studies fell just one point short of approval, and other work commitments took priority.

EASEL currently has three core objectives:

1. The first is to provide professionals with tools and guiding principles, enabling them to support the emotional skill development of those they work with as part of their core professional tasks. In other words, EASEL® offers the facilitation principles, knowledge base, and practical tools for integrating social emotional learning into counselling, coaching, early education, teaching, rehabilitation, different forms of therapy, youth work, and many more. As EASEL’s experiential social emotional learning is based on the idea that everyday situations naturally provide opportunities for experiential strengthening of social emotional skills, it may be embedded into practically anything. skills, ensuring their well-being and helping them model the behaviours

2. The second objective is to strengthen professionals’ own social and emotional, ensuring their wellbeing and helping them model the behaviours they wish to foster. Emotional skills cannot be taught. Instead, they are learned in interaction with others. Professions based on relational work require exceptionally strong emotional and interpersonal skills. Research suggests that these skills are what distinguish outstanding professionals from average ones. For example, in education, studies indicate that the classroom climate created by the teacher impacts learning more than methods or materials used.

3. The third objective is to help clients create healthier, more resilient workplace communities. We believe this is not only more effective but also more ethical than waiting until well-being and productivity issues have escalated to the point where interventions, sick leave, or therapy are required. Prevention has a direct impact on both the quality of work and the bottom line – as does neglecting these issues.

EASEL® can be seen as LEAN of relationships and well-being. Just as the real LEAN focuses on reducing waste, creating value, and improving efficiency by refining work processes, professional behaviours, and ways of thinking, EASEL® applies the same principles to enhancing healthy relationships through social and emotional skills, better communication and psychological safety.

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