the  EASEL® methodology

EASEL® – An Approach to Relationships and Well-Being

EASEL® can be understood as a kind of LEAN for relationships and well-being. Just as true Lean focuses on removing obstacles, creating value, and improving efficiency by refining work processes, professional behaviours, and ways of thinking, EASEL® applies similar principles to strengthening healthy relationships through social and emotional skills, better communication, and psychological safety.

Our aim is to work together with our clients to build safe communities, workplaces, families, and relationships where people can do their best, grow, learn, stumble, succeed, thrive, and stay well — even in the midst of challenges.

True connection, a sense of belonging, and intimacy require that another person’s needs matter to me as much as my own. True connection begins with mutual respect and goodwill.

The English word respect comes from the Latin respicere, meaning “to look back” or “to look again.” This is why EASEL’s bull has two faces at its heart: it reminds us that healthy development requires both direction and reflection — looking forward, while also turning toward one another.

The Theoretical Foundation of EASEL®

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, experiential learning, and therapeutic approaches. These are further supported by findings from social neuroscience and related fields.

EASEL® Was Created in Real Work and Continuously Evaluated Against Evidence-Based Methods

What is special about EASEL® is that it was born in real work, out of a concrete need. Its scientific foundation was then built integratively and interdisciplinarily over time.

In the late 1990s, I taught a class of teenagers in lower secondary school who were described as “challenging.” The students had learning difficulties, some had ADD or ADHD, but most of all, they needed support in strengthening their social, emotional, and learning skills.

It became essential to find ways to strengthen their self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, empathy, and social skills — and, through that, to help them build the capacity to guide themselves toward responsible, thoughtful choices and the kind of life they deeply wanted.

One inspiration for EASEL® is CASEL. I had just had my fourth research paper accepted for publication and had given birth to my second child when Daniel Goleman and colleagues founded CASEL. It was a time in my life when I had to decide whether I wanted to become “Dr. Louhi” in the biochemistry of health, or listen to my feelings and focus on my family and the intriguing new field of emotional intelligence and social neuroscience.

EQ won me over.

Because a biochemist’s mindset seeks to understand why something works or occurs, emotional intelligence and advances in social neuroscience have become central to EASEL’s scientific foundation.

The Principles of EASEL® Facilitation

EASEL® facilitation is always tailored to the client’s needs. In the words of the late Professor Vance Peavy:

“You have to go where the client is and start from there.”

EASEL® Facilitators are sherpas.

The Sherpa metaphor originates from one Friday in 1998, when my students 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, although the Sherpa might try to talk some sense into them if they choose 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.”

Another key principle in EASEL® is that adventure and experiential social-emotional learning are woven into everything.

I often describe EASEL® by saying that I can teach the same mathematics as the teacher next door — but the way I guide the process, shape the atmosphere, and simultaneously teach social and emotional skills is what sets EASEL® apart.

It is therefore only natural that, over time, my own professional development and experience with various client groups and contexts have continued to expand EASEL®. So have the insights of more than 200 trained EASEL® Facilitators in Finland and abroad, as well as the tens of thousands of professionals and clients who have been introduced to the core principles.

Adventure pedagogy and experiential learning, together with Montessori’s core principle — “Help me to do it myself” — are reflected in EASEL’s goal of giving clients back the power to shape their own lives and well-being.

Richard Lazarus’ book Passion and Reason, published in 1996, deeply influenced EASEL®. At the foundation of the hierarchical structure of social-emotional skills, we place what Lazarus articulated so beautifully: aesthetic experiences can form a pathway to happiness, gratitude, and compassion.

In this work, we have repeatedly seen how beautiful scenery, art, or experiences of connection between a client and a horse can profoundly transform a client’s attitude toward themselves and others.

In EASEL®, We Also Practise Making Friends with Animals

When working with young people who struggle with behaviour, focus, and emotional regulation, boundaries must be set with both 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 human relationships.

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 later from my mentor during my riding instructor studies in England, to take what philosopher Martin Buber called 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 can be deeply moving experiences. They reveal the core principles of good interaction in their purest form — free from many of the layers of complexity that characterise human social structures.

EASEL® horses, sheep, and dogs are similar enough to humans to allow for meaningful interaction. 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. EASEL® is about attuning to oneself and others, and ensuring that both parties can feel sufficiently 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, enabling deeper learning and growth. This applies just as much to interactions with social animals as it does to interactions between people.

The History of EASEL® Facilitator Training Programs

According to feedback from over 200 professionals who have participated in the year-long EASEL® Facilitator training program, the training provides both theoretical and practical competencies for applying the EASEL® method in their own work.

However, EASEL® was not originally developed for training others.

Workshops and lectures at universities, conferences, and professional associations began in 2005, at the request of interested professionals, after I returned to Finland from Beijing with EponaQuest Instructor training and had contributed to ethical guidelines for equine-assisted psychotherapy in the United States.

The first EASEL® Facilitators received their certificates in 2007. Between 2007 and 2018 , full Facilitator training programs were run in Finland, Sweden, and Belgium certifying well over 200 professionals..

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

In addition to participant feedback, a pilot study conducted under the supervision of the University of Jyväskylä’s Department of Psychology measured participants’ emotional intelligence and mindfulness skills before and after the training year in five training groups.

The results showed statistically significant improvements in mindful awareness, measured with the MAAS, and emotional intelligence, measured with the SREI by Schutte and colleagues. In fact, participants’ scores exceeded the average scores of psychotherapists tested during the development of the SREI.

However, the results of psychological self-assessment forms should only be considered indicative. The results were not published, as the research grant for further studies fell just one point short of approval, and other work commitments eventually took priority.

The Three Core Objectives of EASEL®

EASEL® currently has three core objectives.

The first objective is to provide professionals with tools and guiding principles that enable them to support the emotional skill development of the people they work with as part of their core professional role.

In other words, EASEL® offers facilitation principles, a knowledge base, and practical tools for integrating social and emotional learning into counselling, coaching, early education, teaching, rehabilitation, different forms of therapy, youth work, and many other fields.

Because EASEL’s experiential social-emotional learning is based on the idea that everyday situations naturally provide opportunities for strengthening emotional and social skills, it can be embedded into almost any professional context.

The second objective is to strengthen professionals’ own social and emotional skills, supporting their well-being and helping them model the behaviours they wish to foster in others.

Emotional skills cannot simply be taught as information. 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 among the factors that distinguish outstanding professionals from average ones. In education, for example, studies indicate that the classroom climate created by the teacher has a stronger impact on learning than the methods or materials used.

The third objective is to help clients and client organisations 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.

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