Presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education (October, 2017)

2. Foundations and Support
Collective Wisdom Emergence (CWE; pronounced “see-we”) is an experiential, dialogic and
humanizing practice that emphasizes deep connection and reflective engagement with multiple
perspectives through focused attention on diverse expressions of wisdom in the service of
affirmation and validation, emotional and cultural resonance, expanded understandings,
emergent meanings, reconnection to treasured values, sitting with complexity and uncertainty,
cultivating resilience & well-being, and empowering purposeful action.
What is Wisdom?
Contemplative and therapeutic practices
that utilize collective and cultural productions of
knowledge and creative expression informed the
development of the CWE practice. These include
various forms of bibliotherapy that involve the use
of literature, poetry, proverbs, metaphors,
storytelling, expressive writing, and concentrative
meditation on text passages.
Research suggests that these techniques
strengthen empathy, insight (Shectman, 2006),
self-esteem and positive interpersonal skills
(Schutt, Deng & Stoehr, 2013). Given their roots in
cultural wisdom-sources, strategies can empower,
affirm, and validate cultural identity (McCoy &
McKay, 2006). Espinoza-Herold (2007) suggests
that oral traditions capture “a reservoir of
culturally based resilience strategies”(p. 262) that
reveal shared beliefs and values, while
communicating paths to empowerment.
Wisdom as
PROCESS & PRACTICE:
Reflection on lived experience and
abstract ideas with the goal of
strengthening resilience and evolving
toward optimal personal, relational,
and collective well-being and
functioning.
Wisdom as
INTERCONNECTEDNESS:
Creates opportunity for interpersonal relationality
and collective resonance through the recognition
of shared human concerns, experience and
“truths.” Nurtures belongingness and sense of
community by connecting the self to others
across generations, distance, and life
conditions. Facilitates dialogue across
differences.
Wisdom as
AFFIRMATION:
Affirms inner knowing. Affirms
cultural identity through
celebration of cultural voices
and knowledge; used in
culture-centered interventions
and healing practices.
Wisdom as
COMPASS:
Provides direction for choices
and action, communicates
cultural beliefs and values,
elucidates eternal-transcendent
questions about meaning
and purpose.
Wisdom as
EMERGENT:
Co-constructed wisdom evolves,
expands, and is shaped through
the sharing of personal and
collective experience. It is lived
through diverse expressions
and applications.
Wisdom as CONTENT:
The specific message conveyed;
Takes two forms: Everyday
Culturally-Embedded wisdom that
reflects local norms and context, and
Transcendent-Perennial wisdom
that spans across space, time and
culture.
WISDOM is generally
understood as a special form
of deep knowledge, acquired and
emergent from reflection on and
processing of accumulated life
experiences (observed and participatory),
that informs understanding and judgment
relevant to the life challenges and
difficult questions of human existence,
both personally and for
humanity as a whole.

3. Implications and Applications
Implications
Potential Applications
☼ Pedagogical strategy to facilitate classroom
discussion of social justice issues
☼ Support services for underrepresented groups on
campus/in workplace
☼ Utilization in intergroup, international, and community
dialogue methods
☼ As a strategy to address burnout and provide support
to activists (e.g., reconnect to purpose and meaning)
☼ Integrate into mental health interventions with
marginalized populations
☼ As a method to be used in retreats or workshops
targeting personal and/or religious-spiritual
development
☼ Use in consultations/trainings with organizations and
groups to inform visioning and strategic planning
☼ Training tools for police officers and professionals in
the criminal justice system
☼ Clinical/Counseling supervision for faculty
and students
Implications
☼ Facilitates greater awareness and deeper
exploration of the relationship between inner
work on the self, and social transformation & justice
☼ Increases ability to transition between intra- and
inter-personal connectedness, necessary for building social
justice/equity awareness, knowledge and skills
☼ Creates a safe space to share and receive support for the
difficult psychological and emotional experiences inherent in
social justice work - as well as the stress of living under
inequitable social conditions
☼ Strengthens resilience and replenishes energy through shared
communal experience and reengagement with personal
motivations and strengths
☼ Deconstructs rigid and constricted social ideologies
☼ Opens space for reconciliation and transformative efforts to
allow mutual healing and move towards social equity
☼ Helps movement toward compassionate and connected
citizenship
Selected References
Ardelt, M., Achenbaum, A., & Oh, H. (2013). The paradoxical nature of personal wisdom and its relation to human development in the
reflective, cognitive, and affective domains. In. M. Ferrari, and N.M. Westrate (eds.), The scientific study of personal wisdom: From
contemplative traditions to neuroscience (pp. 265-295). Dordrecht: Springer.
Carroll, R., Kajangu, K., & Coulehan, J. (2006). Wisdom poetry trialogue. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 19(4), 195-227.
Espinoza-Herold, M. (2007). Stepping beyond sí se puede: Dichos as a cultural resource in mother-daughter interaction in a Latino family.
Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 38(3), 260-277.
Linden, M. (2014). Promoting resilience and well-being in wisdom and wisdom therapy. In G.A., Fava and C. Rini (eds.), Increasing
psychological well-being in clinical and educational settings (pp 75-90). Dordrecht: Springer.
McCoy, H., & McKay, C. (2007). Preparing social workers to identify and integrate culturally affirming bibliotherapy into treatment. Social
Work Education, 25(7), 680-693.
Petty, S. (2017). Waking up to all of ourselves: Inner work, social justice and systems change. Initiative for Contemplation Equity and
Action Journal, 1(1), 1-14.
Schutt, R. K., Deng, X., & Stoehr, T. (2013). Using bibliotherapy to enhance probation and reduce recidivism. Journal of Offender
Rehabilitation, 52(3), 181-197.
Shectman, Z. (2006). The contribution of bibliotherapy to the counseling of aggressive boys. Psychotherapy Research, 16(5), 631-636.
For further information contact Dr. Shelly Harrell at
shelly.harrell@pepperdine.edu