2025 has been quite a year in many ways – here are some highlights from GTI:
• P.E.T. and T.E.T. Instructor Training Workshops conducted in the Czech Republic
• First Be Your Best Instructor Training Workshop held in Vietnam
• Hong Kong celebrates 10 years of P.E.T.
• First L.E.T. Facilitator Workshop conducted in Vietnam
• First Be Your Best Instructor Training Workshop in Bulgaria
• L.E.T. Facilitator Workshop & P.E.T. Instructor Training in USA
And while the message below is not necessarily GTI news, we felt we needed to share our renewed global commitment to promoting democratic relationships, given the current state of the world. This is an excerpt from a message from our CEO, Linda Adams, that was sent to our international cadre of Gordon Model Representatives, Licensees and Instructors on the topic of democracy.
How Do We Protect and Nurture Democracy?
First, we need to actively resist autocratic governments, institutions and people—in other words, we need do something.
This can take the form of attending peaceful protests, donating money to elect politicians and leaders who stand up for the rule of law, volunteering to help them get elected, joining organizations and groups that support democracy, writing articles, sending links, speaking up, setting an example, being a model, never giving up.
Second, we need to practice democracy.
Since most of us were not raised in a democratic family, didn’t attend a democratic school or don’t have a job in a democratic workplace, we did not learn how to practice everyday democracy. We have to learn how to be a democratic person. These are the concepts and skills that are the basis of the Gordon Model.
Dr. Gordon envisioned this possibility when he began teaching leaders and then parents the abstract concepts of acceptance, empathy and congruence and the learnable communication skills to make these concepts a reality.
A core part of Gordon’s theory is that conflicts are inevitable and what matters is how they get resolved. Using the no-lose method he devised means the conflict can be resolved so both people get their needs met.
Given the present precarious state of democracy both in the United States and around the world, we strongly believe that it is more important now than ever that people learn these concepts and skills so we can live with and relate to others in a therapeutic climate in which we respect each other’s feelings and needs and resolve our conflicts so that no one loses. And so that we have the courage and experience to resist autocracy wherever and whenever we encounter it.
This is what we are all committed to doing. At this moment, it is more necessary than ever!