At The School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts (SANCA), where I am the Director of Social Circus, we seek to improve the quality of life for the people we serve, particularly children, using circus arts as a catalyst for positive change and personal growth. In my work outside of SANCA, I am a play therapist. Play therapy has given me tools for facilitating relationships with children that I regularly bring into my work at SANCA, as building strong, safe relationships helps us fulfill our mission of changing children’s lives and supporting their growth. I find these tools invaluable at the circus, where we are serving hundreds of children each week. In play therapy we communicate to children, “I am here, I understand, I hear you, I care.” We call this “Being With”.

Being With: Skills for Effective Relating Regularly, I am asked to consult on behavioral issues coaches encounter in the process of teaching circus arts. We are often looking for shortcuts to getting kids to “behave”, but we find those shortcuts don’t work. The most powerful tool we have for addressing behavioral issues is a strong relationship, and that takes time to cultivate. The process of building a relationship with a child can...