Strozzi Institute
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Strozzi Institute is an organization located in
Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
that offers
coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...
services and trainings in
leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...
,
organizational development Organization development (OD) is the study and implementation of practices, systems, and techniques that affect organizational change. The goal of which is to modify a group's/organization's performance and/or culture. The organizational chan ...
, and personal mastery. It uses a
somatic Somatic may refer to: * Somatic (biology), referring to the cells of the body in contrast to the germ line cells ** Somatic cell, a non-gametic cell in a multicellular organism * Somatic nervous system, the portion of the vertebrate nervous syst ...
approach to learning. Programs are offered primarily at the institute's Sonoma training center.


History

Strozzi Institute was founded in 1985 by
Richard Strozzi-Heckler Richard Strozzi-Heckler (born in 1944) is an American author, coach, and consultant on "embodied leadership and mastery."Marshall, L. ''Speak the Truth and Point to Hope: The Leader's Guide to Maturity'', Kendall Hunt (2004) p. 53 He is the ...
, Ph.D. as an application of his research into a "somatic philosophy of
learning Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, Attitude (psychology), attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, non-human animals, and ...
". In the 1970s Strozzi-Heckler and Robert K. Hall, M.D. developed The Lomi School of body oriented psychotherapy, influenced by the work of
Fritz Perls Friedrich Salomon Perls (July 8, 1893 – March 14, 1970), better known as Fritz Perls, was a German-born psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and psychotherapist. Perls coined the term "Gestalt therapy" to identify the form of psychotherapy that he devel ...
,
Ida Rolf Ida Pauline Rolf (May 19, 1896 – March 19, 1979) was a biochemist and the creator of the pseudoscientific practice of Structural Integration, later termed Rolfing, a type of manual therapy that claims to aligning the human body's so-called " ...
, Randolph Stone, and
Charan Singh Chaudhary Charan Singh (23 December 1902 – 29 May 1987) was an Indian politician, peasant leader, author and an independence activist who briefly served as the prime minister of India from July 1979 to January 1980. Singh was principally kn ...
. In addition to the usual
psychiatric Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, mood, emotion, and behavior. Initial psychiatric assessment of ...
and
psychoanalytic PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk the ...
methods, this program includes touch, group process,
breathwork Breathwork may refer to several different practices connected with breathing. * Breathwork (New Age), various New Age breathing practices originating with Stanslav Grof and Leonard Orr * Circular breathing, a breathing technique used by players of ...
, attention training, and movement to its approach, to provide its framework for working with the mind unified with the physical body.Davidson, A., Davis, V., ''Body Brilliance: Mastering Your Five Vital Intelligences'' Elite Books (2010) p. 70, 220 In 1985 Strozzi-Heckler contributed to a
pilot program A pilot experiment, pilot study, pilot test or pilot project is a small-scale preliminary study conducted to evaluate feasibility, duration, cost, adverse events, and improve upon the study design prior to performance of a full-scale research ...
for the
U.S. Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, is a branch of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). The core missionset of Special Forces ...
to evaluate mind-body approaches to
military training Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles. Military training may be voluntary or compulsory duty. It begins with recruit training, proceed ...
. In addition to many of the measured outcomes related to increased
endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, forbearance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, persistence, tenacity, steadfastness, perseverance, stamina, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a ...
,
alertness Alertness is a state of active attention characterized by high sensory awareness. Someone who is alert is vigilant and promptly meets danger or emergency, or is quick to perceive and act. Alertness is a psychological and physiological state. Lac ...
, capacity for
stress management Stress management consists of a wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapy, psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person's level of psychological stress, especially chronic stress, generally for the purpose of improving the function of everyda ...
, and team cohesion, participants unexpectedly demonstrated significant increases in leadership characteristics. Reflecting on this, Strozzi-Heckler began exploring ways to adapt the program for leaders in business and government. In collaboration with
Fernando Flores Carlos Fernando Flores Labra (born January 9, 1943) is a Chilean engineer, philosopher, entrepreneur and politician. He is a former cabinet minister of president Salvador Allende and was senator for the Arica and Parinacota and Tarapacá regio ...
during the 1980s and 1990s, Flores's Ontology of Language research into
speech acts Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...
was integrated and applied to the somatic leadership domain. In 2000, Strozzi Institute introduced a training program for
coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...
interested in their somatic approach.


Strozzi Somatics

The Strozzi Institute methodology, known as Strozzi Somatics, is used one-on-one and in groups of varying size. The Strozzi Somatics
methodology In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for bri ...
makes a distinction between ''soma'' - the living body in its entirety, and the mechanistic view of the physical body as an assemblage of anatomical parts. Using this first definition the body is regarded as the primary domain of feeling, action, language, and meaning.Strean, W.B., Strozzi-Heckler, R., "(The) Body (of) Knowledge: Somatic Contributions to the Practice of Sport Psychology" ''Journal of Sports Psychology'', September 2009 p. 93 From this perspective, coaches observe the ways people hold their bodies and how they respond to stress situations, such as verbal or physical surprises. The body’s overall organization in this way is referred to as a somatic shape.Keleman, S., ''Emotional Anatomy''. Center Press (1985) p.103 Each person’s unique somatic shape is formed by responses to past experiences, positive and negative, which are established as deep, mostly unconscious patterns of muscular activity in the body. Over time these patterns produce conditioned tendencies of reaction to people, situations and environments. Strozzi-Heckler has described the process in which, when an individual is exposed to a stressful stimulus, they revert to this conditioned tendency, limiting their available choices for action.Strozzi-Heckler, R., ''Anatomy of Change: A Way to Move Through Life's Transitions''. North Atlantic Books (1997) p. 25 Withdrawal, fear, attempting to dominate, rigidity, and over-accommodation are examples of different conditioned tendency shapes. Because this is a
somatic Somatic may refer to: * Somatic (biology), referring to the cells of the body in contrast to the germ line cells ** Somatic cell, a non-gametic cell in a multicellular organism * Somatic nervous system, the portion of the vertebrate nervous syst ...
event rather than an exclusively
cognitive Cognition is the "mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...
one, new information or theoretical insight will not shift the response. As an illustration, he describes a team leader who has extensive education in management principles but, especially under stress, comports himself in a way that produces mistrust and resentment from the people he manages, eventually creating significant breakdowns within his team.Strozzi-Heckler, R., ''The Leadership Dojo''. Frog Books (2007) pp. 27-32


Leadership

Strozzi Institute has stressed that leadership characteristics often considered innate are teachable, and can be improved with practice. These traits include: high
self awareness In philosophy, self-awareness is the awareness and reflection of one's own personality or individuality, including traits, feelings, and behaviors. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. While consciousness is be ...
and awareness of the environment, being open to possibilities rather than limited to past options, being motivated by a connection to what one cares about, the ability to deal directly with matters that need attention, directing attention outward in a way that enables listening and connection with others, and the ability to coordinate with others and empathize with their concerns. Interview with Strozzi-Heckler http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/26740/the-body-of-leadership 6:50 - 11:48, 19:20 - 20:05


Aikido Influence

Many of the practices taught are adapted from
aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...
and different forms of
meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...
. Aikido movements are presented in a non-
martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman and Celtiberian poet born in Bilbilis, Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of '' Epigrams'', pu ...
context and principles of the art such as: ''centering'' oneself, ''facing'' an attack, ''extending'' outward into the environment, ''entering'' into shared space, and ''blending'' with the momentum of an incursion, are used as physical metaphors to guide the practice of embodying leadership characteristics. An aikido
dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning, experiential learning, or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts. The term literally means "place of the Tao, Way" in Japanese language, Japanese. History The word ''d ...
, ''Two Rock Aikido'', is located on the Strozzi Institute site in Sonoma.


Strozzi Bodywork

Working from the premise that the body and the
self In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) same ...
are indistinguishable from one another, Strozzi Institute offers training in a style of bodywork developed by Strozzi-Heckler and Hall to produce change in a person's core historical limitations. Strozzi Bodywork involves addressing deeply held muscular contractions (also known as armoring) maintained in the soma using touch, breath, and directed attention. Practitioners train to develop an empathetic, compassionate presence that can build trust and enable them to work with others through a variety of
emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
al states. Some somatic coaches use Strozzi Bodywork in their coaching sessions.


Applications

The Strozzi Somatics methodology has been applied to a broad range of organizations and with diverse populations. These include Fortune 50 companies,
U.S. Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main fun ...
, U.S. Marines,
law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...
,
social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
groups, professional sports teams, as well as urban gang members,
prisoner A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...
s, Olympic athletes, and survivors of sexual trauma.Haines, S., ''Healing Sex: A Mind-Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma'' Cleis (2007) Strozzi Institute has contributed to U.S. Military
counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...
training, integrating somatic practices to enhance soldiers' abilities to connect with others across cultures rather than rely predominantly on force. Strozzi-Heckler has said, "Working with the body gives you a way to do that because it transcends words and language. It takes us to that common core of being human."Helgesen, S. “The Dance of Power” ''Strategy+Business'', Winter 2007/Issue 49, http://www.strategy-business.com/article/07406?gko=c0c2d


Further reading

*Strozzi-Heckler, R., ''The Leadership Dojo'', Frog Books (2007) *Strozzi-Heckler, R., ''The Anatomy of Change'', North Atlantic Books (1997) *Haines, S., ''Healing Sex: A Mind-Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma'', Cleis (2007) * Leonard, G., ''Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment'', Penguin (1992) *Keleman, Stanley, ''Somatic Reality'', Center Press (1982)


References

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External links


Strozzi Institute website
Leadership studies Personal development Mind–body interventions Life coaches Educational psychology organizations Petaluma, California Somatic psychology