Every Interaction Counts

Testimonials

The Alabama Organ Center has actively participated in EffectiveArts programs for a year. During this time we have seen an increase in our organ and tissue conversion rate, but equally important is the change in our staff. Our requestors provide family support with more confidence and satisfaction. We have incorporated the EffectiveArts methodologies in all areas of practice with positive results.
Chris B. Meeks, Executive Director
Our eye bank saw two record breaking donor months in a row following this training, with continued high volume following those months as well. While we cannot say that this donor volume is all due to the training, there certainly is some direct relation.
Kara Laney Petry, SightLife, Seattle Washington
Over the past few years, while working with EffectiveArts, Gift of Hope staff have truly acquired confidence and competence in their partnership communications and family approaches both face-to-face and by telephone. Jim and his staff are always well-prepared and attentive to our training needs. With the assistance of their very talented actor pool, they have provided us with unique training activities that are dynamic, highly interactive, and non-threatening to the learners. EffectiveArts staff are very knowledgeable and quite supportive of Organ and Tissue donation and should be seriously considered for OPO staff training.
Dean H. Lichtenfeld, RN, MS, CPTC, Director, Clinical Training and Staff Development, Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network (Chicago, IL)
I am writing in support of the work of Dr. Jim Boggs and the EffectiveArts program. For the past six years, Dr. Boggs and his team of actors have provided an invaluable service to Seattle Shanti, helping us to prepare volunteers to provide one-to-one emotional support to people with life-threatening illnesses.

It is essential to the success of our community-based agency that we provide our volunteers with an intensive training that prepares them to engage in emotionally-charged situations with their clients. An invaluable part of our 30-hour training is a series of interactive dramas utilizing the skills of Dr. Boggs and his associates. EffectiveArts actors construct characters and scenarios that fit Shanti's standards and needs, creating scenes that - while in progress -- are often indistinguishable from the real-life situations our volunteers encounter.

In playing the parts of hypothetical Shanti clients, the actors engage with trainees in deep and intense interactive dramas, facilitating profound levels of experiential learning. The construct of each scenario presents situations that enable our trainees to make mistakes in a controlled setting, to learn from those mistakes, and thereby to improve their effectiveness in the work they will do with clients.

At the conclusion of each scenario, EffectiveArts actors provide useful, in-depth feedback based on what their characters experienced, helping trainees become aware and confident as they prepare to engage in real-life situations with clients.

The staff of Seattle Shanti is grateful for the contribution Dr. Boggs and his associates have made to the effectiveness of our community-service program. We would highly recommend Effective Arts to any agency or corporation that seeks to improve the effectiveness of its staff and the quality of its services
Robert Lux, Program Director, Shanti (providing one-on-one support for people living with HIV/AIDS, MS, and cancer, and MS)
When I first became director of CCBC Children's Center in Washington, DC, my primary goal was to create within the school a strong community; a community where the daily experience of the children, staff, and families was a positive one. I was certain that whatever model of early childhood education we might choose to implement, feeling safe to explore ideas and eager to share and to learn would be important. If we could achieve this, CCBC would be a place where both children and adults thrived.

I'm sure that other directors will recognize these as valuable goals, but how to achieve them with so many competing demands on my time and on the school's resources was not clear. EffectiveArts was invaluable during the process of creating an environment where the gifts of each member of the community are valued and celebrated

EffectiveArts helped us find a way to acknowledge and celebrate the unique talents of every member of the community. The subtle undercurrent of negativity changed to one of sharing and support for each family and each staff member. More than that, EffectiveArts gave me as director a perspective on my interactions with the parents and staff that emphasized our common goals and helped me enter each meeting with the confidence and understanding that I could shape those interactions to ensure they were positive no matter what the outcome.

I am convinced that the changes EffectiveArts helped to put in place contributed to the strong enrollment and financial support that CCBC enjoyed. EffectiveArts helped us focus our energy on creativity, learning, and support for each individual's growth. I have seen EffectiveArts work with other groups and am impressed with their ability to see what is unique about each group, as well as his skill for discovering how to quickly and effectively help them find their way to being a strong community, focused on their mission.
Jill McClean, former Executive Director, CCBC Children's Center (Washington, D.C.)
I became Manager of Student Services for a Seattle-based online learning company when it was a rapidly expanding start-up. We were breaking ground in education by offering high school courses over the Internet to students across the United States. We were quickly discovering and resolving the technical and educational challenges of online distance learning. To support the students and their parents, teachers, and school administrators, I needed to create a highly creative, motivated, and effective team of employees.

I asked Dr. Jim Boggs, Director of EffectiveArts, to help me build a truly outstanding team. EffectiveArts worked with us for over a year, first on a weekly basis, then with as-needed conversations. We were incredibly successful; we achieved more than I thought possible within months, and then the team continued to become more effective, cooperative, and fulfilled.
Rita Conley, former Manager of Student Services for a Seattle-based online learning company
This is the best training I’ve been to in my 15 years in the profession, and I’ve been to them all. This is a different way of looking at everything! I have never experienced a training where I have not been preached at or told about problems that need to be fixed. This was wonderful -- I feel empowered and proud of the work that I do.
Comment from a participant in recent organ/tissue/eye donation training session

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