Lisa Kentgen, Ph.D.

The Practice of Belonging: Six Lessons from Vibrant Communities to Combat Loneliness, Foster Diversity, and Cultivate Caring Relationships

 

An inspirational guide to the 6 core qualities of healthy communities, for anyone looking to build community as a source of connection and a vehicle for social change

After two years meeting with different communities in the US, psychologist Lisa Kentgen identified 6 key traits of vibrant, healthy communities that we can all apply to our own lives and networks:
 

• Commitment to care

• Acceptance

• Diversity

• Skillful conflict resolution

• Bonding rituals

• Hospitality

Each chapter focuses on one of these traits, highlighting a particular community as a case study of how it can be put into practice. You’ll learn about a wide range of successful community models, including a tiny-home village for people who had been chronically houseless in Austin, Texas; a study circle to build connection between Native and non-Native people in a small town in South Dakota; a 500-member community choir in Columbus, Ohio; and a Buddhist center in Barre, Massachusetts committed to bringing greater diversity to the Dharma.

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Praise for The Practice of Belonging:

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The Practice of Belonging offers a first-of-its-kind road map to build cultures of belonging, inclusion, and support so that we thrive.

 

— Bethany Klynn, organizational psychologist and president of Insight Leadership Consulting

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There is a quiet and essentially unreported movement occurring in our local places, and this book and the way it is written hasten this along.

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— Peter Block, author of Community