We think that every person born on this earth is born with a full and undamaged set of human qualities including intelligence, courage, the ability to love and be loved, creativity, humor, and many more. Further, we believe that each and every one of these qualities share the following characteristics, that they are: universal, unique, limitless, complete, permanent, and unconditional.

For example, take the ability to love and be loved: Everyone is born with this ability, and we each express it as only we can express it (Universal, Unique). There is not a maximum amount that we can love or be loved (Limitless), and, although this quality may be masked by hurt or circumstance, it is ultimately fully intact, and we are not missing any part of it (Complete). In fact, no matter how we may feel or what we may experience, we will always retain the ability to give and receive love, and we cannot lose this ability (Permanent, Unconditional).

On the other hand, we do recognize that such things as violence, greed, and selfishness exist in the world, but we believe this type of behavior is the product of experience rather than being innate. We believe that the bad behavior is actually the result of systematic hurt combined with misinformation, and that it is this confluence of pain and misunderstanding which, in fact, obscures our true nature. As we age and more hurts go untended, they begin to accumulate, making our inherent wholeness feel more distant and our need for healing more urgent.

We have been fortunate to both find and help build a community to promote this type of healing - Allies: People to People. Our primary tool is an 8-week long introduction to peer counseling (Fundamentals of Counseling) where participants gather once a week to learn about the basic theory of peer counseling (also called co-counseling) and try the practice out for themselves.

After learning the fundamentals, individuals gain access to all Allies community resources, including workshops, support groups, leadership training, and a network of supportive peers.