Impact Case Studies - personal stories

Since September 2024, we have be running a monthly Bohm Dialogue group in London. Whilst we always welcome newcomers, a number of people have found themselves returning regularly, committing to the practice of Bohm Dialogue. We invited our regulars to share their own perspectives on the practice of Bohm Dialogue, and the value and impact it has created for them.

Learn more about Bohm Dialogue

“Bohm Dialogue is a practice of deep listening, slowing down and connecting with others in a way that feels authentic. It helps to break down barriers we impose on ourselves as well as others...”

-Bohm Dialogue described by Adam, a regular practitioner

“…one of the things that had been with me for years was social anxiety, in general, and also anxiety to express myself through speaking. If I think back to that first dialogue, wondering what it was going to be like, there was some tension. Now it's like the most natural thing in the world.”

-Chrysi, a regular practitioner, describing her motivations to participate in Bohm Dialogue

“There's so many parts of it. I think it's a good way of getting to insight and clarity, and then occasionally, there will be this flow state that happens, where you do witness an idea collectively shone on, processed, and then internalised, but I've only had that once or twice...”

-Bohm Dialogue described by Charlie, a regular practitioner

“…permission to just be, permission to have an opinion, permission to be wrong, permission to understand ourselves by ourselves, permission to have free thought, permission to take up space in a room and say nothing, permission to exist in your space and feel like I’m welcome and I belong.”

-the value of Bohm Dialogue described by Elisha, a regular practitioner

“I enjoyed the level of trust that developed within the group, in such a short space of time. Because there is no pressure or expectation to conform, the diversity of experience in the group was allowed to be expressed. The lack of polarisation and point scoring were very refreshing.”

-Ros, a regular Bohm Dialogue practitioner, describing what motivated her to keep practising dialogue

“At its core I value Dialogue because it is a setting in which I'm relieved of 'the burden' of my own sense of self. This I feel only really comes with practice and patience. But it is through this effort and openness that we can, gradually, experience glimpses of a deeper, more open and relational way of being..”

-Rob, a regular Bohm Dialogue practitioner, describing the value of a Bohm Dialogue practice

  • Bohm Dialogue is a practice of deep listening, slowing down and connecting with others in a way that feels authentic. It helps to break down barriers we impose on ourselves as well as others, by encouraging non-judgemental, compassionate listening and self enquiry to understand the assumptions that underpin our beliefs. And it's from this place where we can explore our collective consciousness together, in a safe, non hierarchical container.

  • As someone who has never enjoyed being part of groups or discussions, it was the first time that I felt like there was space for me. Space for me to show up as me, but more importantly, space for me to speak. This was because there was a slowing down, with pauses between people speaking, not the quick fire, reactive responses that normally happen in groups. I felt we had a shared presence within the group, thanks to the pace, the silence and the level of listening that we all offered.

  • It has evolved over time. To begin with, it was being in group dialogue and settling into the discomfort of being quiet and not speaking. Something which I'd often feel ashamed of when in groups. With dialogue, silence is welcomed and allowed. I was able to take part in a dialogue without saying a word. Quite quickly I was able to drop the shame I felt around that, and it has allowed me to welcome my peace and silence, and be compassionate with myself around that. To not feel like an outsider and instead, just embrace all of our differences.

    Next, it was about learning to understand my inner felt experience. As someone who doesn't think in words or imagery, but has a rich felt experience, I often found myself feeling sensations without knowing what they mean. One valuable lesson that Jessica shared was around knowing when to use my voice. There were moments in a dialogue where my heart would start beating harder and faster, I felt agitated, sweaty palms or changing temperature. I learnt that this is when I should speak up, because it's meaningful to me and then more likely to be of value to the group as a whole. 

    As I sit in a dialogue and simply listen, there are moments when someone else seems to put words to what I'm thinking. And because of how I think (without words/images), this can feel strangely freeing, and almost like I'm expressing something, even though it's coming via another person. And in a way, to me this feels like the shared collective consciousness that we're tapping into. 

    I also value the presence of a group - the sitting in a circle, with moments of silence and stillness, it helps to ground me and connect me with myself and the world. It feels like home, even if I'm sitting with a group of strangers. I think living in a city can be so disconnecting, so I gravitate towards anything that helps to bring us back together in an authentic way. 

    Lastly, there is the value of the community that gets created by sitting in dialogue. By connecting on this deeper level, we can show up as ourselves, and be truly seen. Perhaps in ways that even those closest to us do not get to see very often. 

  • While I consider myself non-judgemental, Bohm Dialogue has been an amazing way to test and practice this, due to the diversity of minds and people that show up every time. Over time in dialogue, my internal reactions to others really dropped away, and this is directly transferable to real life - allowing me to be a more compassionate person. 

    Dialogue has also given me the space to speak up in a group, if I feel moved to. This helps me in other group situations, such as work meetings where once I may have kept quiet, but now I recognise what's happening inside to have that extra confidence to speak up and feel like what I have to share is valuable.

  • I think the first thing that comes to mind is a wave, with ups and downs. Sometimes discomfort, when you are listening to someone, what they're saying, or how they're saying it, and then sitting with that discomfort and just going through it and getting whatever learning you need to get from it. Patience and discipline to continue with the listening while I feel uncomfortable, whilst inquiring into why I feel uncomfortable. That's the lows, and then the ups - when someone articulates something that I've been feeling, and I couldn't articulate it myself or a new insight; when someone sees something in a different way that feels brilliant - it helps my thinking go forward, and some of these things then will stay with me for days, and they are so helpful. So a wave.

  • At the time it was so synchronistic, because when the very first dialogue was advertised, I was just coming out of a lot of trauma work, and one of the things that had been with me for years was social anxiety, in general, and also anxiety to express myself through speaking. If I think back to that first dialogue, wondering what it was going to be like, there was some tension. Now it's like the most natural thing in the world, although I still feel my heart racing sometimes. It was the right time for me as I was looking for an opportunity to practise speaking, but I got so much out of it because I developed listening skills as well. In terms of what has come out of my speaking skills, is speaking without the intention to convince anyone, or to be right, but just sharing what's happening in my mind.

  • At the beginning, it was the content, hearing stuff that was helpful, helping my thinking and later it dawned on me that this is a practice. This is like going to the gym. You don't expect to lift the heaviest weight the first time you're there. So you have to go and engage with it again and again and later on it became a community - a community practice - which is hard to find. At the beginning it was content and getting the opportunity to speak, and then it evolved to, as I said, practicing, and then community.

  • There is the development of qualities like patience and discipline while you're there, and the listening and speaking skills. Also, steadfastness to stand your ground and say what it is, or steadfastness to say what's happening in the process, for example, we are going too fast. Whatever it is, it takes a bit of courage to do that. Something about riding that wave, surrendering to the process. Our egos don't like surrendering, so it gives you that opportunity as well. The community of practice; that there is no need to show up in a certain way, be a certain way, it's not clicky, although there is a question about consistency and showing up in a way that you support that community. Being able to come in and step back, it's good that there's flexibility. Being able to discuss anything, it could be a societal issue, a spiritual issue, a psychological, everything comes in. I do feel that it has the potential to be a melting pot of ideas and create new meanings.

  • The qualities that I have developed in dialogue; being patient, to listen, to ride the wave, I use them in meetings, there's a lot of waves to ride there. The principles that we read out every time like suspending assumptions, trying to make assumptions explicit from being implicit, and the three principles of listening to ourselves, listening to what is being said, but listening to the group, what's happening as a process, they're just with me when I navigate communication in personal relationships, friends and family.

  • I would describe Bohm Dialogue as a very context dependent experience. I think depending on the configuration of people in a room and my own state, it can either be a very connecting experience with other people, or it can be quite a confronting inner experience, where I'm more aware of my own state in that moment. On a fundamental level, I would describe it as really connecting. I suppose you get the full range of the human experience; I can experience intense grief, or moments of joy, or deep suffering. I think sometimes things are brought into the circle that are very confronting and very challenging, and I think then the group body will regulate that, and disperse it so I think it's a very healing tool. There's so many parts of it. I think it's a good way of getting to insight and clarity, and then occasionally, there will be this flow state that happens, where you do witness an idea collectively shone on, processed, and then internalised, but I've only had that once or twice. 

  • Loneliness. I was at a point in my life where I exhausted my particular version of meaning at that time, and then I went on a bit of a journey of exploring my more sensitive emotional parts of myself. I find group context quite challenging, so it was a good way of exposing myself to that. I think I wanted to be seen. It's nice to be witnessed in those kinds of contexts. I wanted to meet new people. I think there's a like-mindedness of people that I very easily connect with - the types of people that seem to want to go to those circles.

  • I like anything that gives me access to love. I do frequently connect to that layer of experience to love. It's like sharing without needing to have a point. You can just be there and just spin-off of everyone, and stuff just comes up: it's not prescriptive. 

    I loved being seen. I felt quite wise and thoughtful, I felt myself. I think there's a layer of me that's being nurtured here, that I really like, and I wanted to keep pursuing that. 

    And then I did taste this collective thing: I was like, oh, what the f*** is that?

  • The value for me is it connects me with authenticity, vulnerability, and courage. I learn a lot. I just love the quality of that conversation and that level of sharing. It’s very rich, I can feel it now, it's very palpable. I know my intention is to commit to discerning between what is good for the group and what is good for myself.

  • I've met some very interesting people, three of whom have become friends. I think any exercise where I can challenge what we're talking about, without it being about me, I think is very good. The practice itself is just good for awareness, good for connecting to more parts of my experience, connection to self.  I think it goes hand in hand with active listening or mindfulness, these are all really similar practices. The unique thing about Bohm Dialogue is that collective experience, I don't experience that anywhere else, where the thing happens in the middle, that's the value.

  • I would describe it as a group of individuals who don't know each other, talking into the middle of the circle. There are prompts on the floor that you can use if you wish, but it's just to guide you. The idea is that we talk as a collective, share ideas, try to remove our unconscious bias, or notice it, try to acknowledge our feelings and remember that people say things based on their beliefs or curiosity. You respond if you wish, but we don't talk over each other. It's a way to learn new ideas, share how you're feeling. There's no theme, the theme comes from the collective. People have different ideas and beliefs, and we are talking for the sake of connection and understanding. Sometimes it can get heated, sometimes people can get emotional, and it's down to us to reflect on that during or after.

  • I had a mental breakdown early last year, and I was trying to find my soul, I felt like the people who hurt me took my soul with them when they said the things they did, so around that period I was going to lots of things that involved inner work, reflection, understanding of different humans, religion, chanting etc so I could find peace again and forgiveness to those people.

    I was terrified the first time I went, I was lost, scared, feeling lonely and empty, I hated everything, travelling and talking to people, being alive (sorry) at the time but I always find that anything sort of meditative or spiritual, community based etc where you can feel what you feel, and still be part of something, brings me back to myself, helps others do the same and gives me self compassion for being different and flawed.

    I felt it was helpful for the sense of community, knowing that I did something that would change my perceptions. I felt a sense of togetherness, and a reminder that we're all fallible and average, and often anxious about what people think of us. It reminded me of my humanity, my humility, and my contribution to things or to life without doing anything. That is what I believed before my breakdown, and as a mental health nurse, that we are all connected when we meet and speak to each other, and that changes the course of our lives. 

  • What brought me back was knowing that it was helpful to me in terms of getting better. Seeing the talking in a collective helps me see or think about the entire world, the universe, and encourages curiosity and reflection on my unconscious biases. It reminds me that there's not a storm in my head and body constantly, or that it's okay to have that storm in my head and body constantly if that's what I'm feeling, because lots of people do, for different reasons.

  • The value of it is a sense of spirituality and returning to myself and human connection in a really compassionate way. I think that the people who go to Bohmian dialogues tend to be open-minded people, and people who are willing to learn, or to question themselves, or to be tested. So I find that people are more readily open to share, and I can be vulnerable. I like being with strangers in a weird way, because there's no expectations of me, I can just be myself. It's when I get closer to new people, I start to get anxious. I like being vulnerable in the kind of spaces where it's okay to be, because I am quite a sensitive person in general, which is one of my strengths in my job and in general, because it means I am a good friend and I'm kind to others, knowing that life is hard.

    Practising dialogue has added value to my life by reducing my black and white thinking. It's shown me that ‘playing the devil's advocate’, isn't really playing a devil's advocate, it's just trying to see the bigger picture and understand different points of view, which is important for self-love and also important for understanding why the world is the way the world is, and knowing that we're all equal and complex in that way. The space itself, both you and the other guy who facilitate appear as though you’re kind hearted, you can feel that you’re interested in our thoughts, you allow whatever happens to happen and that translates to permission to just be, permission to have an opinion, permission to be wrong, permission to understand ourselves by ourselves, permission to have free thought, permission to take up space in a room and say nothing, permission to exist in your space and feel like I’m welcome and I belong.

  • When my mental health starts to decline, I always think about returning to Bohm Dialogue. It's very brave, because to be vulnerable in the world that is always telling us to just get on with it is a strength.

  • A dialogue is very different from a debate, or even a discussion. A small group of people, some of whom may know each other, or may not, come together. There are guidelines read out that make it clear that listening is of paramount importance here, and there is no sense of competition or trying to convince others of an opinion. 

    We begin in silence, and whoever wishes to speak can do so, addressing the whole group, not an individual. Another person may respond, probably after a pause for listening and reflecting. We don’t come to a dialogue with preformed ideas we want to express, but respond to what we hear. The course of the dialogue is unpredictable and creative.

  • There are several reasons why I was keen to experience a dialogue: I read Bohm’s ‘Wholeness and the Implicate Order’ a long time ago and felt very drawn to Bohm’s way of seeing the world. 

    I find that during a lot of so-called discussions very little listening takes place, and that it is as if people are waiting for an opportunity to express their pre-formed opinion. The ‘conversation’ rapidly becomes polarised and, I feel, completely unproductive. The focus on respectful listening, and also the dialogue as a creative process, made me want to experience the dialogue.

  • I was hoping for respectful listening, and this was indeed what I experienced. I enjoyed having the time to listen properly to what was being said, and knowing that I was being listened to. I find it hard to slow down and be entirely in the moment, and found the dialogue gave me this opportunity. It was both stimulating and relaxing, and was to me a very safe space. I enjoyed the level of trust that developed within the group, in such a short space of time. Because there is no pressure or expectation to conform, the diversity of experience in the group was allowed to be expressed. The lack of polarisation and point scoring were very refreshing.

  • As explained above, I find it valuable on a personal level as it gives me peace and relaxation. 

    In a wider context, I have long been wrestling with the question of how we can respond creatively to the many things that have gone wrong for people and planet. As Einstein said, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." I’m interested in how we can find ways to put to one side our assumptions about how the world works  - the dominant paradigm, for want of a better expression. On a small scale, the dialogue allows us to do this: to think for ourselves and respond to what others say, creating a context for new thoughts to emerge.

  • Some of this may one day become part of a book, and it’s certainly part of my ongoing exploration of how, in small ways, we can contribute to creating a better future.

  • An experiment in collective consciousness in which participants are invited to dynamically attune to self, other and world through proprioception of mind and body. A space for individual and collective dialogic communication through attentive listening and the expression of thoughts, feelings and ideas.

  • Initially to meet people to overcome increasing daytime isolation at work; to put myself in a situation where I would regularly interact with new people. But my curiosity was also drawn towards Bohm's thinking and the dialogic experience itself. I was interested in moving beyond myself and learning more about the porous space between myself and other people. I hoped Dialogue would help enable me to become a less judgemental, more receptive and patient listener. I also saw Dialogue as an opportunity to develop greater confidence in speaking publicly in a more personal way. 

  • The open and friendly atmosphere made me feel welcome - that I felt straight away. But beyond the communal pleasantries and inviting safety of the group, very quickly I saw in Dialogue the scope to develop a deep and affective practice that could compliment other emerging parts of my life - my own meditation practice, interest in psychedelics, psychotherapy, my increasing teaching roles, my interest in communication and listening. 

  • Dialogue found me at exactly the right time. It immediately made sense in the context of my own life journeying. I very quickly came to feel that it would help me grow to become a more compassionate, receptive and open-minded person. 

    I value the practice for what it offers all people, particularly in an age of increasing social isolation, political polarisation and angry opining. Bohm Dialogue suggests a revolutionary shift in our whole social being. In Dialogue we are invited to assemble together, sit in circle, slow down and listen. In our hyper-stimulated, fragmented age that is a fundamentally radically rebellious act. This profound insight, I believe, is indeed available to anyone new to Dialogue. 

    At its core I value Dialogue because it is a setting in which I'm relieved of 'the burden' of my own sense of self. This I feel only really comes with practice and patience. But it is through this effort and openness that we can, gradually, experience glimpses of a deeper, more open and relational way of being.

  • In tandem with my other pursuits, practices and interests it is, day by day, I think, I hope, helping me to be a more open, less judgemental, patient, more present, available and compassionate person. This I feel in both my personal and professional life.


    One of my musings is that the purpose of life is to realise that it is / was never meant to be about you - about me, the isolated, striving ego. We catch glimpses of this when we look up at the stars, or when random things happen that we didn't foresee, or when we experience a sense of collective effervescence, or perhaps (and most commonly) when someone is close to death - the universe so big, we, the grasping individual so small, so fragile. I think Dialogue can, under certain conditions of time and place, reveal glimpses of this profound sense of self-transcendence; the underlying fundamental, relational structure, where everyone plays their part in the cosmic order.