Journey of Development

The lead developer of intentional practice is Dr Ivan Raymond, supported by colleagues through multiple research and practice collaborations.

As a parent, psychologist and researcher, I have held a longstanding passion to grow the capacity of children, young people and adults to experience happiness and life satisfaction, but at the same time, engage passionately and productively with life.

During my work, I directly observed increased mental illness and complexity of problems within the community. In this journey, along colleagues, I grappled with the following question:

‘how can we make a difference in the lives of the people we support?’

This included through many roles, including wilderness therapy facilitator, mentor, youth worker, residential care worker, clinical psychologist, program developer, evaluator and trainer. Being really inspired to think about the methods of making a difference in the lives of others, through a PhD I thoroughly analysed the question, reviewed the science, and triggered the development of Intentional Practice as a ‘how to’ method to guide institutions, agencies and all supporting adults to bring focus to increasing collective capacity to thrive (or life buoyancy).

Through multiple collaborations and colleague support, this intentional method was tested and refined. The method was found to resonate with teachers, parents, semi-skilled staff, program developers, clinicians, evaluators and community personnel in a way that also enabled them to understand the ‘how to’ and empowered them to draw upon their own skills, knowledge and experience.