INI Group

Gentle Teachings

INI Group, LLC firmly believes that building and developing quality relationships between team members and the people we support is what makes our services so successful. We believe that success is only possible when an individual has a circle of supports and meaningful relationships that help them navigate the more difficult aspects of their day-to-day life.

 At the core of all services provided by INI Group are the 6 Elements. All team members have a deep understanding of the six elements and how they help create a culture of gentleness throughout our organization and in the individual’s lives.

These Six Elements are SAFE and LOVED,  POSITIVE INTERACTIONS and DEMANDS, STRUCTURE, and TRANSITIONS.

The first element is SAFE. Our goal is to make all our consumers feel Safe in the presence of our team members. Most of the people we support have had negative life experiences that contribute to feeling unsafe when it comes to relationships with others. Many of them have been neglected or abused their entire lives, so the feeling of “Safe” is something that is very strange to them. It is our job to show them they are safe with us, through gentle words and actions we are able to demonstrate that they will no longer be abused by anyone. With time, we are able to see the real person hiding behind the years of emotional and physical neglect, and the result we see is a bright and outgoing new person. Safe is the first element as it the first step in building and developing quality relationships.

It is our goal to assure each person we support feels LOVED/VALUED regardless of his or her social challenges and behaviors. We understand that their behaviors are results of them feeling unloved and neglected. In addition to feeling safe, we want the individual to feel an unconditional love/valued from our team members, only then will they be able to open up show who they really are. If it is true for us it is true for the person we support.   As with helping someone feel safe, our goal is to help create meaningful relationships were everyone involved feels valued.  

POSITIVE INTERACTIONS between consumers and team members are key to developing a deep and meaningful relationships were the consumers feel safe and valued. Team members are taught to always use their tools (eyes, hands, words, presence) in a positive uplifting manner. Helping others feel uplifted through the intentional interactions is very important to creating a culture of gentleness.  Most of the people we support have experienced far more demands throughout their lives when compared to positive interactions.  Sometimes a team member’s good intention could be seen as demanding and forceful. Adjusting our interactions to communicate less demand while unconditionally loving/valuing the person remains our main focus.  The relationship between Positive Interactions and helping someone feel Safe and Loved/Valued is emphasized throughout all aspects of our day-to-day operations.  Increasing Positive Interactions and lowering demands is the key to success.

We are able to handle the DEMANDS of life when we have a suitable circle of support and quality relationships. When there is a lack of deep meaningful relationships, every day interactions can become overwhelming and perceived by consumers as demanding. Demands can be defined as anything that creates an unsafe feeling for the person we support. For some individuals it can be a loud noise or lack of attention and for others an almost inaudible sound coming from the lights above.  We can determine what a demand is for each individual based on their responses. Our goal is to reduce the demands we place on people; we would like to have a ratio of 5 positive interactions for every 1 demand that we place on the person we support. This way we can build strong relationships that are based on feelings of love/value.

It is very important for everyone to have STRUCTURE in their lives. Knowing what to expect next makes us all feel safe. There are many ways we keep structure in our lives, most people use calendars, their phones, to-do lists and electronic reminders. At INI Group we understand the importance of creating a structure in the lives of the people we support. The level of structure we must create depends on each individual’s needs. The use of picture schedules so the consumer knows which staff is coming and going, the use of picture calendars so they know what activities are planned for the week (fun activities, doctors appointments, work schedule). Knowing what is coming next helps the people we support feel safe. It also helps our team members understand the tasks and responsibilities that is expected of them during their time with each consumer. The goal of the creating a daily structure is to help us all feel safe.   

TRANSITIONS are big or small changes we experience in our day-to-day life. Big transitions we experience include starting a new job, moving out of a parent’s home, starting a new school, during these difficult transitions we typically have the support of family and friends to help us trough whenever we feel unsafe. The people we support experience the feelings of unsafe when they go trough their daily transitions that may include, shift change, doctors appointments, getting up in the morning, new staff, taking care of hygiene. It is our job to identify these transitions, which can place a lot of demands on the people we support, and provide extra support with as many positive interactions as possible to ensure that all transitions, big or small, go as smooth as possible. When dealing with more challenging transitions, it is our job to create structure to help the person have a smooth transition, this will help the person feel safe and valued throughout each transition and reinforce the culture of gentleness even through difficult times.