I recently used some of Cesar’s material in an education leadership seminar. Somehow, thinking about dogs frees people up to see the system. One of my favorite applications of Cesar’s Way is the notion of seeing the individual beyond their name. Milan says that when the dog owner is thinking of their dog as “fluffy”, its harder to see them clearly. He advocates moving from name, to “breed”. If one can see their dog as part of a breed, one has stepped back. From there one can move to “species” and even “pack” thinking.

One application is with a teenager. A parallel mental move would be from, for example, “Emily” to “Adolescent” to “Human” and finally to “Differentiating -Member-of-Human-Pack-in-Anxious-Times (When Pack Leaders Need Their Offpsring More Emotionally Than Economically). Such a move might help the parent think of a joke that Emily would actually find funny. Or to ask Emily “What the hardest thing about living with a character like me?”

Erik Thompson
President
Vermont Center for Family Studies