Just What Is Sanity Circus?

Maybe you have heard of Sanity Circus, or maybe you have joined this “circus” some time during the 25 years it has traveled from school to school in Seattle.  Thousands of parents and teachers have gone to Sanity Circus at dozens of Seattle schools.  One Green Lake parent said, “This is the best thing that has ever happened to me or my family!”  Another parent called it “the most practical, respectful, human approach that I’ve heard of yet!”  Some couples have had a standing date to go to Sanity Cir­cus for several years.

 

Just what is  Sanity Circus?  It’s a six-week traveling course for parents who want more respectful, cooperative, and, yes, more joyful relationships with children.  Its foundation is the psychology of Alfred Adler, MD.  Sanity Circus is co-sponsored by local school PTSAs and the Puget Sound Adlerian Society (PSAS).  The School-Board-recom­mended Posi­tive Discipline program for educators, now being implemented at several Seattle schools, is also Adlerian based.   

PTSAs or school administrators in Seattle are welcome to inquire about hosting Sanity Circus.  The Horizons Foundation has provided funding for 2007-08 for Sanity Circus courses in English and/or Spanish.  Please call PSAS at 206-527-2566. 

Many parenting courses in this country and elsewhere are based on Adlerian Psychology.  Alfred Adler had an optimistic con­cept of human nature, believing that mutually respectful relationships are essential for individual and community well-being, and that the skills and attitudes for such relationships are teachable and learnable.  He said that we all need a sense of belong­ing and significance to be healthy in mind and body and for communities to be peaceful and productive. 

Before the second world war, at 32 child guidance centers at schools in Vienna, Adler helped parents and teachers learn to encourage this sense of belonging in their families and students--until the Austrian Fascists shut the centers down.  Adler then continued his teaching in the United States and elsewhere.  His student and colleague Rudolf Dreikurs, MD, also left Vienna and helped spread Adlerian concepts in the US and around the world.  Bob Bradbury, the first Sanity Circus pre­senter (now retired), was a student of Dreikurs in Chicago.  For several years, Stephanie Cross has been presenting Sanity Circus.  Sahara Pirie has also presented, using a experiential format.  Anita Morales has taught San­ity Circus in Spanish. 

At Sanity Circus, Stephanie, Sahara, and Anita give lively pres­entations on parenting styles, the goals of misbehav­ior, encouragement, communication, family meetings, and the difference between discipline and punishment.  Their  evalua­tions glow!

Family meetings are the heart of Adlerian parenting.  Family meetings provide a process for encouraging family members, planning family fun, choosing chores, and finding solutions to such difficulties as bedtime hassles or undone chores.  A similar class meeting process helps students learn and regularly practice the same skills of cooperation and problem-solving.  Family meetings and class meetings are excellent preparation for partici­pating in a democratic com­munity—at home, at school, at work, in marriage, in friendship, and as a citizen.

During each series, books and other materials from the PSAS library and bookstore are available to borrow or purchase.  The book Positive Discipline, by Jane Nelsen, or her Positive Discipline for Teenagers, are recommended reading.  A condensed version of Bob Bradbury’s Sanity Circus is available on video. 

Children and youth without a good sense of belonging and significance are at risk for drug and alcohol use, gang activity, depression, violence, and suicide.  Sanity Circus can help—and then some.  One parent wrote years later, “It changed our lives!”

 

Puget Sound Adlerian Society

PSAS is a nonprofit educational organization offering support to people who are inter­ested in learning the skills and attitudes of mutual respect.  We offer various continuing education opportunities for parents and parenting instructors, educators, counselors, therapists, social workers, and school counselors.  We also publish a quarterly, The Parenting Calendar, a listing of parenting courses and support groups spon­sored by many agencies in the central Puget Sound area.  For further informa­tion, please see our Web site, www.psasadler.org, call us at 206-527-2566, or e-mail  us at psas@att.net.