David Bohm & Bohm Dialogue

My practice is grounded in the dialogue work of David Bohm.

David Bohm (1917-1992) was a theoretical physicist, most known for his theory of the implicate and explicate order. In his later life he developed a philosophy of dialogue which grew out of his observation that fragmentation is one of the reasons for the many crises we face as a global society. Our societies, organisations and even ourselves are fragmented; we have lost sight of the whole and that all livings things are interconnected, interdependent and interrelated. 

As Bohm’s contemporary Einstein famously said,

“we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create it.”

This is why Bohm recognised that what we so desperately need is new thinking, and that we struggle to arrive at this new thinking because we do not create the time and space to come together and meet in a meaningful way or create the conditions in which we can allow new thinking, and thus change, to occur.

Over my time working with Bohm dialogue I have expanded David Bohm’s principles to form a comprehensive dialogue practice. These are illustrated here.

At the beginning of a dialogue I invite participants to read the below guidelines together, each person reading a line out loud. This helps further remind participants that entering into a dialogue is a different type of communication and experience than their everyday lives.

Guidelines for creating a dialogue

Be relaxed
Be non-judgemental
Be curious
Listen
A dialogue is a direct, face-to-face encounter
Dialogue is something creative
There shall be no ‘speaking at each other’
We aim to share our opinions without hostility
Can each one of us be aware of the subtle fear and pleasure sensations that ‘block’ his or her ability to listen freely
In a dialogue everybody wins; there shall be no attempt to gain points or to make your particular opinion dominate
Accept that an opinion is an assumption; it is important to see that the different opinions that you have are the result of past thought
Can each participant try to suspend their assumptions; do not judge them as good or bad
We will share our judgements and assumptions with the spirit of fellowship and trust
It isn’t necessary that everybody be convinced to have the same view
Each person shall participate; partake of the whole meaning of the group and take part
We shall test the traditional definitions of what it means to be human
We shall make something in common, by creating something new together

Source: On Dialogue, Bohm, D, 1996