Two Years of Dąbrowski Center
Two Years of Dąbrowski Center
Looking ahead to our third year of service
Dear Subscribers,
Today, we’re celebrating a milestone—it’s been two years since the Dąbrowski Center was founded on February 2, 2022.
It occurred to me this week that our Substack Subscribers may not be aware of the Dąbrowski Center as the foundation for our work here on Positive Disintegration.
In my post Tribute to Frank and Preview to NAGC, I mentioned that we can thank Dr. Frank Falk for helping me figure out that I needed to create a nonprofit organization to support work on the theory of positive disintegration.
The urgency to found the Center began at NAGC 2021, several months after that first conversation with Frank. The podcast had launched a few weeks before, and it became clear that the theory mattered to a broader community that I’d only been vaguely aware of.
At NAGC, I presented the Distinguishing Science from Pseudoscience session, attempting to resolve some of the controversies around OEs in gifted education. Throughout the conference, people approached me and thanked me for my work. I heard the same sentiment repeatedly: the theory of positive disintegration is important, and the gifted community needs this information.
We also started receiving messages from people all over the world who were listening to the podcast and resonating with what we were saying. People were also asking for help and resources, which has increased exponentially since then.
There was another important conversation with Frank after NAGC 2021. We had been working together for four years at the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development, where I had the chance to learn not only from Frank but also from Dr. Linda Silverman and everyone at the Gifted Development Center here in Colorado. Was I ready to leave that organization and create one on my own?
Frank encouraged me to go for it. He said it was time to establish a place dedicated to the theory that would rest on the archive I’d been building for years and the work I’d already been doing.
Conversations with Frank, as well as with Michael Piechowski, Bill Tillier, Emma, friends, and family, helped me find a path forward, starting with the name.
What would this new organization be called?
Michael and my friend Jon were both helpful while brainstorming names. Michael suggested that calling it an “institute” or including words such as “authentic” seemed pretentious. He suggested using “Center, Nexus, Hub, or Network,” which better described what I was trying to establish.
When I told Jon I liked “Dąbrowski Center” for the name, he agreed and said, “It has a friendly openness about it.” That’s what I was hoping for. The organization needed to feel approachable, as one of our main objectives would be community-building.
When we founded the Center, the board of directors included me as President, Tina Harlow as Secretary, and my husband Jason Wells as Treasurer. One year later, Emma Nicholson joined the board as Vice President.
After I filed the articles of incorporation two years ago, Tina drove down from her home in the mountains, and we had dinner together before reviewing the paperwork and signing the new bylaws.
Next, we applied for 501(c)(3) status as a non-profit organization, which was approved on April 15, 2022. If you’d like to see our first annual report, which details our activities in 2022, click here. The 2023 annual report will be available on the website as soon as it’s been approved by the Board of Directors.
It feels like the past two years have flown by. Our programs through year two have included the podcast, the Positive Disintegration Study Group, consulting services, and the archive. Only a small fraction of our archive materials are available on the Center’s website, but it will continue growing.
Celebrating two years of sharing the theory with the world in multiple ways, including here on Substack, feels good. But this is only the beginning.
Plans for 2024
We’re hosting the 16th International Dąbrowski Congress later this year, and registration will open in February. If you submitted a proposal, you can expect to hear from us within the next week. We’re glad to say there were so many proposals we had to be selective. Thank you, all!
Aside from the Congress, we have other goals this year. We’re developing a Dąbrowski 101 video that will serve as an accessible introduction to the theory and an online course about TPD that will be available for laypeople and professionals.
A small group of us have started working together to create a program for people interested in guiding others through positive disintegration. This will be for folks who have personal experience with positive disintegration and want to learn how to help others using the TPD lens and framework.
If you’re a therapist or coach who’s been wanting to integrate the theory into your practice, this is for you! But it will also be for parents, partners, and others who want to support loved ones through the process of positive disintegration as an alternative to the pathology paradigm.
It’s a program that requires substantial work, and I cannot do it alone. We must hire grant-writing help. We’re launching a fundraising campaign today to make our dreams a reality. Please consider contributing to our fundraiser if you have the resources and desire to help us reach our goal. If you prefer to use Venmo or send a check in the mail, that information is available on our donation page.1
We are deeply grateful for your support and look forward to getting to know you better in 2024. Thank you for being part of our community!
Warmest regards,
Dr. Chris Wells, on behalf of the Dąbrowski Center Team
Our mailing address is: Dabrowski Center, 9615 E County Line Rd, Suite B-628, Centennial, CO 80112. Thanks to our 501(c)(3) non-profit status, donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law [in the United States]. Our Tax ID number is 87-4818928. Please consult your tax advisor or the IRS to determine the deductibility of your donation based on your individual circumstances.