The Green Shoe Foundation is a

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

based in

Edmond Edmond is a given name related to Edmund. Persons named Edmond include: * Edmond Canaple (1797–1876), French politician * Edmond Chehade (born 1993), Lebanese footballer * Edmond Conn (1914–1998), American farmer, businessman, and politician ...

, Oklahoma. The foundation offers five-day retreats to help adults address past experiences, such as childhood traumas, and works to create better futures by allowing participants to live a life of peace and maturity, and by combatting social stigmas about mental health.

History

The Green Shoe Foundation was founded in October 2015 by

Chad Richison Chad Richison is an American entrepreneur who has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Paycom since its founding. A native Oklahoman, Richison began his career in sales with ADP, a global payroll provider, before moving to Colorado t ...

(founder and CEO of

Paycom Paycom Software, Inc., known simply as Paycom, is an American online payroll and human resource technology provider based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with offices throughout the United States. It is attributed with being one of the first fully on ...

). Originally based in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, it offered its first retreat in the summer of 2016. Retreats are five days long, led by professional counselors and therapists, and are for adults 21-years-old and older. In 2017, the foundation received the Dr. Murali Krishna Eliminating the Stigma Award. In 2020, Green Shoe offered free telehealth therapy sessions to medical professionals and first responders experiencing emotional trauma during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Green Shoe moved into a new 10,000 square foot facility which sits on 415 acres of land in September 2023. In eight years, over 2,000 people across 42 different states and multiple continents have participated in the program.

Process

Participants reserve their spot with a deposit. At the end of the retreat, the deposit is returned in full. In part, the retreats use Pia Mellody's work in codependency, boundaries, and the effects of childhood relational trauma on emotional development. The retreat also uses the

family systems theory The Internal Family Systems Model (IFS) is an integrative approach to individual psychotherapy developed by Richard C. Schwartz in the 1980s. It combines systems thinking with the view that the mind is made up of relatively discrete subpersonali ...

to help participants recognize patterns and cycles of behavior. This theory, developed by psychiatrist

Murray Bowen Murray Bowen (; January 31, 1913, in Waverly, Tennessee – October 9, 1990) was an American psychiatrist and a professor in psychiatry at Georgetown University. Bowen was among the pioneers of family therapy and a noted founder of systemic the ...

, states that behavioral patterns developed within relationship systems can either lead to balance or dysfunction, and recognizing these patterns and understanding their effect on current and past relationships can promote healing and healthy choices.

References

{{reflist Non-profit organizations based in Oklahoma Medical and health foundations in the United States