New Program Helps YSPH Students Learn to Listen With Compassion

What began as a conversation about the need for more people to listen with compassion and empathy in a conflict-driven world is now a part of the Yale School of Public Health’s annual student orientation program.

Compassionate Dialogue was introduced this year as a mandatory part of the August orientation for incoming students. This session on active listening, based on Indigenous practices, is part of a larger effort at Yale University to infuse Compassionate Dialogue into YSPH’s culture and help make students feel more comfortable – to make them feel that they belong.

Susan Nappi, executive director of the YSPH Office of Public Health Practice (OPHP) and one of the initiators of the program, believes YSPH’s orientation component is the first such program implemented at a public health school. She was delighted that it was a success.

In a post-orientation survey, in which 51 of the over 150 students responded, nearly all students (99%) said the session was either very or somewhat helpful and informative.

“Sometimes the simplest interventions are the most effective,” said Nappi, MPH ’01 (chronic disease epidemiology). “We wanted to begin as we mean to continue, so orientation was an excellent starting point for this effort. I am grateful to Randi for her willingness to scale up this session to serve all of our incoming students.”

“I believe the skill of listening to each other is essential – even when perspectives are different – because it allows us to get to the heart of what unites us: our values,” said Randi McCray, associate director of the YSPH Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

“Everyone wants a society in which they can be included, respected, and honored in their full humanity. However, the different perspectives on how we can achieve this vision are often what divides us in our approaches,” she added. “Listening is more than hearing. Listening with compassion allows [people to hold on to their] values while allowing space for the values of others. Without listening, we cannot find common ground or a path forward.”

Nappi said the seed from which this idea grew was a conversation with Dr. Gregg Gonsalves, PhD ’17, BS ’11, associate professor of epidemiology (microbial diseases).

“Gregg was talking to some of us about the communication challenges surrounding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” she said. It resonated with what she was hearing from students as well and set her thinking about how to hold paradox and support reaching common ground in the current polarizing climate by listening to another’s position and concerns with compassion and empathy.

When McCray joined YSPH in March, and Nappi told her of her desire to implement a conflict-navigation program, McCray suggested adding the Compassionate Dialogue element to orientation.

McCray and Nappi said Compassionate Dialogue is rooted in the Indigenous practice of dialogue circles, which allow people to engage in an experience where everyone is treated equally and with respect. In the Indigenous tradition, dialogue circles are a way of life, embracing a philosophy that embodies holding spaces for diverse perspectives and practicing values that extend beyond the physical participation of the circle.

McCray said Indigenous groups and tribes of the African diaspora have long used these traditions as a way to move through conflict. First Nations members in Canada began teaching the circle practice to non-Native people in the early 1990s, and it’s currently used in professional, educational, and community spaces. The circles have become a tenet of restorative practices within the educational and criminal justice systems, she said, and have generated transformative relationships across differing perspectives and positions of perceived and inherited power.

“The Indigenous pathway honors the cultural contributions of Native American groups with these practices as a way of life,” McCray explained. “It feels inauthentic as a DEIB [diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging] practitioner not to bring these practices into our work when there is an opportunity. It is mainly because it uplifts the gifts these cultures have for us when it seems that we cannot stay in relationships and communities across different perspectives.”

Initially, McCray wasn’t sure Compassionate Dialogue would work in such a large setting as student orientation, with more than 150 students taking part. However, 21 people from across the university, 15 of them from YSPH, volunteered to be facilitators. They were trained ahead of time over three sessions by McCray, based on a facilitation guide she compiled with input from OPHP. At orientation, students were placed in manageable groups of 8-10 for a 90-minute Compassionate Dialogue gathering.

The program proved to be a positive learning experience for facilitators and students alike.

“It was great to be in a small group and have deeper conversations with the new students,” said Kelly Shay, senior associate director of the YSPH Career Management Center. “I loved being part of this, to get to know some of the new students and help create a sense of community at YSPH, which is in my opinion one of the best things about YSPH. These types of discussions can only improve that sense of community here.”

The challenges, she said, involved getting students to open up.

“Sometimes they can be quite talkative and sometimes they are not,” she said. “For one or two of the questions, it was hard to get a lot of in-depth discussion going when the students were reluctant to speak up. You had to be okay with pauses and silence. That is an important part of the process and one that, as a facilitator, I learned to embrace.”

Another facilitator, Dr. Brandon Nappi, D.Min, M.Div ’01, executive director of leadership programs at the Yale Divinity School (and the husband of Susan Nappi), said students told him that Compassionate Dialogue was the highlight of their orientation. They were able, he said, to discuss a wide variety of topics – from professional interests to career opportunities to concerns about persistent health disparities and questions about their own self-care.

“Our small group unfolded with energy and ease,” he said. “Students were thankful for a supportive forum to be in conversation with each other about issues – both personal and global – that brought them to Yale. The small-group structure with facilitated dialogue created space for the salient hopes and concerns of student life.”

Two of the students who participated shared their experiences – also positive – as well.

Antigone Antonakakis, MPH ’26 (health care management), went into the session not knowing what to expect. She hoped she would connect with peers and gain a tangible skill but was concerned that she wouldn’t be able to contribute meaningfully to the conversation. Her worries proved to be unfounded.

“We surpassed my expectations and engaged in meaningful dialogue,” she said.

“As future health professionals,” she added, “we will often find ourselves in spaces where it is essential to step back, evaluate critical issues, and, most importantly, show compassion to those we work with. This experience not only pushed me to reflect on my personal motivations for entering the field, but also allowed me to listen to the stories of my peers.”

Grace Williams, MPH ’26 (health policy, global concentration), also didn’t know what to expect from her Compassionate Dialogue group. “I was hoping to enter a conversation that was free of judgment and filled with respect,” she said, recounting her experience. At first, she was apprehensive, because the conversation not only covered public health matters, but was also personal, “which can be scary when you’re talking to 10 people you just met,” she said. But in reality, she said, it was “incredibly easy.”

“Everyone diligently listened to each person's response to the question and did not immediately give feedback, which is an automatic reaction for most people in a conversation,” Williams added. “At the end of our session, we reflected on what we learned by this practice. I realized I loved having a conversation where I didn't immediately have to give my thoughts as a response but could instead listen and think about what is said. And I knew other people were truly listening to me without judgement, but instead with curiosity.”

Williams said her group has formed a group chat as a result of the experience and has since met again to discuss their classes, stresses, and life in general. They also discuss how Compassionate Dialogue should be implemented more frequently in their scholastic and daily lives.

“I loved this because I feel like I am a part of a smaller community within YSPH outside of my department, as well as having a YSPH community member [Susan Nappi] who still reaches out to us to ask how we are all doing,” she said.

Susan Nappi said the hope is now to build on the success of this introduction and flesh out additional opportunities for training and support.

“We are fortunate to have a supportive wellness counselor, Diane Frankel-Gramelis, and other individuals across YSPH who embody these practices,” she said. “By developing a systems approach – including institutionalizing our ways of being, providing teaching supports, and offering ongoing opportunities to practice – we hope to embed these approaches to conflict and dialogue into the very ethos of our school. Plans are under way to develop more opportunities for training.”