My passion:
Shortening the distance between people in real-time!
I began my counseling psychology training in 1996 at a mental health clinic and college counseling center before beginning a 16-year career in the Massachusetts juvenile justice system. Starting in 1997 as a therapist providing individual, group, and family counseling, I was promoted in 1999 to oversee counseling services in a hardware secure detention facility for the Commonwealth’s most challenging offenders. From 2001 to 2013 I led and managed a residential rehabilitative and reintegration program that received statewide recognition and replication. I also presented at international venues on the topics of at-risk youth and the rehabilitation and re-entry of youth in conflict with the law.
In 2012 I began writing a teen-inspired parenting and self-help book, What You Can Learn From Your Teenager: Lessons in Parenting and Personal Growth. Published in 2014, the book outlines a novel parenting approach, presenting the teenager as someone from whom parents can learn to not only improve their parenting skills but also grow individually in reaching their true potential. The EPIC Model (Explore, Play, Inspire, Connect) is a naturally occurring learning process that young people instinctively use to navigate childhood, adolescence, and young adult years. The model continues to be helpful in adulthood. It even helps organizations navigate challenges and courageously embrace growth opportunities.
The EPIC model assisted me in leaving the comforts of my job, life, hometown, and country in 2013. It helped me start anew at 40 in a foreign land and language. Furthermore, this naturally occurring development model gave me the courage to grow both personally and professionally by challenging my beliefs. It was the catalyst for starting EPIConsulting in 2018. In 2019, I began coaching youth seeking apprenticeships. In 2021, commercial modeling found me giving literal meaning to the term EPIC Model, further allowing me to work in new ways with younger people!
In sum, I enjoy facilitating processes that improve individual and group relations and collaboration across the human spectrum. Individuals and teams working with me improve vital communication and critical thinking skills. Intuition and intellect synergize. Relationships solidify. Trust builds. Engagement grows. Resilience strengthens. Productivity increases. Innovation flourishes. Complexity and uncertainty are met with resolve. A solution-focused and strength-based learning community develops.
Whether it is to streamline processes, overcome challenges, or look ahead to new opportunities, I bring over two decades worth of leadership, training, coaching, conflict management, youth work, and group facilitation experience. Additionally, I am trained in Crisis Intervention, Conflict Transformation Across Cultures, Negotiation, and Mediation. As a Conflict Alchemist and Executive Confidant, I enjoy seeing individuals, teams, and organizations resonate at higher levels, improving job satisfaction and organizational performance.
Go well, stay well,
Jean-Pierre Kallanian
B.A. International Business, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA
M.Ed. Counseling and Human Services, Lehigh University
