Integrative Health Studies

After 17 years leading CIIS' Integrative Health Studies program, professor Meg Jordan steps back from a career that helped create the profession of health and wellness coaching.

Megan Lipsett, chair of CIIS’ M.A. in Integrative Health Studies, explains how the program trains practitioners to address health as a whole-person, systems-oriented endeavor.

Tantra and Yoga are practices rooted in Indic spiritual traditions that share long, intertwined and complex histories. Often, we encounter tantra and yoga as forms of exercise, self-care, sex, or as pathways to personal wellness. However, these powerful, multifaceted practices are much more than that.

In this episode, Dr. Anna Corwin, Chair of the CIIS Women’s Spirituality Program facilitates an illuminating conversation between Dr. Sundari Johansen, Assistant Professor of Women’s Spirituality, and Anjali Rao, yoga practitioner-educator and author of Yoga as Embodied Resistance.

This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at California Institute of Integral Studies on October 16th, 2025. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Marine Corps veteran Bre Butler discovered a path to healing and transformation through CIIS' Integrative Health Studies program after five years of active duty service.

When we understand and engage with our dreams we can tap into a special, deeper kind of healing. The process of healing is not about putting the same pieces back together, rather it is about reclaiming what is already within us that could not be broken—the essence of who we are as individuals and as interconnected parts of a greater whole.

In this episode, author and health and wellness practitioner Kathleen Webster O'Malley shares her practices of using our dreams to heal unwanted patterns and live more authentically. She is joined in conversation by mindfulness, trauma and racial healing leader Jenée Johnson.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on November 3rd, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

The contemporary definition of a “good” or “healthy” body has been centuries in the making, but as eating disorder specialist and storyteller Jessica Wilson writes in her recent book It’s Always Been Ours, “the pure, moral, rule-abiding body has never, ever, been a Black woman’s.”

Every day, Jessica sees how the pressure to conform to white supremacist ideals of health and beauty constrict and harm women of color. As a registered dietitian specializing in eating disorders, as a social justice activist, and as a woman with multiple marginalized identities, Jessica’s goal is to end this harm.

In this episode, CIIS Dean of Faculty Development, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at CIIS Danielle Drake has a conversation with Jessica that challenges us to rethink the politics of body liberation by centering the bodies of Black women in our cultural discussions of self-image, food, health, and wellness.

This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at California Institute of Integral Studies on March 8th, 2023. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Integrative physician, author, and activist Tanmeet Sethi’s work focuses on shifting our nervous system and biochemistry into a form of joy at the cellular level. Dr. Sethi has worked globally and locally on the frontlines with the most marginalized communities, as well as with victims of school shootings, survivors of hurricanes, and citizens impacted by police violence. She shares her methods and lessons learned in her recent book Joy Is My Justice.

In this episode, Dr. Sethi is joined by licensed marriage and family therapist Anjuli Sherin for a conversation about rediscovering joy and how to reframe joy as an act of resistance to reclaim resilience and sense of purpose as a unique human right.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on May 2, 2023. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Author, creative, host, and self-proclaimed "pleasure doula" Sara Elise is on a quest to examine the ingredients of our lives—those essential components that make up our days—in support of systemic transformation and radical change. Sara’s work, and latest book, A Recipe for More, offer a profound and challenging inquiry into the forces that keep us in a state of survival and limitation, asking us to consider a new way to live. 

In this episode, Sara is joined in conversation with Meckell Milburn, founder of the holistic wellness organization, Revolutionary Healing, and an Integrative Health Practitioner. Sara and Meckell explore the ideas of abundance, pleasure, and self-expansion by examining our connection to concepts like self-inflicted suffering, toxic positivity, rest, rage, visibility, and agency and share ways of bringing the ingredients of abundance to our own lives.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on May 11, 2023. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Healing doesn’t happen in isolation, and one of the best ways to move past individual trauma is through connection and community—healing ourselves and one another.

In this episode, wellness coach and licensed therapist Minaa B. is joined by trauma and racial healing leader Jenée Johnson in an inspiring and practical conversation on the power of collective healing in moving past trauma and adversity.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on September 14th, 2023. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

The seasons and cycles of nature have incredible power to affect everything in our lives—including our creativity. Author and poet Jacqueline Suskin’s latest book, A Year in Practice, is a seasonal guide for creative seekers offering holistic practices to find clarity, activate hope, and honor nature all year long.

In this episode, Jacqueline is joined by expressive arts therapist and CIIS Counseling Psychology program professor Jenna Robinson in a conversation about how to explore and fortify your creative practice by accessing guidance provided by the rhythms of nature.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on January 31, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

African-centered scholars often point to mindfulness and meditation as important practices for those of African ancestry to tend to their inner landscapes and heal from the harm of systemic and internalized oppression.

For Jenée Johnson, the Founder and Curator of The Right Within Experience, a mindfulness immersion program for people of African ancestry, mindfulness is a tool to cultivate a liberatory lifestyle of joy and well-being. These are the human rights and exalted emotions that are eroded in Black lives through consistent exposure to the trauma of racism.

In this episode, Jenée is joined by filmmaker and activist Shakti Butler for a powerful conversation exploring mindfulness as a tool for Black Americans to reclaim joy, self-love, and well-being.

This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at California Institute of Integral Studies on February 2, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? For far too many of us, we have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic and damaging pace. In this world, rest, in its simplest form, becomes an act of resistance and a reclaiming of power because it asserts our most basic humanity.

Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop is an artist, theologian, and the founder of The Nap Ministry, an organization that examines rest as a form of resistance by curating sacred spaces for the community to rest through Collective Napping Experiences, immersive workshops, and performance art installations. Tricia’s work is rooted in spiritual energy and centered in Black liberation, womanism, somatics, and Afrofuturism.

In this episode, Tricia is joined in a conversation with Damali Robertson on the liberating power of rest, daydreaming, and naps as the foundation of healing and justice. Sharing insights from her latest book, Rest Is Resistance, Tricia casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 20th, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Chef extraordinaire and popular TV host Martin Yan has spent decades promoting Chinese and pan-Asian cuisines on his popular TV show Yan Can Cook. Passionate about cooking as well as its benefits for health and wellbeing, Chef Yan is known world-wide for celebrating Chinese and Asian cuisines and cultures, encouraging home cooks to explore these important and delicious foodways.

In this episode, clinical medical anthropologist and Integrative Health Studies Professor Dr. Meg Jordan joins Chef Yan for an entertaining and illuminating conversation and cooking demonstration exploring Traditional Chinese Medicine, food, and wellbeing.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on January 12, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Born in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, mindfulness teacher Sister Dang Nghiem (Sister D) is an inspiration for anyone who has ever suffered from abuse, life-changing loss, severe illness, or the aftermath of war. Her work brings together her experience as a survivor, certified MD, and ordained Buddhist teacher to offer a body-based, practical approach to healing from life’s most difficult and painful experiences.

In this episode, CIIS Integrative Health Studies Professor Megan Lipsett talks with Sister D about her life, her work, and her newest book to learn how the practice of mindfulness can help us access our strength as survivors and tap into the joy of being alive.

This episode contains mentions of abuse, trauma, and violence. It includes a brief guided meditation lead by Sister D. It was recorded during a live online event on January 21, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In her work, racial justice educator Rachel Ricketts has developed heart-centered and mindfulness-based practices to dismantle white supremacy by addressing anti-racism from a comprehensive, intersectional, and spiritually aligned perspective.

In this episode, A-Ian Holt, director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford joins Rachel for a conversation about her latest book, Do Better, an actionable guidebook and a loving, assertive call to do the deep—and often uncomfortable—inner work that precipitates much-needed external and global change.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 18, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

There’s much more to astrology than weekly horoscopes, personality types, and predictions for the future. For astrologer and transformational coach Jennifer Racioppi, it is a guide to living in sync with the natural rhythms of the universe to achieve optimal health and success.

In this episode, Jennifer is joined in conversation with meditation guide and author Rebekah “Bex” Borucki. They discuss Jenifer's book, Cosmic Health, and explore how living in sync with the natural universe and understanding the connection between astrology, health, and evidence-based personal development practices, can support optimal health and personal transformation.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 24, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Empaths not only sense other people’s emotions, but also absorb them—sometimes to their disadvantage, often leading to overwhelming sensory overload and feelings of confusion or low self-esteem. Their willingness to help and please others might make them prey to opportunists or cause them to give away more energy than they can afford.

But international speaker, cancer survivor, and author Anita Moorjani argues that it’s possible to turn this onslaught of emotional burden into a powerful tool. In a time when traits like sensitivity, kindness, and compassion are sorely undervalued, Anita helps empaths navigate obstacles they may face and identify what makes them unique.

In this episode, May Elawar, CIIS Professor in Women’s Spirituality, talks with Anita about her latest book, Sensitive Is the New Strong, as well as her life and work teaching others to harness and foster their empathic gifts in today’s difficult, fear-based world.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 17, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In a society where unconscious bias, microaggressions, institutionalized racism, and systemic injustices are deeply ingrained, healing is an ongoing process. Author, meditation teacher, and law professor Rhonda Magee teaches that in order to have the difficult conversations required for working toward racial justice, inner work is essential.

In this episode, Damali Robertson has a conversation with Rhonda about her life and work, as well as her latest book, The Inner Work of Racial Justice, in which Rhonda shares ways mindfulness can heal ourselves, and transform our communities.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on September 22nd, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Experienced mindfulness teacher Kaira Jewel Lingo provides accessible advice on navigating difficult times of transition by drawing on Buddhist teachings on impermanence to help us establish equanimity and resilience.

In this episode, CIIS Integrative Health Studies Professor Megan Lipsett talks with Kaira Jewel about her teaching and her latest book, We Were Made for These Times, which offers teaching on meditation and a step-by-step process to nurture deeper freedom and stability in daily life.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 28th, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In this conversation with CIIS Counseling Psychology program Professor Rachael Vaughan, award-winning neuroscientist Matthew Walker reveals his groundbreaking exploration of sleep, explaining how we can harness its transformative power to change our lives for the better.

This episode was originally recorded live with an in-person audience on October 9th, 2017. A transcript is available below.

The Enneagram is a personality typing system with ancient symbolic origins that has a sneaky way of revealing who we are and why we do the things we do.

In this episode, wellness coach Kayleigh Martin talks with author Hannah Paasch about the benefits of learning our personality traits and her book Millenneagram —a revamped approach to the Enneagram that gives us permission to be our truest, enough-as-is, bad-ass selves. 

A transcript is available below. You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Chef Nik Sharma talks with Richard Buggs to share the stories and recipes that have shaped his life and work. This conversation was part of The Haresh & Joan Shah Lecture & Performance Series.

This episode was recorded during an event on December 4, 2018 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California. A transcript is available below.

How can we be more mindful when our world seems broken beyond repair? Tim Desmond—esteemed Buddhist scholar and lecturer on Psychology at Yale Medical School—has fresh, engaging answers to this important question.

Integrative Health Studies expert Megan Lipsett joins Tim for a conversation about his approach to mindfulness practices designed for surviving the sometimes-miserable world we currently live in.

This episode contains explicit language and was recorded during an event on October 17, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California. A transcript is available below.

In these pandemic times, and times of racial justice uprising and reckoning, the failure of U.S. and global health care systems to meet human need or to even ensure the basic safety of health care providers continues to be revealed. How did we get here?

In this episode, CIIS faculty and multi-sector social justice organizer Mordecai Ettinger offers an exploration of the hidden history of white supremacy and colonization embedded in the Medical Industrial Complex (MIC)—a web of institutions—from hospitals, dialysis centers, and nursing homes, to health insurers, big pharma, and the corporate polluters that they are entangled with.

Mordecai addresses the myriad ways in which the MIC generates, perpetuates, and upholds ableism—particularly racialized medical ableism—as among the most dangerously violent and destructive forces of our times. Finally, Mordecai offers a vision for hope, a path forward for transforming the MIC and creating alternatives for health and healing, a crucial part of humanity’s collective liberation in which we all have a role to play.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on September 30, 2020. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

As a body justice advocate and leader Dr. Joy Arlene Renee Cox believes that the spaces carved out by third-wave feminism and the fat liberation movement fail at achieving true inclusivity and intersectionality. She believes that fat Black women need to create their own safe spaces and community—instead of tirelessly working to educate, chastise, and strive against dominant groups.

Dr. Cox’s latest book, Fat Girls in Black Bodies: Creating Communities of Our Own, breaks down the myths, stereotypes, tropes, and outright lies we’ve been sold about race, body size, belonging, and health.

In this episode, educator and sexologist Bianca I. Laureano talks with Dr. Cox about rejecting the myths and lies that hold back fat Black women, and ways for their communities to flourish.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 7, 2020. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Alumna Kevonya Elzia tells CIIS about her journey from the Integrative Health Studies and Transformative Leadership programs to being a community health nurse and health, equity and justice facilitator.

Fariha Róisín is a multidisciplinary artist and author who was born in Ontario, Canada and raised in Sydney, Australia. She is now based in Los Angeles, CA. As a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, she is interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being. Fariha’s latest book Who Is Wellness For? explores the ways in which the progressive health industry has appropriated and commodified global healing traditions. She reveals how wellness culture has become a luxury good built on the wisdom of Black, brown, and Indigenous people while both ignoring and excluding them.

In this episode, Fariha is joined by CIIS Associate Professor of Anthropology and Social Change Targol Mesbah in an engaging conversation that explores the commodification and appropriation of wellness through the lens of social justice and provides resources to help anyone participate in self-care regardless of race, identity, socioeconomic status, or able-bodiedness.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on July 13th, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Do you fear that growing old means being trapped in a body filled with aches, pains, and losses? Many of us do—especially women. Though our youth-obsessed society is partly to blame, psychologist Susan Sands explains there is a deeper and unrecognized factor—we have never really gotten to know our bodies, to sense and feel our bodies from the inside out.

In her latest book, The Inside Story, she offers a much-needed guide for helping us understand, befriend, and support our bodies as we grow older. In this episode, Dr. Sands is joined by Integrative Health Studies Professor Meg Jordan for a conversation exploring how the powerful tools of embodiment can help you experience aging as a vital, optimistic, and transformative journey.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on April 27th, 2022. Access the transcript below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Spiritual teacher and international bestselling author Deepak Chopra believes there is an inner path to prosperity and wealth that—once charted and explored—offers access to the great riches of the universe and life’s unbounded possibilities. In his latest book Abundance: The Inner Path to Wealth, Deepak illuminates this road to success and wholeness, sharing a guide to a life of true power, prosperity, and plenty.

In this episode, Integrative Health Studies Professor Meg Jordan joins Deepak for a conversation exploring how to tap into a deeper sense of awareness to become an agent of change in your own life.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 17th, 2022. Access the transcript below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Finding your center when the going gets rough

Dr. Meg Jordan's new book arrives with a next-generational roadmap for addressing diversity equity, and inclusivity

In this episode, addiction expert Gabor Maté is joined in conversation with CIIS Chief of Staff and licensed clinical psychologist Richard Buggs to discuss his groundbreaking work on trauma and the mind/body connection.

This episode was recorded during an event on March 8, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Chair of the Integrative Health Program, Meg Jordan, describes her experience as an early COVID-19 testing clinician and vaccine administrator

As social distancing becomes a new way of life, connecting with friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors can be difficult and stressful. Suddenly we find ourselves in a new social landscape at a time when we need our communities most. Many are experiencing feelings of isolation and depression. All over the world, from balcony sing-alongs to Zoom graduation parties, people are finding new ways to connect to each other. What does this new normal mean for our mental health? How can we cultivate, maintain, and grow our relationships in these difficult times?

In this episode, Professor of Expressive Arts Therapy and Expressive Arts Coaching and Community Building and therapist Christine Brooks and author of Millenneagram Hannah Paasch explore human connection in COVID-19 and beyond. They talk about connection at this time, drawing upon knowledge of the enneagram and other tools for understanding yourself and those around you.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on June 11, 2020. You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In this episode, world-renowned meditation teacher and New York Times bestselling author Sharon Salzberg is joined by AI scientist and contemplative teacher Nikki Mirghafori in a conversation on cultivating resilience, compassion, and clarity during difficult times.

This episode was recorded during an event on February 8, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Modern technology has, and continues to transform the ways we grow, prepare, distribute, eat, and think about our food.

In this episode, food journalist Larissa Zimberoff and social sciences professor Julie Guthman share insights into food culture and examine the trends and technologies that are transforming the world of food. Is the future of food looking bleak or better than ever?

This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during an event on June 14, 2017 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Suzy Ross is an assistant professor and coordinator of recreation therapy and complementary and alternative medicine at San Jose State University, California.

In this episode, psychologist Richard Buggs talks with Dr. Ross about finding our path in life, journeys of personal transformation, and her book The Map to Wholeness.

This episode was recorded during an event on April 2, 2020 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Elizabeth Markle is a clinical psychologist turned radical community health innovator who brings decades of intentional community experience to her re-visioning of healthcare.

In this episode, health coach Susanna Merlo talks with Dr. Markle about her journey launching her community and “behavioral pharmacy”, Open Source Wellness, and her vision for the transformation of our nation’s clinical and social systems.

This episode was recorded during an event on February 27, 2020 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

In this episode, Marina Gorbis, Executive Director of the Institute for the Future, talks with internet pioneer and renowned filmmaker Tiffany Shlain about her strategy for living in our 24/7 world: turning off all screens for 24 hours each week.

She and her family call it “Technology Shabbat” or “Living 24/6”. Over the past decade, this weekly practice has completely changed their lives—giving them more time, productivity, connection, and presence.

This episode was recorded during an event on December 5, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

 Consider Play, Improvisation, or Learning Something Entirely New

Author and Professor of Psychology at CIIS, Dr. Brant Cortright, talks about his work at the cutting edge of neuroscience, clinical psychology, and brain health.

This episode was recorded during an event on October 15, 2015 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

In this episode, clinical neuropsychologist Mario Martinez is joined by Natalie Metz to discuss his research on aging and longevity.

This episode was recorded during an event on October 26, 2018 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

In this episode, improviser and writer Marlee Grace talks with Julia Plevin, the creator of Forest Bathing Club about Marlee’s book: How To Not Always Be Working.

This episode was recorded during an event on October 25, 2018 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

The CIIS Alumni Office hosted two events focused on the difficult subject of death—and how facing death can enrich your life.

Alternative medicine pioneer Deepak Chopra explores the question of how consciousness conceives and constructs the physical universe.

This episode was recorded during an event on September 28, 2016 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

In this episode, Integrative Health Studies Professor Meg Jordan explores some of the most compelling new ideas in health from the world of science that are shaking up our notions of how to recover from trauma and illness. This talk was part of the Big Ideas at CIIS series.

This episode was recorded during an event on September 29, 2016 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Author and physician Gabor Maté is joined in conversation by CIIS Professor Meg Jordan to explore his life and work in trauma and addiction.

This episode was recorded during an event on April 7, 2017 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

In this episode, CIIS faculty Christine Brooks examines how nurturing our social networks increases our health and wellbeing. This talk was part of the Big Ideas at CIIS series.

This episode was recorded during an event on June 7, 2017 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

In this episode integrative health pioneer Deepak Chopra explores practical ways to experience higher consciousness, transformation, and healing.

This episode was recorded during an event on February 15, 2018 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Created by Integrative Health Studies program faculty and staff, the guide helps patients and health coaches understand the complex world of alternative medicine.

The National Wellness Institute recognized Dr. Jordan's contributions to the field of wellness 

CIIS Presents a Reverse Hackathon

Integrative Health Studies alum Laura Matteliano is having an impact on the world by using her skills to help others

A CIIS Integrative Health Studies M.A. grad explains how to nourish your microbiome with gut-friendly, plant-based foods.

The Integrative Health grad talks about creating positive change in the world and her work with the San Francisco Giants

Collaborative CIIS Research Project Helps Local Seniors

Sarah DeVincenzi, Integrative Health Studies graduate, describes how her degree led her to leadership opportunities

Dr. Elizabeth Markle's Nonprofit Addresses Need for New Support Systems in Healthcare

Alumna Preeti Rao and Professor Meg Jordan help introduce health coaching in India

CIIS graduate Preeti Rao and Professor Meg Jordan introduce health coaching in India

Ian's utter unconventionality opens the door to creativity by its very presence

Integrative health is an individualized model of promoting wellness that uses evidence-based strategies to reduce disease risk by adjusting lifestyle behaviors.

A study reveals the benefit of mindfulness to reduce the stress of dieters

This certificate is ideal for graduate students and any individual interested in transformative, guided imagery practices for mental and physical health.

Experts from multiple backgrounds in the Symposium explored solutions to the rising tide of violence facing our country.