Our Approach
What are we not seeing?
A meeting goes quiet. You find yourself saying yes again. An idea has nowhere to land. The first explanation might be convincing. It might not be the whole story. We look at the experience, the relationships and the conditions around it—and where something different might become possible.
What happens when you ask a different question?
A situation can invite more than one interpretation. Explore three imagined examples to see how another question could change what you notice—and what you might try next.
LOOK AGAIN / THREE IMAGINED SITUATIONS
01 / At work
A team rarely speaks up when decisions are made.
“They're disengaged. They need more confidence.”
Who sets the agenda? Which questions feel risky? Who gets interrupted? Is the decision already made before the meeting?
Another move: Test a different meeting structure, invite input before decisions and observe whether participation changes.
02 / In personal life
You find yourself saying yes again, although you want to say no.
“I just need to be more assertive.”
What has refusal meant in this relationship? What expectations, consequences or past experiences make saying no difficult? What choices are within reach?
Another move: Explore the meaning and conditions of the decision before choosing a response that is yours.
03 / A new possibility
You have an idea that matters, but it never finds a place.
“I don't have the time, resources or confidence.”
What can already be used differently? Which relationships or skills could combine? Could a smaller test reveal something useful before a bigger commitment?
Another move: Try one proportionate, low-cost experiment and learn from what happens.
These are imagined situations, not diagnoses, client case studies or guaranteed explanations. Your own circumstances determine which questions matter.
What you see is part of the story.
A response, a silence, a decision or a moment of possibility happens within a wider picture. Which relationships, expectations, histories and conditions might actually matter here? We don't assume every factor carries equal weight.
A WIDER FIELD OF ATTENTION
Not a diagnostic score or a claim that every factor causes a particular outcome. A way of asking better questions.
THE WIDER PICTURE
Notice the relationships before choosing the intervention.
The apparent issue may be real, but incomplete. We look at what is happening and what surrounds it—without making an individual responsible for conditions they cannot control, or overlooking choices they can make.
- Personal experience remains central.
- Culture, power and context are visible.
- Relevant questions guide the next step.
Same people. Different arrangement.
Consider an imagined team where people rarely challenge a decision. Training people to speak up might help. But who sets the agenda? Is disagreement welcomed? Could another meeting structure make room for different contributions? Change something proportionately, then find out what actually happens.
SAME PEOPLE · DIFFERENT ARRANGEMENT
THE CURRENT ARRANGEMENT
One voice sets the terms.
The format may be shaping who feels able to contribute.
ONE POSSIBILITY TO TEST
Make room before deciding.
Agree how views are gathered, test the change and check what happens.
An illustrative comparison, not an actual client result. Another meeting design may not resolve the issue; what happens next is evidence to learn from.
THE WIDER PICTURE
Who gets to define the problem?
Identity, culture and power are not footnotes to human experience. Histories, relationships and institutions can shape which explanations feel believable, whose knowledge counts and who is expected to adapt.
Looking more completely doesn't remove responsibility. It helps locate it more accurately—and see which changes are within reach.
What has been taken for granted?
Whose experience is missing?
What is this arrangement producing?
What could we test or change?
THE PERSON BEHIND THE PERSPECTIVE
More than one discipline. One human perspective.
Jarell Bempong brings together psychotherapy, counselling, transformational coaching, writing, speaking and facilitation. His work is informed by cultural consciousness, lived experience across Britain and Ghana, and sustained attention to identity, belonging, power and the systems around us.
His book, White Talking Therapy Can't Think in Black!, explores cultural assumptions in mental healthcare. Across personal and organisational work, the questions change with the setting. The depth of attention does not.
The work is grounded in lived experience, professional practice and a willingness to question what is usually left unquestioned.
Read about the founder ↗THE INTELLIGENCE BENEATH THE WORK
Look at what connects. Change what matters. Learn from reality.
Jarell calls the deliberate examination and reconfiguration of conditions around a desired result Configuration Intelligence™. It is an underlying methodology informing the perspective—not a third service pathway or a treatment you have to learn before using a service.
Psychotherapy, counselling, coaching, speaking and organisational facilitation remain distinct kinds of professional work, with their own purposes and boundaries.
Explore the full nine-stage sequence ↓
- Desired Result: Define the actual state you want to achieve.
- Form: See what is present before interpreting it.
- Function: Ask what each part is actually doing.
- System: Notice relationships, dependencies, flows and constraints.
- Configuration: Consider how the arrangement could be different.
- Intervention: Choose a proportionate action or test.
- Feedback: Observe what happens rather than assuming.
- Reconfiguration: Update the arrangement in response to reality.
- Result: Assess what has changed against the desired outcome.
This explains the methodology, not a promise of clinical efficacy or guaranteed organisational outcomes. Changes are assessed through appropriate feedback and evidence.
What people notice about the approach
“The cultural connection provides shared understanding that adds depth to every recommendation.”
— Public review of Jarell’s earlier psychotherapy practice