Last week I was in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina at the Art of Living Retreat Center, training therapists in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). They came from over 30 different states—Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Florida, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington—I’d sit down at dinner, and join a conversation in which a therapist was sharing how she used her therapy training on the mules she raises back in Oklahoma.

“Mules don’t forget,” she said. “So you need to be very careful with how you approach them.”

At another table, a therapist who works with incarcerated clients told me about her three cats, and how she uses what she knows about trauma when the older ones gang up on the little one.

Regardless of where you come from, or what you face on a daily basis, most of us have a genuine concern for others and a longing to be cared for. In my book Wise Effort, I write about the six core human yearnings identified by ACT founder Steven Hayes:

1. Connect with others. We yearn for belonging and understanding; for meaningful relationships, intimacy, and inclusion; to........

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