The Listening Tree
The Listening Tree is a subscription-based, remote, listening service that creates much-needed human connection and jobs for good listeners.
Project Description
- The Listening Tree is a subscription-based, remote, listening service built to provide much-needed, therapeutic, human connection while creating jobs for compassionate listeners who need or want to work from their homes. Your contribution will support a family and build a business that will support many other families as it grows.
- All people need an objective, compassionate person to hear and understand them in order to thrive and be healthy. As well, deeply empathetic people thrive best in their own environments and need good jobs that allow them to shine and help others without going into an office environment. The Listening Tree serves to help with both of these issues.
- The Listening Tree is a remote service that uses technology to connect good listeners all over the United States to people who need them. (English speakers only at this time. This can be easily expanded as the company grows).
- Therapists are overwhelmed and are sometimes difficult to find in remote areas of the country, yet people need to just be heard and understood. As well, compassionate people who want to help others need good job opportunities. Training is easily done and quick in order to get people to work listening to others.
- The Listening Tree seeks funding in order to build a training curriculum and market the service to a wide client base.
- Dr. Ginny Grimsley founded The Listening Tree and will be working as a listener to clients while simultaneously building the business and training curriculum. An expert in marketing will be hired immediately upon receiving funding.
- Your contribution is the beginning of a movement that can serve to unite, strengthen, and heal us as human beings in so many ways. Thank you!
Updates
The Campaign FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions about The Listening Tree:
Are You a Therapist?
No. I'm just a compassionate person who knows what it's like to be healed by someone who can just listen without judgement and with kindness and respect to what I need to say. I built this business to do that for others. IF YOU ARE IN CRISIS, I can help you find a therapist or an appropriate hotline.
Does Insurance Cover This Service?
No, sorry. Insurance doesn’t cover a lot of things that it should. :( Maybe someday! :)
How Old Do I Have to Be to Work with You?
I accept clients who are 18 and over. There might be special circumstances in which I can speak with a child younger than 18, but I would have to work with the parent as well during those sessions. A parent would need to be present at all times. We can work that out in your initial consultation.
But, children under 14 are too young for talking just yet. I can listen, though, to parents of teenagers and children who are struggling. This can sometimes do wonders for the parent’s ability to help the child. Put the mask on yourself first, right? (Airplane metaphors work).
What is your Cancellation Policy?
I would need to be notified by text or email 24 hours in advance before a cancellation. That’s just common courtesy. You will be charged a $25 fee for cancelling at the last minute (without 24 hours notice). Be good to me, please. :)
Do I get a Refund if we don’t mesh or I need to cancel for any reason?
Yes! Of course! That’s just bad karma not to do that for people.
What do you do with my information—like my email, phone/Skype ID, name, etc.?
Nothing. What information? :) No. Really. I don’t even take notes. If you don’t want to give me your name, that’s okay. Let me know what I should call you and what pronouns you prefer. I prefer she/her/hers. :)
Are you a Doctor? Why Does your Name have “PhD” behind it?
Yes, but I am a doctor of philosophy ONLY. That just means that I’ve spent a lot of time studying and reading and analyzing things. Mostly books. My degrees are all in English. Remember, I NOT A THERAPIST of any kind. I’m a listener. I’m a tree with a PhD in English. :)
Why do you have an initial consultation?
It’s important that we like and respect one another. I help people by listening without judgment. However, as a human being, I cannot tolerate working with someone who disrespects me. I can usually tell how that’s going to go in just a few minutes talking with someone. If I feel that it’s not going to go well, I can refer to you to someone who might be better suited to assist. It’s important that you feel comfortable with me, too. This initial interaction is important to us both.
What in the World Would I Even Talk about for 50 Minutes?!
It sounds like a lot, and, actually, this is one of the things that keeps people from seeking therapy. You might think you don’t have anything to say. I’ve got news! You have a LOT to talk about. Part of my work as a listener is to help you with that by giving you verbal ques that lead you to express yourself more comfortably.
We’re so used to small talk—questions like “How was your weekend?” and answering with “fine”—that we have forgotten how to talk in depth about our experiences and our thoughts because we think everyone is in such a rush, and they don’t want to hear it. This is YOUR 50 minutes to say whatever you need to say. That makes it sound easier, right? Sometimes, too, we forget that we even have thoughts because we’re so used to shutting them down. As a conscious person with a big inner life of my own, I can just ask you questions that work as prompts for you to speak your experiences. It becomes easy with a little time.
Why Don’t You Do this for Free?
The Listening Tree is my full-time job. I’m a professional listener. I am also the creator of this service, and it’s my hope that it will grow to the point that we’re all listening to each other—that we ALL have a listener. I want this business to become a huge FOREST of people listening to each other.
If you have decided to purchase this service for yourself or someone you love, then you’re also helping to start a brand new business. You’re also supporting a family—and, hopefully, many other families in the future.
The way that we work and live is just not sustainable or healthy for us or the planet. The commute, the energy that it takes to get from place to place and the isolation that has so many of us stressed, depressed and anxious: these are things that this business—and businesses like this one—can solve.
It is my goal to create a foundation from this that would allow professional listeners to donate their time to those who need it. That’s a big dream of mine.
Meanwhile, this Listening Tree is becoming “The Listening Trees.” If you’re interested in investing in this business, let’s talk about that. You can schedule a consultation with me on my website, on The Listening Tree Facebook page, or email me at [email protected].
Call Ginny and talk for 15 minutes. She will write you a custom poem by hand to show that you've been heard and to thank you for your contribution. Yours is a generous gift, and I thank you.
Just Because I Care
Call Ginny and talk for 15 minutes. She'll listen and hear you. Get a glimpse into what clients receive from this wonderful, compassionate service.
Call Ginny and talk for 30 minutes. She'll listen, hear you, and understand. Get a feeling for what this compassionate, objective service can provide for people because of your contribution.
Call Ginny and talk for a regular, 60-minute session. She will listen, hear you, and understand. Get the true experience of The Listening Tree and understand why this service is so valuable.
This generous giver will receive one month's subscription to The Listening Tree with Ginny Grimsley as your listener. This provides you with four, 50-minute listening sessions with Ginny by phone or Skype at a time that is scheduled weekly at the same time of your choosing. To thank you, you will also receive a social media shout-out from Dr. Grimsley and a handwritten poem that is customized for you by her.
This generous giver will receive two months of compassionate listening: (8, 50-minute listening sessions with Dr. Ginny Grimsley), a social media shout-out, and two custom poems handwritten by Ginny.
This generous giver receives FOUR months of The Listening Tree: 16 weekly, 50-minute listening sessions with Dr. Ginny Grimsley. Ginny will also do a social media shout-out in great thanks and write FOUR custom poems by hand for you.
If you donate to build this business just because you care about it and believe in it, I thank you deeply and send you peace, comfort, and love. It will come back to you, always, because this means that you think that we can do better and BE better through human connection that is purely about listening to one another.
It doesn't take much to change everything. THANK YOU.
If you would like a social media shout out, Ginny will do that happily.
If you choose to remain anonymous and just give, then WOW. Respect. Well, respect to ALL, but WOW. To give expecting nothing in return is the very heart of who we are as humans.
Rewards
Call Ginny and talk for 15 minutes. She will write you a custom poem by hand to show that you've been heard and to thank you for your contribution. Yours is a generous gift, and I thank you.
Just Because I Care
Call Ginny and talk for 15 minutes. She'll listen and hear you. Get a glimpse into what clients receive from this wonderful, compassionate service.
Call Ginny and talk for 30 minutes. She'll listen, hear you, and understand. Get a feeling for what this compassionate, objective service can provide for people because of your contribution.
Call Ginny and talk for a regular, 60-minute session. She will listen, hear you, and understand. Get the true experience of The Listening Tree and understand why this service is so valuable.
This generous giver will receive one month's subscription to The Listening Tree with Ginny Grimsley as your listener. This provides you with four, 50-minute listening sessions with Ginny by phone or Skype at a time that is scheduled weekly at the same time of your choosing. To thank you, you will also receive a social media shout-out from Dr. Grimsley and a handwritten poem that is customized for you by her.
This generous giver will receive two months of compassionate listening: (8, 50-minute listening sessions with Dr. Ginny Grimsley), a social media shout-out, and two custom poems handwritten by Ginny.
This generous giver receives FOUR months of The Listening Tree: 16 weekly, 50-minute listening sessions with Dr. Ginny Grimsley. Ginny will also do a social media shout-out in great thanks and write FOUR custom poems by hand for you.
If you donate to build this business just because you care about it and believe in it, I thank you deeply and send you peace, comfort, and love. It will come back to you, always, because this means that you think that we can do better and BE better through human connection that is purely about listening to one another.
It doesn't take much to change everything. THANK YOU.
If you would like a social media shout out, Ginny will do that happily.
If you choose to remain anonymous and just give, then WOW. Respect. Well, respect to ALL, but WOW. To give expecting nothing in return is the very heart of who we are as humans.