Purpose and Mission Statement
The Control Research Foundation Fund was established in 2004 with one overarching purpose: To promote education and further research and understanding regarding the positive and healthy uses of human control and self-control for individuals, families, societies and planetary health and well-being.
The main goal of the fund is educational. It is based on the belief that control issues are intimately intertwined in all of our lives, and that to reflect on these issues can be healthy no matter what the setting: psychotherapy, education, or daily life. This fund is intended to facilitate further research and teaching focused on the principles and practice of control theory and Control Therapy (CT) – to help individuals gain a positive sense of control in their lives.. Individuals can learn about their “Control Profile” through the Shapiro Control Index (SCI)—their sense of control, modes of control, agency of control—and recognize when “control issues” may be occurring in their lives. Then, they can evaluate where they are and create a vision of where they would like to be. Finally, they can utilize the teachings of CT to help gain, regain, and maintain a positive sense of control in their lives. The principles and practices of control theory and CT also have application to “control issues” that may occur in families, between different groups/societies (including in the political sphere, as studied by political scientists and other scholars), among religious/spiritual traditions, and in planetary healing and well-being, generating important questions that can be explored through research and that will lead to evidence-based answers.
The fund provides grants for research, curricular development and teaching, and writing (release time) as described in the appropriate sections.
The Control Research Foundation Fund is housed in and administered by the Orange County Community Foundation. The donors of the fund are Deane and Johanna Shapiro.