Today’s episode focuses on building strong, compassionate and healthy communities and we are joined by Shannon Desilets, NH program director of the Choose Love Movement.
Following the tragic Sandy Hook shooting, Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse was killed, established the Choose Love Movement. The initiative encourages kindness, compassion, and respect as a means to prevent future violence. In 2018, Governor Sununu launched Choose Love as a statewide initiative in New Hampshire, making it a key component of the state’s proactive prevention efforts. Shannon Desilets has been actively working with schools, communities, and even correctional facilities to promote the movement’s principles. The program follows the Choose Love Formula: courage, gratitude, forgiveness and compassion-in-action. Each component is woven into educational lessons to foster character development and emotional intelligence.
In 2018, Governor Sununu appointed Shannon to lead Choose Love in New Hampshire, making it the first state to adopt the program on a statewide level. The curriculum integrates mindfulness, neuroscience, and positive psychology to help individuals manage adversity. Shannon relates these teachings to post-COVID challenges, emphasizing the importance of resilience and emotional regulation. She highlights that violence often follows a predictable path, beginning with grievances that escalate into attacks. Traditional school security measures address violence at the final stage, but Choose Love works at the root by preventing grievances from escalating in the first place.
The Choose Love program is freely available online at chooselovemovement.org and includes programs ranging from prenatal to grade 12, as well as programs for caregivers and correctional facilities. Shannon explains that the most effective implementations of the program involve full-school participation. Ideally, the program should be integrated into every school year so that students continually build emotional intelligence and resilience. The conversation shifts to the importance of emotional regulation. Choose Love helps create a calm, regulated nervous system, enabling students to develop reasoning, logic, and emotional stability. Shannon also underscores the critical role of human connection in fostering well-being. Schools serve as environments where children spend significant time outside of their immediate families, making it essential to create meaningful relationships with teachers and peers.
While much attention is given to PTSD, less focus is placed on Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG)—the ability to grow psychologically after experiencing trauma. PTG leads to increased resilience, a deeper appreciation for life, and a renewed sense of purpose. In closing, Shannon shares her personal journey with PTG. After a traumatic experience, she pursued certification as a holistic health coach and ultimately found her calling in Choose Love. The conversation concludes with a call to action: rather than reacting to negative events after they occur, society must focus on addressing root causes proactively.
