welcome to eivsom.com

Firstly, to explain the name. The EIVSOM model was something that I devised and used in the PhD research that I completed back in 2009. It then took me another eight years to write it up and do the viva (defense) and another year and a half before it was published by University College London (UCL) in 2019. It stands for Emotional Intelligence and Value Systems Observation and Monitoring (EIVSOM). Very simply (because it is), I used it to observe and monitor the emotional intelligence and value systems of the individual students, the staff, and the facility as a whole. Nothing new or groundbreaking, just a manageable way to verbalize and give some explanation to behaviors.

It is a bisecting twin axis forming broadly four quadrants of high and low emotional intelligence with positive and negative value systems. So, top right quadrant being higher levels of emotional intelligence and positive value systems and the bottom left being lower levels of emotional intelligence and negative value systems. Top left being lower levels of emotional intelligence with positive value systems and bottom right being higher levels of emotional intelligence with negative value systems. I have used this model to explain and support social and emotional behavior awareness of students, staff, parents and whole institutions for over ten years. It is my way of trying to help individuals and groups to understand their thoughts, emotions and behaviors and how to modify them to have a better day and be able to make the days of those they interact with, better as well.

And it has been from this that eivsom.com has grown. eivsom.com is the concept of a multi-national, multi-cultural and multi-lingual psychosocial support practice striving to provide education, coaching and conversation for those who are looking for help by putting them together with those who want to give that help.

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Help seekers and help givers.

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We have something to say about how we believe we are behaving individually and collectively and how we can do better more often. We want to help individuals and society, both locally and globally to be the best version of themselves that they can.

I will make a short video for those of you who would like to know more about our philosophy and the EIVSOM model at some point, but for now, for those of you so inclined, you can download my PhD from the UCL library by clicking on the link below. Or just click below that to get started and I'll send it to you and help with anything else that I can.

PhD link: Exploring the contribution of emotional intelligence and value systems to outcomes for vulnerable students in their final year of formal education in a Pupil Referral Unit setting - UCL Discovery

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eivsom.com psychosocial education, coaching and conversation

our philosophy

We believe that help can be seen on a continuum ranging from long term psychotherapy through to more proactive counseling onto coaching and education as outlined in our approach. We believe that help seekers move up and down and jump around on that continuum, so we want to offer whatever help the client needs at a particular time. We offer psychosocial support through education, coaching and conversation in house here at our eivsom.com practice, and we have psychotherapy and counseling partner practitioners who buy into our philosophy and our culture, who we are ready to recommend.

our approach

It is a very simple one: to put the right help seeker with the right help giver. We have a range of certified and qualified coaches and teachers who can offer either psychosocial support through education, where we help you learn new knowledge, skills and understanding that you can go out and use to bring about improved life experiences for you and those you care for and interact with. Psychosocial support through coaching, where you will go on the journey of working out what you already know, and the coach will walk alongside to support that discovery. (I know that it sounds a little cliche, but it works and there is so much research of historical societies having this type of help available. It is just that in our post postmodern society, it is called coaching.) We also have psychosocial support through a more conversational approach, where the help practitioner and you will talk to each other and listen to each other, in an emotionally intelligent and positive value systems driven way that uses observation and monitoring to improve the quality and outcomes of the conversation over time.

our services

We offer a range of help for individuals, families, groups and organizations who would like to do things the best that they can, conducting themselves with good levels of emotional intelligence and positive value systems in order to be both a successful and best version of themselves. We have a sliding fee scale for all clients, and we want to meet the needs of the widest cross section of society, so we offset full fee-paying clients with those who cannot afford to pay full price. Our help practitioners all work with a fee percentage going to the eivsom.com fund, ranging from 50% down to 10% for all sessions billed. This supports the effort to be able to meet with as many people as we can. We do not take insurance in the US for all the reasons that practices give, but we will work with any client to try to make the transaction possible for you to get the help you need.

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About us

We are an organization that has set itself up to be a genuine help to individuals, families and groups of people. We do not take ourselves too seriously, we know that help seeking is a difficult thing to take the first step with, however, once you make that first contact, you will become part of the eivsom community. All help givers and help seekers work together to allow people and hopefully societies be the best version of themselves.

Our aim is to put help seekers with the best help giver for their particular situation and circumstance.

All help practitioners (givers) were once help seekers and found that helping is the best form of personal growth that there is. We hope that some of the help seekers of today might become the help givers of tomorrow in the eivsom community.

frequently asked questions

Please contact us with further enquiries.

How does Dr. Robert Graves now refer to himself professionally?

A bit odd for me writing in the third person! But to answer the question as I have been asked it a few times... I believe that part of our specialism at eivsom.com is the fact that I have a somewhat broad range of experience across the helping professions that we have mentioned. I am a PhD awarded research psychologist. I am a certified coach and a qualified teacher. I am also halfway through an MS degree in clinical mental health counseling at Walden University in the US, which will lead to counseling licensure. So, I believe that these all go together for me to be able to be both an effective help practitioner and to be able to coordinate the best help with help seekers in an original way. I refer to myself as a research psychologist who follows a humanistic psychology approach and the founder of a psychosocial support practice that provides education, coaching and conversation to individuals, families and groups.

Are you a licensed clinical psychologist or counselor in the US?

No. I hold no licensure in the US.

What is the difference between a clinical and research psychologist?

For me, a clinical psychologist is someone who has been specifically trained to conduct psychological evaluations, provide therapy, and administer psychological tests. That is not what I am. As a research psychologist, I come at wellness with a research and theoretical focus of understanding behavior from a humanistic and existential stance.

Is it confidential?

Yes, just like seeing a psychotherapist or counselor. And with the same caveats.

What does eivsom.com actually work on?

In its broadest terms, we provide research and evidence based psychosocial education, coaching and conversation through an emotional intelligence and values systems framework.

Length of initial engagement programs and ongoing check-in support?

To benefit from eivsom.com psychosocial education, coaching and conversation can be achieved in as short as one session to as long as a lifetime of occasional support (recommended).

I have seen a chiropractor for years and sometimes I have needed to go every week when it has been required. And then the rest of the time, I need to go every 6 weeks or so, to keep things in alignment. That is how we see the eivsom.com approach.

Initial individual, family and group engagement programs can be set up to run over four hours (4x1hr or 2x2hr sessions), or over six hours (6x1hr or 3x2hr sessions), or over twelve hours (12x1hr or 6x2hr sessions). The more time we commit to working together, the more in depth the work can be and the more embedded the outcomes will hopefully become.

Cost?

As I have mentioned, we want to be able to provide help to as wide a cross section of society as possible. So please be in contact if you think we could help you and we will work something out. Whether you work directly with one of us, or whether we help you find some help somewhere else, please do not let money be your deciding factor.

All practitioners work at different rates, but as a guide for those of you who are able to meet our prices, the fees I charge are currently $150 per hour*, or four individual prepaid session are $140 per session ($560 total). Six sessions prepaid are $135 per session ($810 total) and 12 sessions prepaid are $125 per session ($1500 total). The more you pay up front, the more time outside of sessions I can provide as I can plan ahead. For all fees that I bill, 50% goes to the eivsom.com fund.

As founding clients, I will always honor these prices with you (except for inflationary rises), for the lifetime of our helping agreement together. I promise you that compared to the market, this is really good value for the help and support you will receive.

Group and organization rates increase dependent on size and dynamics and can be agreed dependent on requirements, however, it tends to work out more cost effective per individual and can follow essentially the same initial program format as outlined above.

*(fees paid in UK pounds and Mexico Pesos rounded up to US dollar equivalent at time of first session payment)