Journey from the Edge
How survival adaptations form, what they cost over time, and how a person gets back the ability to choose. It lays out the framework behind the Four Pillars.
Visit Journey from the EdgePart of The Founded Project
Rooted Reclaimers is the first stage of a larger project
For many people, Rooted Reclaimers is the first part of Dr. Stephen Thompson's work they use. It covers Reclamation, the first of five stages The Founded Project lays out for moving from survival to a life you govern yourself.
You can stay with Rooted Reclaimers for as long as it helps. When you have a new question, this page shows where in The Founded Project to look for an answer.
The five stages
Reclamation comes first
The Founded Project describes five stages. Your current situation usually decides which stage fits, and most people start with Reclamation, because each later stage asks you to make deliberate choices while under stress.
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Reclamation
Learn how the survival adaptations that kept you going work, and start making choices alongside them.
You are here -
Agency
Build the practiced capacity to shape your life on purpose inside the conditions you actually live in.
The Founded Project -
Governance
Set up a clear way to make decisions about your values, relationships, time, and money.
The Founded App -
Discernment
Learn to check claims and arguments before you act on them, even when the information around you is noisy.
RhetoricalPoints -
Contribution
Use the capacity you've built in your family, community, work, and civic life.
GroundedVote
Start with your question
Pick the question closest to yours
Each part of The Founded Project answers a different question.
- "Why can't I relax, even when everything seems fine?" Rooted ReclaimersStart here on Rooted Reclaimers
- "How do I regain control over my life?" The Founded AppExplore personal governance
- "How do I know whether a claim is true?" RhetoricalPointsSee arguments scored live
- "How can I make a more grounded civic decision?" GroundedVoteCheck your civic alignment
- "How should a teenager learn to govern their own life?" Founded EmergingExplore the youth program
- "Can Dr. Thompson work with our organization?" Speaking and consultingStart a conversation
- "I want to read more of Dr. Thompson's thinking." The weekly listJoin the weekly email
The full map
Every part of The Founded Project
The books, tools, communities, and services share one idea: the people under the most pressure should get the most carefully built tools.
Books
P/AIRS Bodywork
A practitioner manual for daily somatic work: touch, conversation, and nervous system practice for clinicians.
Follow its progress for P/AIRS BodyworkThe Founded: A Human Enterprise Project
The book behind Human Enterprise Theory, a structure for protecting the agency people reclaim.
Follow its progress for The Founded: A Human Enterprise ProjectTools and media
The Founded App
Personal governance for your life: a mission, an advisory board, a decision framework, and an evening ritual. A dedicated mobile app is in review.
Visit The Founded AppRhetoricalPoints
Live coverage of arguments. It flags manipulation in debate and scores each argument the same way, whatever its ideology.
Visit RhetoricalPointsGroundedVote
A nonpartisan civic alignment tool that shows which candidates match your positions on the issues.
Visit GroundedVoteConsider Otherwise
Public conversations about the questions The Founded Project asks, with claims checked live by RhetoricalPoints.
Coming soonCommunity and youth
Rooted Reclaimers
Trauma-informed education and daily practice across Breathe, Movement, Nutrition, and Connection.
Visit Rooted ReclaimersFounded Emerging
Human Enterprise Theory for high school and college students, with six modules on the structural tools school rarely teaches.
Visit Founded EmergingYouth AI Training
AI literacy training for young people, moving toward a nonprofit home.
Coming soonServices and store
GreyDoc Consulting
Corporate wellness, integrative health consulting, and responsible AI training for organizations facing burnout and moral distress.
Visit GreyDoc ConsultingSpeaking
Keynotes and workshops by Dr. Thompson for conferences, clinics, schools, and community groups.
Visit SpeakingThe Founded Project Store
Apparel and goods from across the ecosystem, including Rooted Reclaimers community wear.
Visit The Founded Project StoreAt your own pace
You can take as long as you need.
Rooted Reclaimers works as a complete program by itself, and you can stay as long as it helps. You can explore the rest of The Founded Project whenever you want.
Stay connected to the whole project
- The weekly list: one email a week with new writing and tools
- Dr. Thompson on Substack
- The Founded Project: the main site for every project