A somatic approach to dealing with trauma and finding resilience in our bodies.

Unfortunately we are ALL affected by trauma in some way. Whether we have experienced trauma ourselves, or work with people that have experienced trauma, these workshops strive to remove the stigma and shame  that keeps us from addressing and healing from abnormal situations that our bodies are reacting normally to.

Building trauma awareness helps us to heal  and fully be present in our work without burning out or suffering from compassion fatigue. Together we can survive and thrive!

Foundational Workshop

Re-Thinking Trauma

Re-Thinking trauma looks at the mechanics of our nervous system to better understand how trauma affects us and what we can do to take care of ourselves and each other. Material is all basic and no prior knowledge of trauma is needed.

The topics that are covered are: 

  • The definition of trauma and its various forms

  • How the body reacts to trauma

  • Flashbacks and triggering (what happens in our brain when we have a trauma response)

  • Practical ways to cope and deal with trauma

  • Building resiliency and collective care in our communities

Workshops are relevant for:

  • People working in high trauma environments

  • Case managers

  • Human Rights Activists

  • Researchers

  • Teachers

  • Or anyone that wants to learn more about trauma reactions!

After this training participants will understand how the body and brain react to trauma focusing on how trauma is held in the body particularly in the nervous system response. Participants will also learn how to promote resiliency and healing in themselves and their communities. This workshop is three hours in length.

Rethinking Trauma is the basic workshop for trauma awareness. After participants have taken this workshop they can take other workshops that go more in depth on these topics and will be offered when there are 10 or more participants.

*Workshops are based on the STAR  (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience) model from Eastern Mennonite University that is a internationally recognized as trauma education tool and the groundbreaking work of Peter Levine and his modality of Somatic Experiencing.

Other Workshops that I offer :

Trauma Informed Care- Putting trauma Awarness into Practice

After participants become aware of trauma and how it affects their community and themselves they can apply their knowledge to change policies and practices in their organizations and communities. Many people want to practice trauma informed care but don't know where to start or they may be dwelling on the “What’s happened to you” instead of “How can I help you thrive and heal using the wisdom of your body” Many people are trauma aware but not trauma informed or their focus is on the problem and not on the solutions. These workshops help to fix that.

Topics included are : 

  • Brief review on definitions of trauma and trauma reactions

  • Definitions and principles of trauma informed care-and how we can move to a healing centered model focusing on resilience.

  • How to practically incorporate these principles into concrete policies and practices

  • Crafting an implementation plan for specific workplace or organizational situations

At the end of the workshop participants will understand the principles of being trauma informed and healing centered and be able to apply them to policies and practices where they work, and have an implementation plan of how they are going to do it. This workshop is two hours in length.

Preventing Compassion Fatigue

Many people in helping professions are suffering from compassion fatigue (also known as secondary trauma) and might not even know it! Symptoms of compassion fatigue are very similar to adverse trauma reactions and in some severe cases can be the same as PTSD. Workplaces need a way to recognize and deal with this if they want their workers to live healthy and happy lives just like we want our clients to. This workshops helps give people tools to recognize compassion fatigue and have resources to deal with it. 

Topics included are:

  • Overview of secondary trauma and how it affects the workplace and individuals

  • Specific reactions that come with helping professions

  • Tools to minimize , recognize and help individuals with compassion fatigue

After this workshop participants will have a clear understanding of what compassion fatigue is, what reactions to look for and how they can help minimize and prevent compassion fatigue in themselves and others and create a self-care plan that recognizes trauma reactions and triggers.

This workshop is three hours in length.

 If you are interested in doing this workshop with your group or business please contact me for a consultation.