In the field of youth development, developing an understanding of trauma helps practitioners see, understand and assess the young people around them, and design better interventions to support them.  In this workshop, participants will begin by developing a holistic approach to mental and physical well-being, and then build a working definition of interpersonal, intergenerational, and systemic (such as racism, sexism and classism) trauma in the world around us. Holding a resilience and healing analysis, we will then unpack how the body naturally protects itself and heals itself from traumatic incidents. Through this analysis, we will be able to hold space for ourselves and others with more compassion and intelligence, to ultimately create more connected communities.

In this session, participants will:

• Develop a working definition of trauma
• Understand how trauma impacts us on a somatic level
• Learn a process to hold space for trauma (our own trauma/our young people’s trauma)
• Use a values reflection exercise as a strategy to build ones capacity to rebuild intimate connections
• Experience a group resiliency strategy