Workshops

Have you ever taken a moment to pause and reflect on your experiences of sharing and receiving stories? In socio-emotional learning (SEL) work, we are constantly engaging with students’ stories. Many of us need access to students’ stories in order to do our own work. Are there tools that we can use to support students in telling their stories more fully? And are you positioned to listen to their stories fully?

This highly interactive 90 minute workshop will introduce participants to one creative activity and one creative tool that have been highly effective in helping students with communication barriers enhance self-expression and socio-emotional development. Participants will walk through the activities themselves and observe how SEL support can be heightened through the use of: physical embodiment and visual images. Participants will also do a brief listening exercise to assess and self-reflect on their listening skills.

Are you ready to relearn the power of story?

This workshop will start with an overview of the core principals of the Polyvagal Theory developed by Steven Porges, PhD and how it has been expanded by Deb Dana, Licensed Clinical Social Worker. The theory creates a simple framework for understanding a three-tiered hierarchical system of nervous system responses. The Dorsal Vagal, Sympathetic, and Ventral Vagal will be explored and how they are linked to our social/emotional responses and behaviors. Participants will then map out their own unique autonomic nervous systems through a guided experience. Once completed, participants will explore what are called “glimmers” in the Polyvagal Theory, which are personalized ways of engaging the senses in some way to help shift the Sympathetic and Dorsal stages out of being triggered. Participants will then be given the opportunity through a Trauma Sensitive yoga session to directly experience their Ventral Vagal state.

This course will start by discussing some basic assumptions that are helpful in working with somatic approaches. Then a brief overview of a model of child and adolescent development will be presented along with a set of related tasks that occur over many developmental stages. We will discuss some of the associated muscles used to accomplish these stages and tasks. Some interventions are discussed that focus on sensing and using related muscles. Finally, participants will practice using somatic exercises to assist clients in managing stress energy.

Body image concerns and disordered eating behaviors are often shaped long before a person is aware of them. Families, intentionally or unintentionally, pass down beliefs, comments, and rules about food, bodies, and weight that can contribute to shame, restriction, and binge eating. This presentation explores how body shame is transmitted across generations, how it evolves through different life stages, and how it can be disrupted through intentional, weight-neutral, and compassionate interventions.

Drawing on principles from Intuitive Eating, Health at Every Size® (HAES®), and trauma-informed care, we will examine common patterns in family narratives about bodies, the psychological and relational impact of weight stigma, and the role of clinicians in helping clients rewrite these narratives. Case examples will illustrate how clients can work to heal their own body image while fostering a healthier environment for children, partners, and future generations. Attendees will leave with practical tools for clinical practice, psychoeducation strategies for families, and age-appropriate interventions to promote body respect across the lifespan.

Mental health encompasses our emotional, psychological, and social well-being, affecting how we think, feel, and act. A public-school system serves all ages and developmental levels. Therefore, the perfect environment to holistically and organically foster and implement services for social, emotional and mental health well-being. This workshop will highlight key strategies to improve and support mental health in public schools, organized by prevention, intervention, and systematic approaches. Participants will explore practical examples of how these strategies can be integrated into daily school routines, staff collaboration, and student support systems. Attendees will leave with actionable insights to enhance the overall climate and culture of their educational settings.

Immigrant and refugee families often arrive carrying the invisible weight of trauma, displacement, and cultural transition—yet their stories are also filled with courage, adaptation, and hope. This keynote reframes the immigrant mental health narrative from one of survival to one of resilience and thriving. Through compelling storytelling, clinical insight, and community-centered wisdom, Intisar Hussein, MSW, LICSW, explores how practitioners can integrate trauma-informed and culturally grounded approaches to better serve immigrant and refugee clients.

Participants will learn how to recognize and build upon the inherent strengths of immigrant families, navigate the impact of acculturation and intergenerational tension, and foster healing that honors identity and belonging. This workshop invites social workers and clinicians to move beyond Western-centric models toward practices rooted in equity, cultural humility, and community resilience—empowering families not just to survive, but to thrive.

This 90-minute workshop integrates research on the science of awe (Keltner), the A.W.E. method (Amster & Eagle), and yoga’s eight limbs alongside trauma-informed clinical practices. Participants will explore how yoga therapy, mindfulness micropractices, and nature-based approaches can enhance mental health outcomes and client resilience.

Participants will learn how awe experiences, yoga practices, and nature immersion intersect to support nervous system regulation, foster resilience, and expand clients’ experiences in the healing process with top-down and bottom-up processing through mind-body integration of psychophysiological approaches. Emphasis will be placed on microdosing mindfulness techniques, accessible yoga interventions, and outdoor or nature-informed practices that can be adapted to diverse clinical settings.

Many people carry grief that isn’t tied to death, such as the loss of identity, relationships, culture, or safety. This workshop explores how non-death grief presents across our lifespans and offers strategies to recognize, validate, and integrate invisible grief into culturally responsive, anti-oppressive mental health practices. This 90-minute workshop explores the concept of invisible grief, with a focus on ambiguous loss, disenfranchised grief, and identity-based grief across the lifespan. Participants will learn how these grief experiences show up across childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and elderhood and how to recognize them in populations that are often excluded from dominant narratives of loss and healing.

This workshop offers mental health professionals an in-depth and immersive experience exploring the integration of expressive arts and somatic therapy techniques in trauma work with Queer clients. Framed through harm reduction, body liberation, and intersectional theory, this session blends clinical theory with experiential learning to support culturally responsive, trauma-informed care. Attendees gain critical insights into how intergenerational trauma, embodied memory, and systemic oppression uniquely impact Queer individuals, and how creative, body-centered interventions can foster healing, resilience, and authentic identity expression. Techniques such as process painting, sensory art directives, and circular breathwork allow participants to directly engage with therapeutic tools that promote both emotional processing and nervous system regulation.

Structured to build skills and awareness progressively, the workshop begins with foundational concepts before moving into hands-on practices and group reflection. Topics include the neuroscience of trauma, epigenetic influences on Queer identity, harm reduction strategies, and the role of internalized oppression in body narratives. Through interactive discussions, experiential art-making, and somatic grounding exercises, clinicians learn to navigate transference dynamics, support clients in reclaiming embodied narratives, and challenge systems of power and privilege within therapeutic settings. By centering anti-oppressive frameworks and client-centered care, this workshop empowers practitioners to integrate expressive and somatic approaches into diverse clinical contexts, advancing equity, affirmation, and liberation for Queer communities.

Music and sound hold the power for transforming trauma to reach places words cannot. This interactive presentation introduces participants to the principles of trauma informed care, alongside powerful music-based activities that help promote safety, emotional regulation, connection and creativity. Attendees will leave with a toolkit of evidence-based, adaptable strategies and creative expression techniques that help support states of health, well-being and empowerment for working with people across the lifespan.