The Center on Trauma and Adversity’s “Expanding the Toolkit: Trauma-Informed Practice Institute” is back with a keynote lineup and accessible virtual format. Held Tuesday, Oct. 5, through Friday, Oct. 8, it will be a powerful week of learning, growing and connecting, led by dynamic and passionate speakers.
The focus of this year’s institute is on healing from the inside out. Four nationally renowned keynote speakers will focus on the role of the nervous system in healing from individual, intergenerational and collective trauma. Following each keynote, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in facilitated discussion, hear from panelists or engage in self-care offerings.
The goal of the institute is to provide resources and information to:
- Promote a more resilient, interdisciplinary network of practitioners;
- Enhance interprofessional collaboration and connectedness among a network of transdisciplinary professionals providing trauma-informed care; and
- Improve the quality of care for individuals, families and communities experiencing trauma and adversity.
The Trauma Center will offer a limited number of scholarships to cover the cost of registration for individuals who want to attend, but may find the registration fees prohibitive. To apply, email TraumaCenter@case.edu, subject line: “Institute Scholarship,” and include a few short sentences regarding why you would like to participate in the Institute. Scholarship applications will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling basis.
Keynote speakers
Kai Cheng Thom is a somatically trained coach, consultant and conflict resolution practitioner working at the intersection of mind, body and collective soul. She is also an internationally published, award-winning author and the developer of the Loving Justice methodology. Grounded in the neuroscience of trauma as well as over a decade of experience in mental health and community organizing practice, Thom will provide participants with a politicized lens for understanding embodiment as trauma-informed practice as well as several practical frameworks and strategies for developing dual awareness and collective liberation in the context of service provision. Thom will also provide a brief introduction to her Loving Justice model, a spiritual and somatic lens on conflict resolution and trauma.
Mariel Buque is a Columbia University-trained licensed psychologist, holistic mental health expert, and sound bath meditation healer. Her work centers on helping people heal through holistic mental wellness practices and on healing wounds of intergenerational trauma. She also focuses on delivering healing and anti-racism lessons and workshops, as she believes in the liberation of our minds and of oppressive systems as necessary qualities of our overall wellness. Buque will be speaking about the neurobiology of intergenerational trauma and collective stress, how to identify and cope with burnout and how to access ancestral wisdom. Buque will share the importance of prioritizing joy and engage participants in experiential practices to promote a settled and resourced nervous system.
Bruce Perry is the principal of the Neurosequential Network, senior fellow of The ChildTrauma Academy and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University and La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. His work on the impact of abuse, neglect and trauma on the developing brain has impacted clinical practice, programs and policy across the world. Perry is also a distinguished author; he co-wrote, with Maia Szalavitz, the best-selling book The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog. Perry’s most recent book, What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, was released in 2021. Perry will be speaking about the integration of principles of developmental neuroscience into clinical practice with traumatized children and families. He will also provide an overview of his Neurosequential Model, a developmentally sensitive, neurobiology-informed approach to clinical work, education and caregiving, and sport.
Shawn Ginwright is one of the nation’s leading innovators, provocateurs and thought leaders on African-American youth, youth activism and youth development. He is professor of education in the Africana studies department and a senior research associate at San Francisco State University. His research examines the ways in which youth in urban communities navigate through the constraints of poverty and struggle to create equality and justice in their schools and communities. Ginwright is the founder and chief executive officer of Flourish Agenda, Inc., a national nonprofit consulting firm, whose mission is to design strategies that unlock the power of healing and engage youth of color and adult allies in transforming their schools and communities. Ginwright will be speaking about Healing Centered Engagement as the future of healing and a necessary next step beyond trauma-informed care that uses an asset-based, culture- and identity-informed framework to promote well-being.