Trainings & Education

This workshop serves as an introduction to the spectrum of sexual violence, its nuanced impacts on the body, mind and spirit and how to integrate trauma-informed/trauma-inclusive approaches and techniques into the care and services you provide to this population. We will tailor this workshop to the given modality or area of service of that you provide, as well as accommodate central questions, concerns and specific areas you would like to explore based on the unique needs of your organization/group. Ample time will be allotted for questions and discussion.

In addition to demystifying the work of supporting survivors of sexual violence, our team of healing arts practitioners share their insights and offer recommendations and techniques for modifying the delivery of a given modality in order to optimize the healing benefits for the survivors you serve. This workshop will provide your group with the skills, sensitivity and confidence to provide survivor-centered, trauma-informed care to the clients you work with, ultimately creating the necessary physical and emotional safety to promote a survivor’s innate capacity to heal.

The workshop will be specifically designed to meet the unique needs of your practice and can serve a range of fields including yoga instructors, medical professionals, social workers, bodyworkers, psychotherapists, and more.

This multifaceted workshop explores innovative practices in sexual violence recovery from various lenses, including; a survivor’s testimonial on the value of utilizing holistic healing resources, a panel interview with a team of trauma-informed, healing arts practitioners, and insights as to how to successfully integrate the healing arts within existing advocacy response systems.

This workshop explores the benefits of integrating the practice of yoga into a survivor’s healing process to holistically address the impact of sexual violence on their mind, body and spirit – and to facilitate deep and sustainable healing. The facilitator shares insights gained as a survivor navigating the ongoing healing journey “on the mat” as well as her experiences teaching yoga for survivors, relates what current trauma research tells us about bringing the body into the foreground of the healing process, and provides participants with a clear understanding of trauma-informed yoga and how it can create optimal conditions for embodiment, safety and healing. Yoga techniques including movement, breathing exercises, and meditation will be introduced within the workshop. Please note: physical participation is optional as participants can visualize the practices and receive similar benefit.

Embody to Empower explores the importance of embodied healing for survivors of sexual violence utilizing holistic healing arts that address the impacts of trauma on the mind, body and soul. Our founder shares insights gained as a sexual assault and rape survivor, her experiences working as a medical/legal advocate, her trauma training as a Somatic Experiencing practitioner, and her research on the use of alternative healing arts for sexual assault survivors. This unique combination of personal, academic, and professional experience is the catalyst for our mission to connect survivors of sexual violence with trauma-informed, sliding-scale, holistic healing arts practitioners.

The workshop covers the impacts of sexual trauma on the mind, body, and soul, examines research from experts in the field of trauma healing and what survivors report about their journey to recover, and how sexual assault survivors are identifying creative and innovative ways to transform the wounds of trauma and also, the world around them. Recognizing that healing is an ongoing, lifelong process for some, healing practices that can sustain survivors long beyond the immediate crisis of trauma are centered in this discussion as well as a discussion around the multiple, intersecting barriers to care.

In order to give participants an experiential understanding of embodied healing the workshop includes opportunities for participants to practice subtle, yet powerful, techniques such as breathing exercises, meditation and mindful movement, followed by time to reflect on those techniques through writing. All movement, breath and meditation techniques are optional and modifications will be offered.

In this interactive panel discussion, you will learn the nuances of how sexual violence impacts the body, mind and spirit and how specific healing arts modalities can uniquely facilitate personalized and sustainable healing. Healing arts practitioners will share their insights from working with survivors and offer recommendations on how to modify the delivery of their given modality in order to enhance physical and emotional safety for survivors and ultimately, to promote a survivor’s innate capacity to heal. Importantly, time will be allotted for participants to directly ask questions to the panelists that may be specific to their personal experience or professional practice.