As healing professionals, we are called upon to be present for our clients as compassionate witnesses. Our offices and our bodies become a container for our clients’ trauma stories as well as our own vicarious and personal trauma narratives. Learning to listen and tune into our bodies can help us develop the quality of presence our clients seek as well as cope with everyday life, chronic stress, and vicarious trauma.
In this interactive training we will:
- Develop and deepen an understanding of the body’s stress and relaxation responses
- Discuss what contemplative practices are (largely known in the Midwest as mindfulness practices)
- Learn how to use contemplative practices, at home and in the office, as a vehicle for self-care & coping
- Practice some of these traditions together in community with other helping professionals