Schedule

Breakout Sessions

AM Breakout A: Give Sorrow Words - Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy (Lucy McLellan)

Trauma-Informed Drama Therapy with Lucy McLellan 

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 Shakespeare tells us to, “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break.” Neurobiology, however, suggests that trauma is characterized by language loss, a speechless terror that lives on in the body, in our senses, in the relational patterns that shape us and sometimes break us. Without words, how do we make meaning of adversity? How do we speak our individual and our collective pain, for much of what we endure are cultural, intersectional hurts. Drama is inherently collaborative as an art form. The actor is always in relationship - with audience, with fellow performers, with self in role. Drama therapy as a discipline invites clients to build relational capacities, break out of limited life roles, and to develop muscles of empathy & trust, building community. From a social justice perspective, drama therapy allows for the embodiment and working through of collective hurts and to experience, in a felt sense, the culturally-informed roles that all of us perform in our daily lives. In this workshop, participants will be given a brief theoretical introduction to trauma-informed drama therapy before being guided through in an embodied process where they will experience the use of dramatic projection as a therapeutic tool, safely titrating exposure to past hurts and the possibility of voicing sorrow through metaphorical play. 

AM Breakout B: Uncovering Unconscious Dominance and Recognizing Privilege (Owen Karcher)

This workshop will help participants understand how their social conditioning has led them to internalize expectations of dominance and taught them unconscious ways to maintain their positions of privilege. Creative arts methods, as well as small and large group dialogue will be utilized to aid participants' personal and collective reflection on their collusion with systems of dominance. Participants will learn at least two ways to uncover their unconscious biases and will leave having practiced at least two methods for recognizing and naming when they have acted in a way that upholds their positions of privilege.

AM Breakout C: Overview of Community Building, (James Bartos)

In this workshop, participants will learn about Community Building Workshops and their utilization in helping to resolve trauma with residents of the Joshua Glover Residential Reentry Center operated by Wisconsin Community Services. Participants will also experience some of the characteristic dynamics of a Community Building Workshop. Community Building is an intensely personal and highly relevant experience which has been described by experts as “Trauma Informed Care in action,” the “missing link in Motivational Interviewing” and “Restorative Justice on steroids.”  Others simply call it transformative.

AM Breakout D: Advancing Compassion Resilience (Jason Mims and Sue McKenzie)

In this session, participants will 1) Explore compassion and the experience of compassion fatigue from individual and systems perspective 2) Analyze the impact of trauma on providing compassionate care and 3) Learn skills of compassion resilience

PM Breakout 1: Consent Culture (Ali Mudrow)

In this workshop participants will explore the role of consent and identity in the classroom. They will engage in theater, creative writing and critical thinking. Participants will learn about empowering their own leadership, human rights, and creating an environment that is inclusive of LGBTQ communities of color. In addition, they will have the opportunity to act out a partner game that teaches consent culture, as well as make a map of their boundaries and share them in small groups. Walking away from this work folks will have the skills to action as intersectional advocates for the rights of all people to live in dignity.

PM Breakout 2: How 2 Talk 2 Students (Jim Reif)

Theory, system, and structure are all essential to serve students of trauma; however, we often overlook the practical methods.  We focus on the why but not always the how to build relationships with students. This session will provide six practical and proven methods for talking with students in crisis or dealing with trauma.  Not all of them will work for you, but whether you are a veteran looking to add a tool to your box or brand new, you will come away with at least one technique that will help you the next time you have to step into a crisis moment.  Since traumatic events lead to damage and this session relies on real life situations with students in crisis the language will be real (PG-13).

PM Breakout 3: Triggers, Isolation, and Trauma - Gaps within the Criminal Justice System (William Singleton and James “Free” Cross)

This presentation will highlight two individuals from the Alma Center and gaps within the Criminal Justice System based on their personal stories. During William Singleton’s journey of self-discovery, he learned about trauma and how it affects an individual’s mental, emotional, and physical health. He will share how one can identify their triggers and their causes. He will also touch upon different aspects of trauma, and highlight the effects of isolation, and how it is associated with trauma. James “Free” Cross will highlight some of his negative experiences in school and how they had a profound effect on his worldview, especially how it created isolation in his life. He will further discuss how his worldview on violence shifted through people, places and environments.

PM Breakout 4: Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Body-Centered Interventions for Healing Trauma (Kristen Radtke)

This breakout session will explore the clinical applications of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and somatic therapies in healing trauma. Participants will discuss the limitations of “purely verbal” therapeutic approaches and learn how body-centered treatment models are uniquely equipped to assess, treat, and permanently resolve traumatic activation. Emphasizing hands-on skills that can be safely incorporated into practice, this workshop will provide an interactive experience that supports clinicians to learn, play with, and refine new techniques for working with trauma and the body. Participants will come away with strategies for “going beyond the narrative,” including how to track trauma indicators in a client’s body, how to formulate contact statements that invite a mindful study of the client’s embodied experience, and how to utilize “body wisdom” as a powerful resource in the treatment and resolution of trauma.