Rise Up from Trauma: Sessions

Join us at this year’s conference for an unparalleled opportunity to learn from leading experts in trauma recovery. Our lineup includes distinguished mental health professionals, certified trauma coaches, seasoned practitioners, and inspiring trauma survivors. They will share cutting-edge insights, innovative techniques, and personal experiences to offer hope, encouragement, and empowerment to every attendee. Explore the full agenda below (all times in EST) to discover more about our transformative sessions.

Our conference includes a combination of breakouts and workshops. A breakout is a lecture for a larger audience. A workshop is a more hands-on demonstration of a topic for a smaller audience.

Bellow you can find more details about each session. You can also see the full agenda here.

Join Alyssa to learn how to forge bonds and connection, in a way that not only helps resolve conflict, but also avoids so many potential relationship pitfalls. This session is designed to help you understand the underlying causes of ongoing conflicts and develop practical skills to foster meaningful connections with your partner, friends, or children.

You'll learn how to:
- Identify and address the root causes of conflict
- Communicate empathetically and increase the chances of connection
- Build trust and understanding in your relationships (even the short term ones!)
- Implement tools and techniques to prevent and resolve disputes

Whether you're dealing with persistent issues or seeking to enhance your relationship dynamics, this workshop provides actionable insights and strategies to bridge gaps and create lasting harmony. Don't miss this opportunity to transform your relationships and find new paths to resolution and connection

This is an innovative workshop designed to delve into the profound effects of trauma on the body's cellular structure. Unlike traditional approaches that focus solely on the psychological aspects of trauma, this workshop addresses the physiological imprints left at the cellular level, where trauma can linger and disrupt overall health.

Guests will explore how trauma is stored in the body's cells and learn practical techniques to release these deep-seated imprints. The workshop integrates the combination of art and neuroscience, trauma informed movements and relaxation techniques. By focusing on cellular health, the workshop aims to rejuvenate the body's natural healing mechanisms, promoting physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

Guests will leave with a deeper understanding of how trauma affects their bodies and are equipped with tools to support ongoing healing and transformation. "Releasing Trauma on the Cellular Level" offers a unique and powerful approach to recovery, empowering individuals to achieve holistic wellness by addressing trauma at its core.

This one-hour workshop introduces participants to the therapeutic benefits of doodling as a tool for processing and expressing grief. Participants will engage in simple, creative drawing exercises that encourage emotional exploration and self-expression without the pressure of creating "perfect" art. The workshop provides a safe space to explore grief, offering a gentle yet powerful approach to managing difficult emotions through creativity.

Materials needed:
- Plain paper or small journals for each participant
- Black markers or pens (other colors optional but encouraged)
- Optional: calming background music during doodling exercises

To introduce participants to the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model, with a focus on how it can help individuals navigate complex grief and ambiguous loss. This includes unresolved grief from missing loved ones, estranged family members, chronic illness, or cognitive conditions like dementia.

Workshop materials:
- Handout on IFS Terminology: Definitions and examples of Self, exiles, managers, and firefighters.
- Grief and Loss IFS Worksheet: Space for mapping parts that emerge around loss and grief.

In this session, we will explore why trauma survivors often hold their breath as an unconscious response to stress and emotional overwhelm. Breath-holding can develop as a protective mechanism during traumatic experiences, and over time, it can become a habitual pattern that reinforces the body's heightened state of alertness. Through a combination of scientific insights and practical strategies, we will discuss how breathwork and body-centered techniques can help trauma survivors break this cycle, regulate their nervous system, and create a sense of safety in the body. This session will offer valuable tools for practitioners and survivors alike, focused on using breath as a path to healing and emotional resilience.

In this workshop, participants will explore the connection between trauma, breath, and creative expression. Trauma often causes the body to hold tension and the breath to become shallow or restricted. Using a combination of coaching, neuroscience, and creative techniques, this session will help participants release stored emotions, reconnect with their bodies, and foster healing through the arts.

This workshop offers a safe, supportive space for trauma survivors to connect with their bodies, express their emotions creatively, and discover the healing potential of both breath and art. Open to anyone seeking to explore the intersection of creative expression and emotional healing.

Supplies needed: paper (regular or cardstock), black fine liner, medium black sharpie or acid free marker, colored pencils or crayons.

Dive deeper into the concepts introduced in the Bridging the Gap workshop with the breakout session, "Heart-to-Heart: Practicing Connection and Conflict Resolution." This interactive session offers a hands-on approach to applying the skills and techniques needed to resolve conflicts and strengthen relationships.

In this breakout, you'll engage in an interactive group coaching session, where we demonstrate and practice relationship conflict resolution strategies using YOUR real life scenarios.

Led by a practicing conflict coach, this breakout will provide practical tools and immediate practice to enhance your ability to connect and resolve conflicts with greater ease and understanding. Join us to turn theory into practice and make meaningful strides in your communication and relationship journey.

This one-hour workshop explores the science of epigenetics and the impact of generational trauma, with a focus on building resilience and promoting healing across generations. Participants will gain insights into how past experiences can shape gene expression and behavior, as well as practical strategies for fostering emotional and mental well-being to break harmful cycles.

Materials needed:
- Handouts (Breaking the Cycle worksheet, definitions, and key takeaways)
- Pens and paper for participants

In a world of increasing climate disruptions, digital overload, and social upheaval, resilience is essential for everyone. This workshop introduces an accessible 5-step framework to help everyday citizens respond thoughtfully and stay resilient in high-stress situations. Led by environmental trauma expert Erik Roberts, participants will learn how to create their own Critical Incident Impact Kit™, blending key principles of Psychological First Aid with practical tools used by trauma professionals and first responders.

By developing this toolkit, participants gain practical skills for handling the unthinkable with composure and control. This workshop is perfect for those looking to cultivate a calm, thoughtful response to crises—whether it’s a sudden emergency, environmental stress, or ongoing life uncertainty. Join us to learn this empowering, straightforward approach to personal resilience and leave equipped to support yourself and others in challenging times.

In "The Responsibility Principle," Vincent Castellanos offers a profound exploration into the interplay between resilience and responsibility, particularly through the lens of trauma recovery. This talk illuminates how childhood trauma can distort our understanding of responsibility, leading to either excessive or insufficient responsibility in adulthood. Castellanos guides us in redefining responsibility by recognizing its deep connection with resilience—an essential element for true recovery and personal growth.

By the end of this talk, you'll be inspired to embrace responsibility as a path to healing and empowerment, recognizing that true freedom from trauma begins with taking charge of your own recovery and wellbeing.

Join Vincent Castellanos on this transformative journey and discover how responsibility can become as natural and essential as breathing.

Rise Up from Trauma: Sessions

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