Trauma, Connection, Culture

This course is for people who work with and for communities: social-sector leaders, policy-makers, and engaged community members who want to better understand the embodied dynamics of trauma and how they live and express in their organisations, institutions, and communities. The course incorporates up-to-date scientific frameworks with experiential practice to take participants on a highly personal journey with the course content (no sitting on the sidelines!). By the end of the program, participants will have an integrated understanding of trauma, connection, as well as the role of culture, which will inform how they see the communities they relate with and reveal new intervention points for change.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The program is held across 3 non-residential sessions of 3 days each at a beautiful, nature-connected venue in-between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The venue is easily accessed by rail for those who don’t wish to drive. A nutritious vegetarian lunch is included each day (vegan options available) in the cost of the program.

Participants will be asked to complete readings and reflection questions in advance of each of the 3-day sessions, which will inform their conversations and activities.

Participants can connect with each other, as well as the course facilitator, between sessions on a dedicated MightyNetworks platform.

What you’ll learn

Participants will learn in detail about the nervous system and its role in facilitating connection, as well as the dynamics of trauma. Participants will experientially encounter their own nervous systems, and learn embodied tools for self-and-co-regulation. The group will explore how connection is either nurtured or inhibited neurobiologically by life experiences, and will look at the role our organising systems play. Historical as well as present-day intersectional influences and impacts will be considered. Participants will form sub-groups to identify intervention-points for change within their particular contexts.

The program brings together a cross-section of people. Course content and sub-group work will be shaped to support a range of interests - organisational, academic, political, and grassroots to name a few. The diversity and experience of the group will be a strong contributor to the value it brings to participants.

The course is for you if

You are curious about the dynamics of trauma and their influence on peoples’ lives and intergenerational experiences;
You are curious about the dynamics of connection, and the reparative and restorative power they hold for individuals and groups;
You are open to exploring how those dynamics - both those related to trauma, as well as connection - are anchored and expressed within your own system, in a supported and respectful environment;
You’d like to identify new intervention-points for widespread systemic change, towards a more just and joyful future for all people;

Course participation includes

3 in-person non-residential sessions of 3 days each
Ongoing connection on the course’s dedicated MightyNetworks forum
Carefully selected readings, videos, and other resources that immerse participants in key theories and best practice
Reflection questions and assigned embodied practices to integrate learning
Co-mentoring and shared strategic thinking in a sub-group

What’s asked of you

Attend sessions with an open mind, prepared to learn
Participate in experiential and embodied activities, and be ready to engage with your own patterns and histories
Respect your own limits, and exercise choice about what you engage with in the course and what you do not; and respect the limits and choices of your fellow participants
Communicate any needs, concerns, or requests openly and proactively with Madelanne and the course team
Come prepared: complete assigned readings, reflection questions, and activities before each session
Participate between sessions: on the MightyNetworks forum as well as in any sub-group sessions your group decides to hold

Course Details

Dates and times

Online orientation call: 3 - 4:30 September 27th, 2024 (time of the call may change depending on participants’ availability)

The (non-residential) sessions will take place:

Friday November 1 - Sunday November 3, 2024
Friday February 7 - Sunday February 9, 2025
Friday May 2 - Sunday May 4, 2025

Sessions start at 10am and finish at 5pm each day. Vegetarian/vegan lunches and snacks are provided.

There may be the option to stay for dinner and evening activities - these are currently being arranged and further information will be provided shortly.

Venue: Beechbrae, Beechbrae Wood, Heights Rd, Blackridge, West Lothian, EH48 3SW

Registration Deadline: September 20th, 2024

Cost

If your organisation is paying for your participation: £1650

If you are well-employed and paying for your own participation: £1350

If you are under-employed, and/or are 25 years or younger: gift economy

If you’d like to work exchange: a limited number of work exchange options are available. If you successfully apply for one of these positions, you will not pay for the programme, and the cost of your meals will be covered. Please contact Madelanne if you wish to discuss a potential work exchange. Update: work exchange positions are now filled

If you choose the gift economy option, then the amount you pay will be decided in a conversation with Madelanne. Gift economy places are always offered as part of Body-Informed Leadership programmes, in recognition of the current inequalities of our world which mean that the course fee might be accessible to some and completely inaccessible to others. It would impoverish the course to lose valuable participation in this way.
If a participant chooses the gift economy option it does not necessarily mean that they will pay very little for the course. It also does not mean that whatever amount they do pay will not be valued and appreciated equally to other participants’ payments. What it means is that we will discuss the benefit they hope to receive from the course in relation to their current circumstances, and we will find a payment option that is reasonable within their life reality.
Payments can be made in one lump sum, or in 3 equal instalments - paid at least one week in advance of each non-residential session.
Please note that participants will need to buy a number of books and other resources for the programme. Most of these can be purchased second-hand; however, it will be an additional expense.
The cost of lunches is included in the cost of the course.

REGISTRATION

To register for this program, please:

Pay a non-refundable deposit of £50 (goes towards the cost of the first session), or pay your first instalment, or the whole course fee;
If you are choosing the gift economy payment option, please contact Madelanne to schedule a conversation. Your first payment can be made after you’ve agreed a course fee;
If you’d like to apply for a work exchange, please contact Madelanne to schedule a conversation; and,
ALL applicants must fill out the registration form.

If you have any questions or concerns about your participation in the program, please contact Madelanne to discuss.

payment

Payments may be sent to: Ms. Rust-D’Eye

Starling Bank, Sort Code: 60-83-71, Acct: 23702557

Reference: Trauma, Connection, Culture

INCLUSION

This course welcomes people of all genders, identities, and experiences of racialisation. All material will be held with an intersectional awareness and an active invitation for multiple perspectives to be expressed. In order to enable as much diversity within the course cohort as possible, the course is being actively marketed and promoted to organisations and individuals who serve marginalised communities, and a flexible course fee is provided.

The venue and course activities are accessible to those who use wheelchairs and/or who have limited mobility.

Read Madelanne’s Identity & Accountability Statement here.

SAFETY

In the interests of holding the safest space I can for all participants, I may ask someone to end their participation in the course (with a refund of 50%) if it seems the course is not appropriate for their needs, and/or if they repeatedly behave in ways that cause harm to the group.

CANCELLATION

It can have an impact on the group’s experience, as well as on the facilitator, when a participant cancels at the last minute. I do my best to take into account the unique circumstances of each participant; however, my general guidelines for cancellation are as follows: If you cancel up to three weeks before a programme starts you may receive a full refund (minus deposit). If you cancel within three weeks of a programme’s start date, or after a programme has started, I reserve the right to retain 50% of the total cost of the course. If the full course fee has not yet been paid, 50% is payable at the time of cancellation, or in agreed instalments.

Trauma, Connection, Culture Form 2

Name

First Name

Last Name

Preferred Pronouns

Phone

(###)

###

####

Address

Please provide as much or as little information here as you'd like - but do please include the name of the city or town you will be travelling from so that I know how far you've got to travel.

Address 1

Address 2

City

State/Province

Zip/Postal Code

Country

What brings you to the course?

Please describe your interest in the programme, and anything you hope to learn or receive from it.

Who do you hope to serve?

What people or groups do you hope to serve with the information you learn in this programme? Please describe any relevant aspects of your role at work, in your community, or in any other domain where you will apply your learning.

Previous Training and experience

Please describe any training or other learning you've done in the field of trauma, culture, and/or somatics. This could also relate to your own personal experiences of any of the above.

Any concerns

If you have any concerns about your readiness or ability to participate in this programme for any reason (logistical, personal, professional, etc), please share them here. If you don't have any concerns, please write N/A.

Course fee

Please select which payment option you'd like to make.

Acknowledgment

This course deals with potentially sensitive subject matter, which may touch on participants' personal histories and experiences. The experiential, embodied format can also be psychologically demanding. For those with significant unprocessed trauma, or for folks who are in otherwise overwhelming life circumstances, this could be uncomfortable, or even destabilising. If you have any concerns about your ability to participate in the programme, please arrange a conversation with Madelanne before registering. By ticking this box you acknowledge you have read and understood this, and that you believe yourself to be in a state of sufficient personal and psychological resilience to participate safely in the programme. If that should change for any reason, you further agree to communicate that with Madelanne in a timely way.

Agree

Personal support

By ticking this box you indicate that you have at least three people in your life you can easily and directly contact for personal and emotional support, should you need it while going through the programme.