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, to 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, October, 2024 (exact date tbd)

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

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 choose the third payment 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 (although this could be the case), or 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 financial reality, 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 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 and snacks 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), 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;
Fill out the registration form.

Please note that your application is not finalised until both the registration form and deposit have been completed.

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

Because the course is experiential and embodied, and because it touches on potentially challenging subject matter, it could stir up uncomfortable emotions, sensations, and interactions. 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

Email

Phone

(###)

###

####

Address

Please provide the name of the city or town you will be travelling from (you don't have to give your exact address).

Address 1

Address 2

City

State/Province

Zip/Postal Code

Country

Area of Work and/or Interest

Please describe your current area of work, and/or interest. For example, you might work with social enterprise. Please describe any details of your role, and give any relevant information about the people and organisations you serve. If you are not currently working, or if your interest in the programme comes from a different part of your life, please describe that.

Previous Training and Experience

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

Trauma, Connection, Culture