Healing Cycles of Harm
This 10-week healing workshop is geared towards those who have been impacted by violence, caused harm, enabled harm, and those who find themselves in cycles of physical and emotional harm who want to explore their participation in such cycles. Our work as facilitators engages our first-hand experiences in being impacted by harm as people who have caused, enabled, and survived it.
Brave Space
We provide a brave, compassionate, and structured space to address and heal what enables and gives rise to acts of harm.
We utilize culturally relevant, somatic healing arts to address how the body, impacted by violence, records that violence, and externalizes it onto others and onto the self.
We utilize creative arts to get around our logical exterior and guide ourselves to act, move, and respond from the heart.
Our Approaches
We use a democratic, non-hierarchical model that acknowledges that everyone is the expert of their own healing.
Reflective journaling, dialogue, movement, visual representation, care work as home work, and psycho / political education are some of the tools we will use throughout this journey.
We interrogate the notion that vulnerability is a state of weakness and remember it as a source of powerful strength.
Confidentiality
This is a confidential and consensual group.
Participants are supported through risk-taking without disclosing the details of harm caused, witnessed, or survived.
Our facilitators are not mandated reporters.
Accepting Applications for
Spring 2024
Applications open until spaces are filled. We limit our circle to 16 participants to maintain safety and connection. For this hybrid experience, half of our seats will be reserved for in person participants.
Statement on Affinity-Shaped
Wellness Work and Access
We recognize that because we are all impacted by a culture of violence, all people can benefit from versions of the politicized wellness work we have to offer, regardless of access to political, economic, or institutional power.
We also recognize that because of lack of access, not all demographic groups are equitably afforded the spaces and resources necessary to access wellness work designed for them.
Our purpose in creating affinity spaces for growth and wellness is in response to this inequity. We ask that potential applicants assess where they are on that gradient of access to power, privilege, and systemic support and use this assessment to discern whether their liberatory work should involve leaving space for those with least access to practice with us.
Wondering if this is the right experience for you?
Consider these situations:
Growing Collective Accountability Facilitators
As part of this work, we train individuals interested in leading this work as they receive the benefits of this work. People trust those they know with their intimate stories, pain, and desires for personal growth. We want to give existing local leaders additional tools to address individual and collective trauma and violence, and therefore build the capacity for more communities to create a culture of accountability and compassion.
Our participant-researcher model during our pilot has resulted in prior participants co-facilitating future sessions. We are interested in training individuals who have the most capacity to lead this work forward in their own communities. Questions for those interested are listed in each application.
Participant 2019
"Attending Healing Cycle of Harm introduced me to a different way of living. I realized how triggers carried out actions which hurt no one but me. This work has allowed me to understand the cause, accept, and overcome my depression, addiction, anxiety, and discomfort as I can now transform it into true happiness..."
Participant 2020
"Epic. I've been talking about it non-stop. What a revelation to learn what my sadness wants, what my anger wants, the point of a resourcing practice... This has impacted me and my approach to my work as a sexual violence crisis counselor."
Participant 2020
"I feel like it offers practices for people to return to again and again. It supports a healing culture … right where you're at. In this way if more people participated in this it would spread these practices and create a community of people who are practiced in these techniques."
Participant 2021
"This program has allowed me to look at the different aspects of harmful cycles while in community with amazing people. It was one of the only places I felt supported (emotionally) in my life. I felt safe to show up, share, give & learn from the group."
Participant 2019
"RooT Healing Cycles of Harm circles offered me a sense of hope and clarity around how I can change the patterns of harm I’ve been repeating."
Participant 2021
“I feel like this workshop was the missing link in my long journey of healing from the traumas of a violent marriage and losing my newborn child after childbirth. This workshop helped me to realize the 'medicine' that was accessible within and how I can use it also to help others. I will definitely continue contact with the cohort and facilitators as I would love to share this process and help guide my community through collective healing.”
Participant 2021
“Throughout the program I was able to strengthen some existing tools I’ve been trying to practice and internalize more. The program took a dynamic approach to understanding all of my emotions and I feel less shame to carry/affirm all of them. All facilitators were honest and vulnerable which allowed me to show up the same [way].”
Participant 2021
“This program has given me tools to recognize when I am being triggered through the feelings in my body and how to move through those feelings without causing harm to myself or others. It has also reminded me that I am on my healing journey, that I am okay and that I will be okay. I am not alone on this journey, there are others on the road with me and I can take off my blinders to look around at my environment for support.”
Common Questions
Q: If this is not a traditional “class,” what should I expect?
A: Expect your participation to be requested. This means participants are invited to share reflections, engage in physical movement (access accommodations available), journal, draw, and work in pairs or small groups. We utilize a variety of ways for folks to engage. This is not a space where facilitators will be “talking at” the group for an extended amount of time.
Q: Will there be reading assignments or homework?
A. We do not assign required readings, but we sometimes offer “self-care” work that should take no longer than 5-10 minutes to complete between some sessions. We may also share suggested videos or readings, but none of these are required. We’re well aware that the 3 workshop hours per week is a big time investment already. We want to make this experience as accessible as possible for those who have a lot of responsibilities (parents, caretakers, etc.) in other parts of their lives.
Q. Can I show up late or leave early?
A. Maintaining consistent attendance is important to secure the level of safety the group needs to do some brave work. If the workshop hours and times conflict with other things you need to be present for, please look out for the next workshop series that offers the spaciousness needed for us to enjoy the gift of your full presence. This workshop is an invitation to slow down and dedicate 3 hours a week to yourself.
Q. Will workshops be recorded?
A. Because people share sensitive content and because we do not want to create barriers to openness and connection, we do not record our sessions. We do share a folder with all of our slides and live notes kept (without people’s names or identifying information attached) for you to review throughout the series and after the series. Please note that these notes are not a replacement for the live experience needed to really drop into our work and experience the benefits.
Q. I am brand new to healing and growth work. Is this okay?
A. This series welcomes people brand new to the language and work of healing and growth and those with experience with this work looking for a space to practice holistic, nonhierarchical, and collective healing work. We work to use language that is easy for everyone to understand. We love hearing clarifying questions throughout.
Q. What do I need in order to participate?
A. For online workshops, you’ll need a device that allows you to view people and slideshows on Zoom. A laptop, computer, or tablet could work. Phones make it hard to be able to see everyone and engage with ease. If you have trouble accessing devices, reach out to us so we can find one for you. Something to write with (pencil, pen) and write on (paper, notebook) will be requested. If drawing is accessible, we’ll also encourage you to use markers, crayons, etc. on paper or other drawing surfaces for some activities. Each person is also sent a care package with scent-free candles, healing herbs, and other goodies!
Q. I would love for my sibling, partner, or best friend to do this work with me. Should I ask them to apply to the same cohort as mine?
A. We strongly recommend that you engage in a way that will allow you the space needed to take consensual risks. Sometimes we don’t expect what surfaces, and we won’t know if someone we have history with will cause us to censor (intentionally or unintentionally) what comes out. We recommend you ask your loved ones to have their own spaces for practice - after you’ve experienced this journey for yourself.
Q. How do I know if I’m ready for an experience like this?
A. Follow your intuition. It's okay to consult people you trust, but nobody will know if you’re ready better than you. It is a good idea to have a support system lined up for emotionally challenging things that might surface. A support system might look like confiding in your closest homies, talking to a therapist or a spiritual leader you trust, or sharing with a relative you lean onto for support. If you struggle with suicidal ideation or self-harm, we require that you let at least one person you trust know that you are taking this workshop. If you want to try a sampling of our work, look out for our yearly People’s Healing Conference and Clinic where we offer single-day, one-off workshops on various topics. Please note that facilitators are not licensed therapists and that this workshop isn’t considered therapy.
