Caring for the Caregiver Program Three-Part Series

The Caring for the Caregivers program provides support and innovative training for caregivers exposed to recurring stress and trauma. Experiential components are interwoven into lectures with the goal of educating and engaging in body-centered stress and trauma relief practices to mitigate the secondary trauma often involved in being a caregiver.

This event will take place on the following dates:

• Session 1: Saturday, September 25, 2021
• Session 2: Thursday, October 21, 2021
• Session 3: Saturday, November 13, 2021

* It is highly recommended for interested registrants to attend all three sessions. Dinner to go will be provided.

PROGRAM CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES WILL:

Provide experience of stress and trauma relief through body-centered play and self-regulation strategies.

Provide information on the phenomena of trauma and resilience through current understandings in biology, neuroscience, psychology, as well as in somatic approaches, including Qigong, Tai Chi, yoga, meditation, etc. as examples of non-verbal processes that may also facilitate healing.

Assess personal impact of secondary and vicarious trauma on the job and develop focused intervention for a balanced self-care routine that incorporates new body-centered and self-regulating approaches.

Provide tools to support the continued development of participant’s long-term self-efficacy to carry out their professional responsibilities.

Provide focused support through group relation building which would impact the self-care culture within the organization.

Train in PLAYshop methodology for application in professional and personal life, including how, why and when implementing these methods considering a range of factors, including the landscape of common approaches, child developmental stages, cultural differences and different types of traumatic experiences.

LED BY HIGHLY TRAINED FACULTY OF HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS AND COUNSELORS, PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS WILL DEVELOP THEIR RESILIENCY THROUGH BODY-CENTERED SELF-CARE METHODOLOGIES.

The activities of each session will vary, but will follow a curriculum which includes building group cohesion, introducing somatic, externalization and self-regulation concepts, the phenomenology of trauma, secondary trauma, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout, embodied self-care tools such as yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, breathing exercises and play. Participants will also learn the specific exercises and approach Second Response developed through more than a decade of frontline relief efforts.

Ultimately, program participants gain new and effective ways to manage their own trauma and better serve those for whom they care. The very same techniques the caregivers are equipped with are then passed along to their clients, creating a ripple effect and forging a broader community that is built on resilience and care.

To learn more about the facilitating organization, go to: https://www.secondresponse.org/

This event is a project of the Our Children Our Future initiative of the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation.

Host or Publisher NW RECA Steering Committee