Consent, Conflict, and the Nervous System Workshop

Consent is about far more than saying yes or no.
Our nervous systems, trauma histories, neurodivergence, social conditioning, and relationship experiences all influence how we communicate boundaries, navigate conflict, repair harm, and connect with others.
In this workshop, we'll explore how patterns such as freeze, fawn, shutdown, overwhelm, people-pleasing, defensiveness, and boundary confusion can show up in everyday life, relationships, kink dynamics, and community spaces. We'll examine how many of us were taught to disconnect from our bodies, override our own limits, ignore hesitation, or experience boundaries as rejection rather than information.
Together we'll explore topics such as:
- Neurodivergence and communication
- Trauma and nervous system activation
- Consent beyond scenes and sexuality
- Conflict, rupture, accountability, and repair
- Patriarchal conditioning and boundary override
- Rebuilding embodied consent and relational awareness
Participants will gain practical tools for:
- Understanding nervous system responses
- Communicating across different neurotypes and communication styles
- Recognizing activation, overwhelm, and shutdown
- Navigating conflict with greater awareness and accountability
- Repairing relational ruptures when they occur
- Reconnecting with choice, agency, and embodied consent
This workshop combines discussion, practical tools, reflection exercises, and optional embodied practices. No one will be required to share personal experiences, and participants are always welcome to engage at whatever level feels right for them.
This isn't a therapy session or a callout space but rather a grounded, trauma-conscious exploration of how we create healthier, safer, and more repair-capable relationships and communities.
All respectful adults are welcome. Cost is on a $5-$25 sliding scale donation to support our nonprofit, Unbreaking, which supports those outside the mainstream through community care.
We ask everyone to help care for the shared space by being mindful of boundaries, keeping scents (such as strong perfume, cologne, cigarette smoke, cannabis smoke, or body odor) and noise at levels that do not disrupt others, and engaging with kindness and respect. If something doesn't feel like a fit in the moment, it is always okay to step back or adjust how you participate.
Facilitated by Kris Hietala
Kris Hietala is a trauma-conscious yoga guide, ACEs presenter, construction tradesman, and facilitator focused on nervous system awareness, embodiment, communication, and relational repair. His work bridges practical lived experience with somatic awareness, depth psychology, and community-centered healing practices.