Prairie St. John's 2025 Fall Conference

Title:

" Staying Grounded in the Storm"

Subtitle: Renewing Resilience and Hope in Times of Change

Course Overview:

Every day, you meet people in their hardest moments. You carry stories of loss, trauma, resilience, and hope—all while navigating shifting systems, growing caseloads, and an ever-changing professional landscape. The storm is real. Compassion fatigue is real. This full-day workshop is designed to help you stay grounded in your own work and life, drawing on reinvention practices from experts like Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva and Dr. Brené Brown that support sustainability, adaptability, and renewal.

Presentation Description:

This six-hour workshop provides helping professionals with strategies to sustain resilience and hope in the midst of disruption which can exacerbate compassion fatigue. Topics include Brené Brown’s BRAVING framework for trust, Nadya Zhexembayeva’s Titanic Syndrome and its application to helping professions, and practical grounding strategies for addressing compassion fatigue and decision fatigue. Through case studies, group discussion, and reflective exercises, participants will practice applying these concepts to client relationships, organizational change, and personal well-being

Course Content (including case examples and applications):

This six-hour workshop integrates research-based frameworks with real-world practice to strengthen resilience, adaptability, and hope among helping professionals. Core areas include:

• Building Trust with the BRAVING Framework (Brené Brown)Participants will learn the seven elements of trust (Boundaries, Reliability, Accountability, Vault, Integrity, Non-Judgment, and Generosity) and apply them to therapeutic alliances, supervision, and interdisciplinary teamwork.
• • Case Example: Rebuilding client trust after a therapeutic rupture by applying the BRAVING framework.
  • Application: Identifying one trust element to strengthen in their agency or clinical practice.
• Recognizing and Preventing Titanic Syndrome (Nadya Zhexembayeva)Participants will explore the dangers of denial, complacency, and overconfidence that can lead organizations or teams to 'hit the iceberg' They will use an assessment to rate their organization's and their personal readiness to address change.
• • Case Example: A community mental health agency ignoring staff burnout until turnover rates escalate.
  • Application: Learning to evaluate which stage of reinvention one is in.
• Grounding Practices for Professional ResilienceAttendees will engage in evidence-based exercises for managing stress, recovering from compassion fatigue, and integrating practices that support both presence with clients and personal well-being.
• • Case Example: Using brief mindfulness or grounding practices before sessions with high-intensity clients.
  • Application: Creating a personalized “grounding toolkit” for daily use.
• Sustaining Hope and a Future-Ready MindsetParticipants will learn strategies for reframing change as an opportunity for growth and sustaining long-term professional hope. This includes small, consistent adaptations that foster resilience and organizational health.
• • Case Example: Transitioning to telehealth not as an emergency response but as a sustainable service model.
  • Application: Identifying one area of practice or system ripe for reinvention to support hope and adaptability.

Learning Objectives:

Attendees can expect to:

·Gain hands-on tools for building trust.

• Learn how to recognize Titanic Syndrome in one's self and one's organization.
• Learn how to identify and begin to address compassion fatigue in one's self.
• Practice grounding techniques that restore balance in emotionally demanding work.
• Leave with renewed energy, practical reinvention strategies, and a framework for keeping hope alive in challenging times.

Host or Publisher Prairie St. John's