Exploring the Effects of Trauma on Community

Being in community requires safety, belonging, and connection before Friends are truly be in ‘gathered’ space of Quaker Worship. This workshop will explore what allows us to feel safe and welcoming. We will hold space, allowing Spirit to guide our understanding of how science might inform our practices. This workshop is part of the sampler….

Workshop Description

Being in community requires safety, belonging, and connection before Friends are truly be in ‘gathered’ space of Quaker Worship. This workshop will explore what allows us to feel safe and welcoming. We will hold space, allowing Spirit to guide our understanding of how science might inform our practices.

This workshop is part of the sampler. It runs for two days.

How might we braid research and understandings in neuroscience with the science of human behavior, development, and stress to cultivate and nurture our Quaker community?

Being in beloved community requires safety, belonging, and connection before Friends are truly be in ‘gathered’ space of Quaker Worship, Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, and even our potluck meals. Through the presenter’s current understanding of the science of safety and stress we will explore what allows us to feel safe and welcoming; nurturing community.

Our time together will begin with welcome and sharing (10 minutes). We will establish connections and build community through activities such as drumming, chanting and guided meditation. These practices will support a felt sense of safety and connection as a solid base for our exploration (20 minutes). This will be followed by learning about specific topics and allowing those to guide our discussion (30 minutes).

We will focus our exploration through the lens of the NeuroSequential Approach, the PolyVagal Theory, and the 4 Characters of the Brain. Each theory offers a different perspective of how our brain works and how we develop our best self through practices of mindfulness and emotional regulation. We will focus on the transmission of transgenerational and historic trauma to deepen our understanding of the significant impacts of generational and social trauma has on us and how we might begin to heal. Our guide for this portion of the discussion will be the book My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and Mending our bodies and hearts by Resmaa Menakem. Participants will be encouraged to read this book prior to attending the workshop.

We will hold space, allowing Spirit to guide our understanding of how science informs our Quaker in-reach and out-reach practices. Our final workshop will be spent in worship sharing, inviting participants to offer inspiration and ideas for incorporating this into our practices.

Throughout the week we will share ideas to better understand how this information informs better practices for Quaker meetings to invite seekers, engage in community building, hold safe space for respectful conflict resolution, and honor the gifts and talents of our members.

Draft Agenda:

Day 1
o Welcome and introductions (10 minutes)
o Activity – drum circle to build connection (20 minutes)
o Worship sharing topic – How we currently understand the influence of stress and trauma in our Quaker Meetings. (30 minutes)

Day 2
o Welcome (10 minutes)
o Activity – Metta Meditation (20 minutes)
o Topic to explore – science of human development, ACEs, stress, attachments and early caregiving as the foundation of our world view (30 minutes)

Leader Experience

Jeanne Elberfeld has offered a keynote through Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Jeanne has also led numerous workshops for Caln Quarter’s Spring retreat over the years. She is a skilled teacher and as a workshop discussion leader who enjoys learning as much as teaching.