This is a two part series: September 21 – 9 am -12 pm, 1 – 4 pm (lunch 12-1 pm) and October 12 – 9 am -12 pm **** Please note that you must take the first class to participate in the second****

This workshop series will lead participants on an interactive journey into the trauma- and resilience-informed approach. Through a combination of focused lecture, exploratory discussions, personal reflection, writing, and role play, we will examine the holistic impact of interpersonal, community, and systems level trauma on birthing people. We will explore the linkages between birthworker self-awareness and the ability to manage emotional intensity in preventing vicarious trauma and maintaining empathic client connection. We will apply trauma-informed principles to the doula role in professional organizational scope of practice and case-based client scenarios. While rooted in research and best practice guidelines, this workshop is practical at heart. Participants will take away new perspectives, concrete strategies, and real time skills that will enable them to provide effective trauma-responsive client care.

Facilitated by Nkem Ndefo, a certified nurse midwife and nationally recognized trauma-informed expert. She brings an abundance of experience as a clinician, educator, consultant, and community strategist to innovative programs that address stress and trauma and build resilience for individuals, organizations, and communities across sectors throughout the US. Nkem is known for her unique ability to connect with people of all types by holding powerful healing spaces, weaving complex concepts into accessible narratives, and creating synergistic and collaborative learning communities that nourish people’s innate capacity for healing, wellness, and connection. She served on the Los Angeles County Trauma-and Resilience-Informed Systems Change Initiative Workgroup. She is currently an advisor to the Strategic Planning Committee of Trauma Informed Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Mayor’s Gang Reduction Youth Development Program, and is developing a pilot violence-prevention academy for peer support workers as part of Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Trauma Prevention Initiative.