How to Support Someone Who is Grieving

In this workshop, we will provide a high-level overview of The Grief Recovery Method, an evidence-based program to help individuals heal from the pain of loss. We will differentiate between grief and bereavement, explore the relationship between grief and trauma, and discuss different kinds of life events that can cause emotional pain. In addition, participants will learn about the physical impacts of grief, what to say and not to say to a griever, and discuss specific strategies to support those experiencing loss.

Intergenerational Trauma: A Public Health Crisis

Learn how the cycle of trauma impacts families and communities; particularly communities of color and other historically marginalized people. You will learn how systems play a role in traumatizing and re-traumatizing people and how to support the inherent and intergenerational resilience of communities. The conversation will include how to examine institutional policies through a trauma informed lens to support Racial Justice, Equity and Inclusion efforts, and will introduce trauma informed guiding principles of action that can be implemented both on personal and systemic levels.

Managing Toxic Stress & Avoiding Burnout

Burnout is on everyone’s mind and many of us are feeling the impacts of toxic stress coming out of the pandemic. Many institutions are experiencing workforce losses as a result; making things even more challenging for those who remain on the job. This workshop will focus on identifying the signs and symptoms of toxic stress and burn-out, thinking through the difference between stress and stressors, and developing practical actions that can be taken to manage high levels of stress and avoid burnout.

“Self-Care:” Types of Rest the Brain Needs to Promote Healing

This workshop explores different types of rest the body requires to feel well. Explore the repair strategies of the brain to support self-care that works. We discuss brain rest strategies based in neuroscience, emphasizing practices that are accessible and practical to build into our everyday lives. This workshop includes a graphic organizer so participants create a strategy that works for them as individuals; rather than simply listening to what others tell them they “should” do to feel better.

Supporting our Children & Youth

The experiences of the past few years have been very difficult for many of our children. Our families are still recuperating from the COVID-19 pandemic. Young people are navigating the challenges of social media and bullying. We are building active shooter drills into our routines at school. Our children may be exhibiting new behaviors or may be withdrawing or feeling anxious. This workshop will help understand how stress impacts a young person’s brain, some of the trends in youth mental health, and what experts teach and suggest when supporting children and teens during this time.

The Power of Connection

Oftentimes we hear in our culture that we need to practice “self-care” but that terminology can be challenging for many of us.  Maybe we feel selfish or undeserving.  Or maybe we feel we already have so much on our plates, how are we supposed to add that to the list?  At Cypress we talk more about “collective care” and “community care” and that stems directly from the brain’s need for healthy connection. This workshop will explore what healthy connection looks like, its role in healing and how we can access it to support our well-being.

Creating Safe Spaces for Young People: It’s Not Always About Words

Feeling safe is a necessary condition for healing, especially with youth navigating trauma. Learn some simple strategies for creating safe and welcoming environments for the young people you support.

Why Animals are So Important to So Many of Us

Many of us have an animal in our lives who means the world to us or we know someone who does. This can be especially true when we work in community. This workshop will explore why that connection is strong, why it can be painful when we lose them and how to support someone going through such a loss.

Grief and the Holidays: How to Support Ourselves and Others in Difficult Times

When we have experienced a loss, the holidays or major life events can be a challenge. We have to adjust our expectations, think through how we process our emotions during this time, and even create new patterns of behavior moving forward. This training will think through why the holidays are difficult for grievers, and what measures might be taken to help navigate them while experiencing loss.

What Happens in the Brain During Trauma

In this workshop you will learn a foundational definition of trauma, basic trauma terminology, what happens in the brain when trauma is experienced by an individual, and how trauma and toxic stress are linked to secondary illnesses. The conversation will also explore some main themes in the study of trauma focused on healing and resilience; both for individuals and communities.

Vicarious and Secondary Trauma: Sustaining Your Wellbeing as Someone Who Cares

This workshop will explore what happens in the brain when those in helping professions (eg. educators, healthcare workers, public safety) who experience vicarious or secondary trauma at their jobs. To sustain the work, professionals need a plan for managing vicarious trauma or long-term exposure to these stressors may lead to burn-out. In addition, the workshop will include exploration of evidence-based practices to support recovery from vicarious trauma including the importance of protected spaces. 

De-escalation Strategies

The world can be stressful and many of us may find ourselves in a situation where we need to calm a situation down in order to move forward in a productive way. This can happen at home, at work or in the community. This workshop is a review of the brain’s stress response and how to de-escalate someone who is activated both remotely and in-person. This training focuses on integrating verbal and non-verbal communication to convey safety. [Note: this training does not provide physical de-escalation strategies]

Trauma Informed Management and Supervision

(3-part series, 60 minutes each)

Our teams are experiencing high levels of toxic stress that may be impacting their interpersonal communication, work performance and wellbeing. This workshop specifically works with managers and supervisors on how to build trust and transparency, create safe space, give feedback that is productive, and engage with teams in a supportive way while integrating policies and practices that create a trauma-responsive workspace.

Setting Healthy Boundaries

Many Cypress workshops discuss the need to remove toxic situations from our lives, while seeking supportive and protected relationships instead. But not all toxic situations can be removed. So how do we create protection for ourselves and establish boundaries that support our health and well-being? This workshop will examine how to identify boundaries, how to set them in a caring way, the role of boundaries in healing and how to process someone’s reaction to them.

Youth-Centered Interpersonal Communication: Building Trust with Young People

As an adult, building trust with young people can be difficult to do. This workshop outlines trauma responsive interpersonal communication strategies that can support relationship-building with the teens and TAY in our lives.

Interpersonal Communication: How to Build Trust

Trauma responsive communication requires finding safe space, being authentic and transparent and developing trust. This workshop will explore the role of communication in developing trauma responsive practices in our work. 

End of Life 101

Talking about death and the dying process can be scary and hard, and most of us prefer to avoid the conversation. This workshop will explore ways to navigate end of life conversations, identify key considerations for when the other person is unwilling to discuss it, and introduce the importance of advance care planning. 

ACES: What to Know About Them and How to Help

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) are a topic of conversation in most of our systems of care including education, healthcare and public health.  Learn what ACE’s are, how they connect to overall health outcomes and how some folks are disproportionately impacted. The workshop will also think through what can be done to support those with high ACE scores.