1.6 Co- Creating Healing Connections for Growth

Presenter: Dr. Veirdre Jackson

Title: CEO/EHS Coach and Trainer

Organization: Living Strong Consulting

Co-Presenter: Brandie Cool, Lancaster/Lebanon IU13

Co-Presenter: Jamie Deaven, Lancaster/Lebanon IU13

Workshop Description
This session will outline a step by step process to address the complex forms of trauma which impact the economically challenged families we work with in Early Head Start and Head Start. In order for professionals to become advocates for a systemic approach to trauma responsiveness, we must learn the basics and how to begin to make an impact. Families are challenged by toxic stress, allostatic load, embedded inequities, and poverty. The Lancaster/ Lebanon Intermediate Unit13 (LLIU13) Early Head Start Home Visiting team has taken the first steps in helping families by using trauma-informed principles that look at five building blocks that create safety, cultivate diversity, and build equitable approaches for an inclusive and relationship based connection with families and children that foster growth and belonging. Participants will explore these 5 Building Blocks for Healthy Relationships through interactive conversations and hands on tools in order to understand how to replicate these steps within their own communities and programs.

Example of Workshop Engagement:

• Define Spacious Listening
• Pair & Share Discussion : "How did it feel the last time you really felt heard?"
• Practice Feedback Loops
• Explore a framework for listening
• Small group activity to build the blocks of healthy relationships
• Identified eight culturally sensitive, Trauma Responsive Tools that staff can use in order to engage families and children
• Gain practice with the Growth Challenge Tool used by LLIU13 HB staff which fosters a safe, valued, and heard experience with families and children who are often unheard and marginalized