Trauma Responses and Holiday Gatherings


13Nov2023

YOU ARE NOT ALONE--Online Panel Discussion

6:30 pm - 8:30 pm Eastern Time

Zoom Webinar

$5 Donation Requested

Includes replay sent to attendees within 48 hrs.

"Why Do I Feel This Way??? "

For many of us, social/family gatherings can be triggering in ways we don't anticipate or recognize until we are experiencing the aftermath in our own bodies. Sometimes we don't know why we react strongly to social/familial events, and other times, we can name and understand our experience. In any case, we might be wondering: how can I prevent this reaction next time? Explore these questions and more as panelists discuss what collective gatherings have meant for them and how we can all learn more easeful ways of moving through difficult social spaces.

Join YANA panelists as we ask one another our questions and about how our own journey of healing and coping through social gatherings. Panel members will share personal stories of survival and holistic techniques to support you in the sacred process of reclaiming yourself in healing. You deserve to be respected and heard!

It can be a lonely journey, but You Are Not Alone.

The format of this event is a group panel that discusses and has conversations around different aspects of healing from trauma. We have anywhere between 4-9 people on the panel and are always open to anyone wanting to join the panel. 

We set this event up as a Zoom webinar, not a meeting, to maintain anonymity of our attendees, so audience members will not be seen.  There is a chat room, and you can ask questions and be invited to unmute yourself if you desire.  Your name will be displayed in the chat, so please feel free to change your name to protect your identity in any way that you see fit.

*** If you feel you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which offers free, 24/7 call, text and chat access to trained crisis counselors. Text or call 988 to be connected to a crisis center nearest to you. If you are in an emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room. OMA Center for Mind, Body, and Spirit does not offer crisis counseling or emergency services.***

It is critical that our efforts strengthen, so we can begin to heal these invisible wounds.  They are crucial in promoting the healthy development of children and adults and healthy behaviors in families, schools and communities, thereby reducing the likelihood of trauma.


$5 Donation Requested. Your gift will be used to help us attain our goal of establishing a community and retreat center for the local community. Your generosity of any amount is greatly appreciated.


This panel conversation is part of OMA's Trauma Program. YOU ARE NOT ALONE is an OMA Webinar Series featuring a panel conversation on trauma and recovery—We are all connected on this journey of healing, of both self and humanity, from our own individual traumas as well as our collective traumas.

Panelists: Marilyn Carpenter, Deb Carter, Angela Failor, Callie Gropp, Gail Hunter, Mai Nguyen, Leza Vivio. See past panelists.

Moderator: Callie Gropp


Let’s all drop the pretense that we are either normal, or abnormal…
We are all in the same support group: ordinary people who must deal with the struggles that come with being human. 
We all carry this heavy weight—a trauma, whether from childhood abuse, childhood adverse experiences (ACE's),domestic violence, gaslighting, bullying, emotional/ verbal abuse and manipulation, medical trauma, and injury.   We all at the same time struggle to meet our basic human needs for connection, community, acceptance, and validation among ones who share our culture and language, or not, for authenticity–the capacity to feel what we feel and to be in touch with our bodies and to express what we feel when we need to.


Fundamentally, that is the ultimate trauma, the disconnection from ourselves…

In this webinar series we believe that in the presence of compassion, healing is possible. Only with compassion can we bear our pain. In the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying the author says, whatever you do don’t shut off your pain. Accept your pain and remain vulnerable. –Mai Nguyen, Panelist

 

Helpful Resources for Trauma


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2 thoughts on “Trauma Responses and Holiday Gatherings

    • Leza

      Hello Ginnie! Thank you for your interest in this topic. The format of this program is a webinar panel discussion between an established group of individuals that are members of OMA. We welcome you to attend and participate in the chat, as well as ask questions of the panel in the Q&A. If you need assistance getting registered, just send an email to: events@omapittsburgh.org