Indigenous Perspective: What is Emotional Labor & How to Decrease Its Impact for Caregivers & System Involved Youth
Fri, Feb 23
|Online Event
Nima Novak
Time & Location
Feb 23, 2024, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM PST
Online Event
About the Event
Nima Novak
Training Description
Emotional labor is harmful to system-involved youth and caregivers due to several reasons which can snowball into negative outcomes later in life. Emotional labor adds to their existing challenges, leading to mental and emotional strain. It disconnects them from their authentic selves, worsening their sense of identity and self-esteem. The lack of emotional support exacerbates the isolating and exhausting nature of emotional labor for these youth. Additionally, it hinders their healthy emotional development and coping skills, making it harder for them to navigate relationships and future life circumstances. In this training, participants will be guided through a sequence of learning discussions to explore and understand how to reduce emotional labor for caregivers and system involved youth. Learning activities will include: lecture with concrete steps, self-reflection, storytelling of real life examples and participant question time.
Learning Objectives
· Participants will be able to identify & define emotional labor in system involved youth
· Participants will learn 3 ways to stop asking/forcing emotional labor on others including system involved youth & colleagues
· Identify a somatic practice to reduce cortisol & regulate nervous system for caregivers & system involved youth to stop or reduce the hard of emotional labor on the body
Agenda
1:00-1:15pm  Welcome, Community Norms, Participant Introductions
1:15-1:25pm  Resourcing the body activity
1:25-2:00pm  Definitions & functions:
· What is emotional labor
· Emotional labor physical, emotional & spiritual symptoms
· Racial Battle Fatigue
· Emotional labor long term effects on the body
· Impact of ACE scores on system involved youth around emotional labor
· Window of tolerance
2:00-2:10pm  Small group break out rooms or questions
2:10-2:30pm  Collective healing
· How to stop asking/forcing emotional labor on others including system involved youth & others who support them
· How to identify emotional labor side effects & interrupt & heal
· How to identify emotional labor side effects in system involved youth & steps to support them
· Practice to reduce cortisol & regulate nervous system for caregivers & system involved youth
2:30-2:45pm  Story Telling
2:45-3:00pm  Questions & key takeaways
Meet Our Trainer
Nima Novak is an Indigenous Speech Language Pathologist from the Mohawk Tribe of the Iroquois Nation. She holds a Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology and a Master’s of Science in Speech Language Pathology. She has worked extensively in marginalized communities, specifically in Oxnard with Indigenous preschool population and on the west side of Chicago, where she has seen first hand the negative effects of trauma on speech, language and fluency development. She is currently studying somatic therapies, Polyvagal Theory, Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) and Reiki to promote healing across the communities she serves, with the intention of loving kindness for all. Her focus on evidence-based practices and empirical research serves to bridge the worlds of healing and science which are often relegated to different categories. Nima’s holistic approach of resilience and education teaches how research-based mindfulness practices can be used to manage trauma in the body for both her students and colleagues experiencing the effects of secondary trauma. She is dedicated to empowering her students and all womxn to pursue their passions through the cultivation of resilience and self-worth. In her school based speech therapy and basketball coaching Nima takes a trauma-informed approach to support BIPOC and all students at every level. Nima is an advisor on Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Connection Team Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Board and mentor's current students at California State San Marcos in the Students of Speech & Language, Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity Group. For her anti-racism work, she has been featured in Vice Magazine, Medium.com, The Community Psychologist Special Feature, Authority Magazine and Thrive Global Magazine. She is a contributing founder and author of the anti-racism work group Living in Empathy. Nima has been featured in interviews on Evergreen State College, Educators for Justice IG live, SLPs Of Color IG live, the SLPs of Color podcast, the FAACT podcast and the Breaking Down Podcast. She has presented as a keynote speaker for The Rainbow Project, LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Illinois, Chicago Minds, Women Trans Femme Bike Group, Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op, University of St. Augustine Health Sciences, Community Living Thunder Bay, First 5 Lake County, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Northwestern University.
This course meets the qualifications for (2.0) BBS CE hours for LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCCs, and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences & is provided by Fred Finch Youth Center, CAMFT Provider #045295.