Somatics as a Liberatory Tool for Those who Serve Youth who are System Involved or at High Risk of System Involvement

 Mack Boyle

Training Description

This training will support participants in developing tools and strategies to engage in somatic based practices in their lives and their work with youth who are system involved or at high risk of system involvement. How can somatic practices move us toward liberation by centering our bodies rather than our minds? Through this exploration, participants will identify all that is available to us when we move towards embodying our anti-racist and liberatory values. Participants will collectively practice these strategies in session in order to use them in their work with system involved youth and families.

Learning Objectives

● Participants will be able to explain 1-2 ways that our somatic responses impact our actions, behaviors, and choices and impact the system involved youth we serve

● Participants will acquire knowledge of the definition of somatic and somatic practices and identify 1-2 examples of how their body has responded under stress when working with youth who are system involved or at high risk of system involvement

● Participants will identify 2-3 daily practices that they can utilize to increase their own somatic alignment, as well as identify practices that they can utilize when feeling under pressure or stress

Agenda

1:00PM-1:15PM  WELCOME & CHECK-IN

● Reviewing training agenda

● Reviewing collective agreements

● Pair Share Check-In

● Participants will engage in a somatic activity to practice a somatic strategy of a grounding / centering Practice

1:15-1:30PM  DEFINING SOMATIC PRACTICE

● Defining What Somatics Is and how it is related to liberation and equity work

● Explain 4 Parts to Somatic Practice: Intention, Embodied, Repetition, Notice Changes

● Participants will engage in a somatic pause to practice a somatic strategy of a jaw blend

1:30-1:45PM  DEFINING SOMATIC PRACTICE CONT’D

● Explaining the arc of somatic transformation: Somatic Awareness, Somatic Opening, Somatic Practices

● Participants will engage in a somatic pause to practice a somatic strategy of a mutual connection practice where participants will connect with one other person and answer a prompt related to their mind-body awareness

● Participants will share out in the large group how the somatic activity felt

1:45-2:00PM  SOMATIC ZONES

● Define somatic curve of different zones are body might be in at different times

● Facilitator will give examples of how our body might go into different zones based off of our own social identities and our socialization into white supremacy

● Participants will engage in journal reflection activity to surface times that there body has felt activated and surface what the context was that made them feel activated

2:00-2:15PM  SOMATIC ZONES CONT’D

● Participants will engage in a small group and large group discussion to share their stories with one another and practice vulnerability

2:15-2:30PM  BREAK

● Participants will take 15 minute break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

2:30-2:45PM   SOMATIC ABOLITIONISM

● Define somatic abolitionism by using a video clip from Resmaa Menakem

● Participants will engage in a somatic pause to practice a somatic strategy of 5 self holds

2:45-3:00PM  SOMATIC ABOLITIONISM CONT’D

● Participants will engage in a journal reflection activity to explore the ways that somatic abolitionism could be used in their work with system involved youth or with youth who are at high risk of system involvement

● Participants will engage in small group discussion around somatic abolitionism

3:00PM-3:15PM  SOMATIC PRACTICE & INTENTION REFLECTION

● Participants will engage in a somatic pause to practice a somatic strategy of communal humming

● Participants will watch a video from Prentis Hemphill and learn how the things we practice daily impact our choices, actions, and behaviors - and will learn how those practices impact their work with system involved youth as well

● Participants will explore and identify the daily things that they practice (ie self doubt, lack of boundaries, etc) and identify what they want to be practicing instead

3:15-3:30PM  CREATIVE ACTIVITY: POSTCARD PRACTICE

● Participants will use their practice reflection to create a digital visual postcard of the strategies and things they want to practice in the future

3:30-3:45PM  BREAK-OUT DISCUSSION

● Participants will utilize their creation to discuss and share-out their practice intentions with a small group

3:45-4:00PM  CLOSING

● Participants will engage in a somatic pause to practice a somatic strategy of hand over chest

● Participants will share final reflections

Meet Our Trainer

Mack is a white queer fat organizer, mental health worker, and facilitator working on capacity building related to racial justice, abolition, and body liberation. Their focus is to support white folks in transforming the ways we engage with race, building communities of trust and care, and developing somatic awareness to act more in alignment with values of social justice. Through their time working in mental health nonprofits, they have supported the implementation of equity centered policies, practices, discussion spaces, and working groups to support organizations in centering equity and justice. Based in Oakland, CA, on unceded Ohlone land, Mack was a mental health rehabilitation specialist within Oakland Unified School District. Through this lens they have developed and led training sessions for teachers, parents, and school communities on fostering community with attention to power dynamics, intersectionality, and creating affirming spaces for queer and trans youth. They facilitate and co-develop curriculum for white affinity spaces for folks looking to deepen and transform their racial analysis. They are currently working with higher education institutions such as Stanford, and UC Santa cruz, as well as non profits, public schools, and mental health programs, to support individuals and leaders in building tools and strategies to navigate conflict, engage in courageous conversations, and become agents for change within their specific context.

This course meets the qualifications for (2.75) 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.