Trainings and Teaching
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I currently provide trainings and workshops, both individually and collaboratively, which address sexual violence and intimate partner assault, responsiveness and humility in working with the LGBTQIA2S+ communities and the topics of boundaries, sex, pleasure, intimacy and desire.
All of these teachings adhere to an intersectional, queer and feminist lens, discussing the ways in which traumatic harm is experienced by individuals and communities with disparity across experiences of marginalization and oppression. I am a highly engaged and enthusiastic trainer, inviting different levels of knowledge in the room and making space for complex conversation and discovery, while holding an anti-oppression frame.
Participants have described my trainings as warm, intersectional, dynamic, non-judgmental, empowering and inspiring. They have been characterized as transformative, holistic and tangible in their approach, specifically in the way they address systemic issues and deep histories while giving grounded actions one can take in the context of relatable, currently occurring situations.
Any of these trainings can be amended to fit your needs, or I am happy to develop trainings and/or classes as commissioned, in line with my expertise and experience. I am also available to provide guest lectures on any topic covered through my listed specialties on the About Page, as well as regarding my artistic and organizing work within the anti-violence movement.
Examples of past workshops, including abbreviated content, include:
Clinical Considerations for Therapeutic Work with Survivors of Sexual Assault
Deconstruction of the ‘survivor’ image within the mainstream anti-violence movement and popular media, considering the impact these images and expectations may have on those who access our care.
Discussion of barriers to care, including inherent biases that survivors may experience within systems of law enforcement, the criminal justice system, the medical field, and the mental health field.
Overview of complex PTSD and manifestation of potential symptoms for people who have experienced sexual assault, across the lifespan.
Presentation of best practices, as well as clinical considerations which include complex discussions on silence, shame, self-blame, suicidality, conceptions of justice, therapeutic self-disclosure and vicarious trauma.
This training is also available specific to working with LGBTQIA2S+ survivors of sexual assault.
Examining the Impact of Sexual Assault on LGBTQIA2S+ Communities: A Call for Site-Specific Services
Brief history of the anti-violence movement, and its discrimination/lack of inclusion for LGBTQIA2S+ communities.
Outline of barriers to care for LGBTQIA2S+ survivors, as well as an in-depth systems analysis of non-profit, direct service and criminal justice pathways to support.
Definition of acronym, discussion of the necessity of pronoun inclusion and respect, explanation of differences between sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, romantic attraction and sexual attraction.
In depth discussion of the particular ways that LGBTQIA2S+ individuals may be impacted by sexual assault, both outside and within the communities. Outline of specific and unique considerations in providing support to LGBTQIA2S+ survivors.
Call for visible, consistent and sustained inclusion and allyship for/with LGBTQIA2S+ communities within anti-violence work.
Envisioning New Worlds: Queer and Trans Arts Practice as Intervention within the Movement to End Sexual Assault
Presentation of examples of LGBTQIA2S+ artistic interventions within community direct action, collective strategies and the social practice discipline throughout the anti-violence movement.
Use of the art-activism collective DISCLOSE, collaborative exhibition Choreographies of Disclosure and national action The Monument Quilt as case examples, including images, examination of strategies and applied exercises.
Untangling and complicating the line between arts practice and ‘art as therapy’.
Overview of art creation as resilience and resistance strategy within LGBTQIA2S+ communities, ending with a culminating arts exercise.
Sex Education for Survivors of Sexual Assault: Celebrating Pleasure, Intimacy and Desire on Our Terms
This workshop was co-developed in collaboration with Abby Larson, Jennifer Marshall, Andy Duran and myself, in partnership with Good Vibrations and with support from BAWAR.
Three Main Sections
The Histories We Carry: Discussion of harmful messages we were taught about sex by family, friends, and institutions, and how this information has impacted us as survivors of sexual violence.
Reclamation of Self: An invitation for those who have been impacted by sexual violence to engage in exploring information, tools, and discussion around how to reclaim pleasure.
Inviting Others In: Emphasizing communication as the gateway to safer and more connected sex, the facilitators share the different ways in which communication can operate in sexual relationships, including what to do when communication breaks down when we are triggered and/or activated.
This workshop can be given in a variety of time frames, from multiple shorter sessions to day-long intensives. Single workshops are possible, if abbreviated content is presented.
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