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As a Network, we’ve leaned into prioritizing staff wellbeing and Transformative SEL as central components of school, program, and organizational culture. As we navigated the uncertainties and challenges of the pandemic and racial uprisings in the past year, we’ve heard from you that as you work tirelessly to support young people through this, you are also experiencing feelings of overwhelm and exhaustion.
As additional support in your journey towards healing and wellbeing, we’ve created the new series Creating Healing Centered Communities and this Supplemental Resource Guide for you. This guide contains rich information, tips, tools, and strategies in various areas including personal and community wellbeing, childhood trauma, and trauma- informed systems of care. It also contains key takeaways and resources from each workshop session.
We believe the power of our Network is amplified when we co-learn and co-create. Let us know if there’s anything in particular you’d like more information on that you don’t see here. Also, let us know if you have any resources you’d like to share by emailing cecily@ssn-nyc.org.
Personal Wellbeing
Alliance for a Healthier Generation
4 on-demand trainings about stress management and educator self-care.
Center for Student Wellness and Health Promotion
Videos, online tools and assessments and resources for supporting wellbeing.
McLean Harvard Medical School Associate
Free mental health webinars about mental health and wellbeing.
Video presentation presenting several tips and strategies to promote self-care and personal wellbeing.
University of Buffalo - Self-Care Starter Kit
Personalized resources for developing a self-care plan - includes resources, tips, self-assessments, and activities - Can only be used for informative, learning purposes only - cannot be reproduced and used as part of commercial training/education
Personal & Community Wellbeing
ArtReach - Self-Care Guide for Youth Working in Community
Complete self-care guide with information, tips, worksheets, and other resources about self-care for youth workers and the link to community care.
Center for Adolescent Studies - Trauma Basics for Youth Workers
2 hour online free course for youth workers to learn basic critical skills to practice trauma-informed care.
Online self-assessment to assess level of compassion fatigue.
Previous presentation slides and other resources available from a series of recorded webinars about self-care, transformative SEL and supporting educator wellbeing. Website also allows for a search of webinars by topic area and also links to upcoming webinars.
Provides information on self-care, building connections with others and how to assess organizational wellness.
Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators
Provides school staff at all levels and parents with basic information about working with traumatized children.
Issue Brief and Video Interviews from experts in the field on the impact of trauma.
National Child Traumatic Stress Network Webinars
A webinar series comprised of virtual presentations by expert researchers and practitioners on various topics in the field of child traumatic stress.
A general interactive online course provides a lens through which to better understand childhood trauma, causes, impacts, and strength-based systems approaches to promote healing and resilience.
Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health - Understanding Trauma, Resilience and Trauma-Informed Care
This free online training course provides a foundational understanding of trauma, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), resilience, vicarious trauma, and trauma-informed care for anyone in the community who interacts with individuals and families who may have experienced trauma.
We began the session by exploring the concept of Belonging and how it relates to our personal and community wellbeing.
This led to a time of reflection and rich discussion on current threats to our wellbeing. We closed the session by uplifting supports and practices to tend to our wellbeing.
Key Perspectives Shared
➡️ Compounding layers of stress and trauma that impact the wellbeing of our communities: Grief, loss, fear and anxiety, financial stressors, systemic injustices
➡️ What does it mean to “go back to normal”? In what ways can we reimagine what “normal” is?
➡️ Expectations to “keep it together”, keep up same levels of productivity and motivation
➡️ Hard to prioritize wellbeing in the midst of so many other demands
Explore Supports & Practices Shared
💛 Self-care is not an after burnout practice; it is a before, during and after practice.
💛 Self-care can include many different things:
Self-love and compassion (whatever that looks like for you)
Mindfulness and Meditation
Hydration - Lots of water, a cup of tea a day
Breathing: Taking a deep breath and also taking space to pause, reflect
Maintaining connection and community
💛 Be flexible and find what works for you.
As we journey together in our Creating Healing Centered Communities series, we are co-creating space for us to foster personal, relational and collective belonging and wellbeing (I, You, & We). During this workshop, we turned the attention towards the I.
We engaged in deep listening and storytelling in which we explored our individual stress zones (optimal & toxic), and discussed the complexities & pitfalls of “self-care”.
Key Perspectives Shared
➡️ Stress zones:
In what ways do we become a reflection of oppressive & toxic work cultures?
Toxic stress is a “soul wound”, disconnection of mind & body..
Individual & collective advocacy is critical to recenter into optimal stress zone
➡️“Self-Care”
Self-care is commodified in the US: Inauthentic & Inequitable
Obstacles to self-care: lack of time, ourselves (not letting go of work)
Work environment/culture not supportive of self-care, self-care is single-layered & unexplained
We closed the session by leaning into a more nuanced understanding of self-care as a liberatory & transformative practice:
💛 Self-care is not simply a toolkit of practices; it is a way of being with ourselves.
💛Self-care is showing up for ourselves with grace & space.
💛Self-care is holistic and restores the harmonious connection between the mind, body & spirit.
View the session agenda, session slides, and recording (PW: WT..2cFb) for more.
We are continuing to co-create space for us to foster personal, relational and collective belonging and wellbeing (I, You, & We). During this workshop, we turned the attention towards the YOU.
We engaged in deep listening, storytelling & reflection, co-defining what it means to be in right relationship with others, and exploring the complexities of work-space relationships.
Key Perspectives Shared
➡️ What does it look & feel like when we're in right relationship with others?
Feels good, feels peaceful, safe to make mistakes and be vulnerable
Easy, good energy, Joy
"Powerful when aligned."
➡️Work relationships are complex:
Positionality (race/ethnicity, gender, age, years of experience, etc.)
Power dynamics (explicit & implicit) - Titles/credentials, work styles (what's privileged?)
Power dynamics & relational conflict - Whose perspective is privileged?
How does our own "stuff" show up in relationships - (emotions, stress & triggers)?
How does the organizational culture affect relationships?
We closed the session by highlighting core practices to foster authentic relationships:
💛 Co-define/design structures for connection
💛Prioritize transformative over transactional processes
💛Practice Calling In when there's conflict/harm
💛Acknowledge Intent vs. Impact
💛Engage in Authentic Listening
💛Be aware of & take ownership of your "stuff"
View the session agenda, session slides, and recording (PW: 58NTP7P%) for more.
As we journey together in our Creating Healing Centered Communities series, we are continuing to co-create space for us to foster personal, relational and collective belonging and wellbeing (I, You, & We). During this workshop, we turned the attention towards the We.
We engaged in deep listening, reflection & dialogue, identifying the hallmarks of & exploring the threats to organizational wellbeing.
Key Perspectives Shared
➡️ Hallmarks of Wellbeing:
Effective: Communication; Clarity of roles/expectations; "Everyone is on the same page."
Reflective: Critical dialogue of what is & isn't working
Affective: "I feel safe"; desire to belong to the community; clarity of purpose
➡️ Threats to Wellbeing:
Org. cultures are deeply layered & complex: Power dynamics & inequitable structures & practices
Compounding stressors (program closures, layoffs, etc.)
Culture of Urgency; "Rushing to do something" w/out the full picture
Performative vs. Authentic commitment/action towards racial equity & inclusion
Chaos, relational fragmentation & indifference
We closed the session by uplifting core practices to cultivate resilient organizational communities:
💛 Create space to collectively unpack org. complexities & challenges
💛 Refocus on mission & vision; connect personal mission/vision w/ org. mission/vision
💛 Create spaces to foster connection (Team lunches, retreats, etc.)
💛 Create a culture of care: Collective grounding practices; cultivate self-care awareness
View the session agenda, session slides, and recording for more.
During our final session of our Creating Healing Centered Communities series, we centered the wellbeing of young people, exploring how adults and young people fit together in the collective We.
We engaged in deep listening, reflection & dialogue, critically reflecting on the following question posed by afterschool practitioner & scholar, Dr. Ginwright, at the Reimagining the Future of Afterschool conference,
"How can our youth work shift our society from trauma to transformation?"
Key Perspectives Shared
➡️ What is transformational change? What is transformative about Transformative SEL:
A metamorphosis, evolving, a new way that makes the old way impossible, gets at root-causes
TSEL is not an add-on. It is to be embedded into the fabric of our programs.
TSEL is a process, not a set of outcomes or competencies to master.
➡️ There are many roadblocks on the journey towards transformation:
Program practices & processes that uphold white supremacy - urgency, perfectionism, emphasis on numbers/outcomes, etc.
How can we “be the change” when we don’t have the support/commitment of leadership?
Performative vs. authentic change
➡️ Transformational change starts with us - “Being the change”:
Our CHCC series has been all about transforming ourselves - modeling & embodying TSEL for young people:
Self-Awareness of our stress levels, how we show up in relationships, our work styles, etc.
Engaging authentically, leaning into difficult conversations, holding ourselves and others accountable
We closed the session by uplifting core practices to cultivate healing centered spaces that foster Transformative SEL:
💛 Create space to engage young people in inquiry based critical reflection & dialogue
💛 Cultivate empathy & hold space for vulnerability
💛 Create cultures of care that affirm & uplift the identities of all young people
View the session agenda, session slides, and recording (PW: #VRea3EC )for more.
As we continue to support each other on our wellbeing journey, we are populating this Resource Library with updates and resources and invite you to subscribe to our newsletters to stay in the loop.