Chicago Minds proudly presents The Trauma Series with Linda Thai, occurring on the first Tuesday of each month over June, July, August and September. Detailed event descriptions of each workshop will be posted on our event page one month in advance.

Sliding scale and student discounts are generously sponsored by Jane , an online platform for health and wellness practitioners that makes it simple to book, chart, schedule, bill and get paid.

06/07 Phase oriented trauma treatment  

07/05 Fawning, appeasement and the somatics of trauma within the dynamics of oppressive systems 

08/02 Working with Developmental Trauma: Demystifying Structural Dissociation of the Personality

09/06 Body Hacks to Calm and Restore the Nervous System

Fawning, appeasement and the somatics of trauma within the dynamics of oppressive systems

The first part of this presentation will focus on the somatics (the body and nervous system) of trauma:

The role of fawning and appeasement – although distinctly different responses – are often overlooked survival mechanisms to a traumatic situation, experience, circumstance or inhabiting a stigmatized identity.

Fawning – the giving up of authenticity in order to belong – is an adaptive strategy to maintain the relationship and/or to avoid the potential feelings of abandonment, shame, rejection, criticism, conflict. It is an attempt to find safety through instantaneously re-shaping oneself in order to manage or care-take the nervous system of The Other / The Threat.

Appeasement, on the other hand is the self-snuffing of life force energy in order to survive and, while metabolically taxing and soul-destroying, is also a survival imperative within power hierarchies.

On top of being over-looked, these two survival strategies tend to get confused with dorsal shutdown – the dissociated ragdoll of flaccid immobility in the face of imminent death – and high freeze where the unpotentiated extreme survival energy of fight and flight are frozen expressions of tonic immobility.

The second part of this presentation will explore power – the dynamics of domination and subordination in all forms of trauma:

A framework for conceptualizing the impact of the philosophical and structural nature of oppression on identity ( -isms, such as sexism, classism, racism, homophobism, transphobism, ableism) will allow you to recognize the relationship between internalized oppression and lateral/horizontal violence, and their impact upon the well-being, sense of self-identity, and sense of cultural identity of BIPOC individuals and communities.

You will leave this presentation being able to engage meaningfully in an anti-oppressive approach to clinical mental health service provision to individuals who identities are marginalized by society.

Objectives

In this presentation, you will:

– Distinguish between fawning, appeasement, fight, flight, freeze, and dorsal shutdown as survival strategies.

– Apply the Four I’s of Oppression across class, race, sex and other -isms, with emphasis on its application within the context of psychotherapy and neuroception of safety.

– Recognize the relationship between internalized oppression and lateral/horizontal violence, and their impact upon the well-being, sense of self-identity, and sense of cultural identity of BIPOC individuals and communities.

– Be empowered to engage meaningfully in an anti-oppressive approach to clinical mental health service provision to individuals who identities are marginalized by society.

This workshop is suitable for anyone who works with, or is seeking to specialize in working with, trauma and individuals or communities who identities are marginalized by society.

About the Speaker

Linda Thai, LMSW, ERYT-200, CLYL

Linda is a mental health clinician, storyteller, and educator who has had her own lived experiences of individual, collective, historical and cultural traumatization…and healing. She uses her background in trauma therapy, somatic therapies and yoga to guide others through steps that help you to recognize and safely release tension through resourcing the body. She believes in empowering others through education and skills, thereby igniting potential and fueling your innate desire to learn, to grow, to heal.

Linda is an adjunct faculty member in the Social Work Department at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and specializes in trauma-informed care and compassion fatigue resilience skills; Mental health clinician at ND Systems, specializing in somatic therapies and trauma therapy. She assists internationally renowned psychiatrist and trauma expert, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, with his private small group psychotherapy workshops aimed at healing attachment trauma. In her work at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, she is responsible for training clinicians in all departments, including psychology, nursing and medicine. She has a Master of Social Work with an emphasis on the neurobiology of attachment and trauma.

Workshop participants who opt to receive CE certification, please select the CEU option. This workshop fulfills requirement for 1.5 CE credits. CE sponsorship is approved by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), credits are applicable to LCSW and transferrable to LCPC in Illinois. If you have a different licensure or are licensed outside of Illinois, please check with your licensure body before purchasing. 

Please note that we require your live attendance in order to issue CE certificates. If you are unable to attend live, please let us know at least 24 hours before the event.