you are not alone
A Community Conversation
Acknowledging Trauma
and Pathways of Healing
virtual workshop
remember the 'truth' of who you are
thursday
november 12, 2020
6:30-8:30 pm
you are not alone A Community Conversation
Acknowledging Trauma
and Pathways of Healing
This panel conversation is the online/virtual continuation of OMA's Trauma programs, and it is designed to create a space for the telling and sharing of stories around our diverse life experiences and to explore the connections between us all.
As Gail Hunter reminds us, "our greatest suffering is a feeling of being disconnected," and as we learn to acknowledge our traumas and bring awareness to the experiences in our life that have brought us pain and severed our connection to self we then begin the journey home.
It is our intention that through the telling of our stories, our panelists and our moderator during the conversation will help to bring awareness of techniques and ways of healing from various forms of trauma.
We hope you can join us for the first of our online series as we continue our journey home to ourselves and to one another.
Callie
Let’s all drop the pretense that we are either normal, or abnormal.
We are all in the same support group: ordinary people who must deal with the struggles that come with being human. We all carry this heavy weight —a trauma, in today’s terminology. We all at the same time struggle to meet our basic human beings’ needs for for connection, community, for being accepted and validated among ones who share our culture and language, or not, for authenticity – the capacity to feel what we feel and to be in touch with our bodies and to express what we feel when we need to.
Fundamentally, that is the ultimate trauma, the disconnection from ourselves.
We want to dedicate this community conversation to and about people who are long to tell their raw stories; who have numbed their tears and lost their pain; who look forward to the return of childhood days to be held by the embrace of love, regardless of their background and ethnicity.
In this series we believe that in the presence compassion healing is possible. Only when compassion is present, we can bear our pain. In the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying the author says, whatever you do don't shut off your pain. Accept your pain and remain vulnerable.
Mai
Our name OMA represents the Ohio, Monongahela, and Allegheny Rivers at the Point in Pittsburgh. It is an unusual occurrence in nature for two rivers to join at a geographical point to form a third river. I have been blessed to experience many ‘unusual’ occurrences of how the amazing power of love, faith, and creativity can promote healing within us and then manifest as energetic connections to those around us. I believe that this same possibility lives and begins within each of us.
agenda
moderator
Callie Gropp
6:30 pm est
opening
Gail Hunter
what is trauma?
6:50
sharing of stories
panel discussion and Q & A
Angela Failor
breakout sessions
8:00
closing
Marilyn Carpenter
Alexander Technique
speakers
Gail Hunter, LCSW, BCD, LLC
President of OMA Center for Mind, Body & Spirit, Inc.
Gail has been in Private Practice as a psychotherapist in the Pittsburgh area since 1979 and is a holistic practitioner using EMDR, Brainspotting, Reiki, Source Point Therapy, ‘Bars’, Theta Healing, TFT, EFT and other Energy Techniques. Gail is a Founding Member and the President of the Board of Directors for OMA. She is a holistic practitioner and has always believed in everyone’s inner capacity to heal into life, to remember the ‘truth’ of who we are innately and the abundance of possibilities we can create. She loves to spend time with her family,friends and pets, and she enjoys Swing/Lindy hop dancing, gardening, and fitness.
Jacqueline Harter
BA Psychology
& Addiction Studies
Hope and meaning can be restored when individuals are empowered to make sense of their current and past emotional experience.
Passionate about socio-emotional literacy and psychosocial education Jacqueline has engaged with both mainstream and Indigenous clients in a range of frameworks including homelessness, early years development, youth at risk, family mediation, family and domestic violence, mental health and substance use, school participation and disability.
As a systemic coach she provides face to face (Australia) and online guidance to individuals and families to build their capacity to navigate life’s ups and downs with self-awareness and determination.
Callie Gropp
BA in History and African American/Black Studies from Oberlin College
Callie Gropp is a passionate educator and a dedicated mother. A native of Pittsburgh, Callie earned a BA in History and African American/Black Studies from Oberlin College. Beginning in 2007, Callie has been teaching and developing innovative and creative curriculum designed to illuminate the ways in which our bodies and brains carry our histories with us. Integrating multicultural education, social justice, and neuroscience, Callie designs curriculum that equips youth with tools and practices useful for self-realization. She supports youth in noticing the ways in which historical and contemporary narratives, shame, and expectations can keep us from connecting with and showing up as our true selves. Callie believes that one person can indeed make a difference, and she strives to create spaces that support all people in their ability to connect with the truth of who they are. She is excited to be a part of the building of–in the words of her son– “a community center for all the people.”
Mai Nguyen, MHS, Compassionate Inquiry
It has been a winding road before Mai arrived at where she is now - studying and advocating for mental health prevention and education that center on human nature connection, compassion, and child development. Earned a Master Degree in Health Management, however Mai has dedicated most of her working years to community health and social work. Her experiences and insights are focused around child early development, child protection, crisis counseling, a holistic view to mental health prevention, and compassionate inquiry approach developed by Dr. Gabor Mate.
Mai is currently a stay at home mother and part time Vietnamese-English interpreter/translator in Pittsburgh which has allowed her to gain understanding of difficulties faced by the Vietnamese community in Pittsburgh and opportunities to support mental health education for people with limited English proficiency. Mai believes that all emotions are rivers that flow and carry our souls, we flow with them to the highest mountains and deepest ocean and then, only then, our souls will be at peace.
Angela Failor, LLC, owner of Shine your light!
has a passion for empowering others to holistically heal from the physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences of trauma and to say “No More” to all forms of abuse. Angela is a Clinical Eden Energy Medicine Practitioner and will be teaching easy and effective energetic techniques to bring the fight, flight, freeze response and other emotions back into a state of balance.
Marilyn Carpenter Marilyn has been in service with Westinghouse and Emerson Power & Water Solutions in Pittsburgh since 1979. Starting as a Field Engineer with a BSEE from The Ohio State University, she began commissioning data acquisition and control systems in the USA. Whether a troubleshooting assignment or project execution with time and budget constraints in the USA or at International sites, these assignments present opportunities to learn and meet people from different backgrounds. Over the years she has enjoyed a variety of roles. Her current responsibilities include providing technical support (24x7) to North American and Latin American customers, with a focus on resolution of escalated issues to the appropriate Subject Matter Expert. She is excited to work with OMA with interests to support personal development and education for all ages and youth STEM programs. She is a teaching member of Alexander Technique International, a Reiki practitioner, a Seimei practitioner, and has studied T’ai Chi Ch’un since 1996. Her long-term interests in holistic wellness, healing, and personal development have led down a variety of paths, some by foot and others through self- exploration and learning from others.
