Growing Resilience: Being Trauma Informed
13 Week Professional Development Course
For change makers: teachers, administrators, directors,
organizers, legislators, bodyworkers, activists and you
Listen to our 2024 interview with Carl Etnier on his Relocalizing VT radio show through WGDR:
Growing Resilience Radio Interview |
Instructors: Abbi Jaffe, RSME/T, BSW and Amanda Franz, RSME/T
2026 BIPOC Affinity Facilitator and Teaching Assistant: TBD Feb 7, 2026 - May 9, 2026 Saturdays, 10:30am-2pm No Class March 28 Backup Class: May 16 & May 23 Join us for our 8th Growing Resilience Course. This course occurs annually each winter. |
The prevalence of trauma and its effects are astounding.
Knowing the body holds the experiences of our lives, and given the complexity of the world,
many professionals witness the effects of trauma on a daily basis.
Join a community of professionals and other dedicated change makers
for in-person experiential learning of
somatics, trauma, resilience and social justice
with experienced educators and practitioners.
Create and/or grow your trauma informed classrooms, work places, private practices, activism, board rooms, government and families.
Where do you have power?
Are the places you inhabit trauma informed?
Would you like to grow your tools and capacity to create change?
Let’s create a trauma informed and resilience informed world together.
Learning Objectives:
*You will be able to narrate the effects of trauma and resilience on the body.
*You will have a working knowledge of trauma and its impacts (including personal, cultural, collective and systemic trauma).
*You will orient to the relationship of positionality, trauma and resilience.
*You will have a working knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system.
*You will demonstrate an ability to define and apply integral concepts about trauma and resilience including neuroplasticity, neuroception, and Polyvagal theory.
*You will learn and practice embodiment skills that grow resilience, including grounding, orienting, resourcing, co-regulation, shaking, and titration.
*You will create a list of your own trauma informed principles specific to your professional context or personal life.
*You will be able to narrate the effects of trauma and resilience on the body.
*You will have a working knowledge of trauma and its impacts (including personal, cultural, collective and systemic trauma).
*You will orient to the relationship of positionality, trauma and resilience.
*You will have a working knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system.
*You will demonstrate an ability to define and apply integral concepts about trauma and resilience including neuroplasticity, neuroception, and Polyvagal theory.
*You will learn and practice embodiment skills that grow resilience, including grounding, orienting, resourcing, co-regulation, shaking, and titration.
*You will create a list of your own trauma informed principles specific to your professional context or personal life.
Abbi and Amanda have been creating insightful embodied curriculum for over 10 years.
As experienced Somatic Movement Educators and Therapists, embedded in community resilience organizing, Abbi and Amanda share their unique skill sets to create a whole body learning experience.
This is a potent educational classroom setting that includes experiential, collaborative and embodied learning.
All course activities are optional and can be scaled to meet a diversity of student needs.
“Knowledge is only a rumor until its in the muscle.” (Proverb)
Discover what makes embodied learning different in the Growing Resilience course. Learn more about embodied learning here.
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"The Growing Resilience Course has been a revolutionary experience for me. It is informing the work I do every day with students, and helping me create a more supportive space for everyone in my family too. We are also a new foster family and I highly recommend this course to other foster families. The invitation to be more in tune with my own body has been a wonderful gift. " ~Teacher at U-32, Foster Mom and 2018 Growing Resilience Graduate
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"Growing Resilience: Being Trauma Informed really walked the walk and talked the talk! Working in the mental health sector there are trainings that give you lots of information and focus on trauma-informed language and practices without really embodying the practices. This course changed the way I think, speak, and embody trauma in my personal experience and in relationship to others. The positive and resource-rich focus and fun, engaging facilitation made this the highlight of my week!" ~2018 Growing Resilience Graduate
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The Everything Space's Trauma Informed Definition:
Trauma Informed Space is held by practitioners and community members who are;
Educated in the prevalence and nature of trauma, with an understanding of positional impacts and implications,
Act with compassion and skillfulness,
Actively create a culture where it is safer to listen to the body and share emotion/desires
Embrace the transformative power and strength of vulnerability and triggers, and who
Create space for checking in, feedback, and growing together.
Educated in the prevalence and nature of trauma, with an understanding of positional impacts and implications,
Act with compassion and skillfulness,
Actively create a culture where it is safer to listen to the body and share emotion/desires
Embrace the transformative power and strength of vulnerability and triggers, and who
Create space for checking in, feedback, and growing together.
The Embodied Curriculum Includes:
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Building Resource (practical skills for growing resilience)
Anatomy and Physiology of the Nervous System
Information About Trauma
Creating Trauma Informed Principles and Culture
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Embodiment Practice (skills may include)
Projects
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Logistics and More Info:
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Cost: $2500
Sliding Scale $1200-$3000 We can offer a few spots in each financial tier. BIPOC Folks: 5 spots @ Pay What You Want More info located in our application. *45.5 hours of training and support *Eligible for VSAC Advancement Grants. *Includes a one-on-one mid-course meeting with Abbi or Amanda. Homework: There is 3-4* hours of engaging homework each week. *Take a moment to consider this commitment, as 3-4 hours of homework means 45.5 hours of class time and 40-55 hours of homework over an 13 week time period. Homework includes reading, experiential practices, and the projects listed above. Online links to the readings are provided and you can print the readings for your convenience with an additional cost to you. There is also an online platform for learning and discussion with your classmates. ***We are not currently offering continuing education units (CEUs). But if earning CEUs makes this course more accessible to you, please let us know, as we may be able to help. *You will receive notification of your course enrollment status by Jan 21st.
Contact Amanda Franz with questions: [email protected] ___________________________ Course Deposit: $250 Want to talk to a former student? Have questions? Email us and we will connect you with a former student. |
Your course includes a one-on-one mid-course meeting (1 hr). This meeting is a chance to check in about how the course is going for you, ask any questions about the material or how you are applying the material, check in about your final project or ask any questions about somatic movement education or your professional development in general. This session is an opportunity to be seen and heard, ask questions and choose next actions that will support you in applying the learning from the course into your life and profession.
Studying trauma is potent and can provide a unique access point into your own personal work. In order to support your journey we recommend you make space in your schedule for gentleness, a good night's sleep, and other supportive activities. Note: This is an educational activity, and not a therapy group. We are not able to provide crisis services, or other clinical interventions. We are not mental health providers. As the nature of studying trauma and resilience can be personal in nature for trauma survivors, it is expected that students will seek out mental health supports on their own if needed. We consult on an as needed basis with clinical psychologists that have expertise in trauma recovery. This course welcomes people of all backgrounds, including BIPOC and white participants, recognizing that the main facilitators are white. Both Abbi and Amanda bring years of experience of politicized somatics, racial justice and decolonial work to our practices. We are both in active interrogation of our positionalities and how they shape our experiences and teaching. We recognize colonization and white supremacy as interlocking systems of domination, and hold this container with these systems and their impacts in mind. This course focuses on education and culture creation, and will aim to support folks through affinity spaces and support mapping when personal or cultural content arises. Accessibility Notes:
Activities/practices can be creatively adapted to accommodate personal mind/body capacities. 3rd floor studio accessible by elevator. Covid Policies will be informed and responsive to current community context and may change as needed. Current Policy for this Course: Mask with N95/KN95 or covid antigen testing required to unmask. Air filter will be running. Please don't come if you have new symptoms of illness. |
The vagus nerve is a vital part of our nervous system. It connects your brain to mostly all of your organs and sends signals to the brain about how you are doing and if you are safe. Learn more with us in the course.
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"The Growing Resilience Course has been life changing in numerous ways. I feel like I have an upgraded nervous system with significantly more capacity to meet and impact the world in beneficial ways. Abbi and Amanda model authenticity, honesty and vulnerability in a way that creates a safe enough space for others to do so." ~Chrys T., Somatic Spirit Worker 2023 Growing Resilience Graduate and 2025 Teaching Assistant "This class was a powerful way to learn about the impact of trauma on a body, an individual and a community. The topics and information shared during this class came at a perfect time for events I was dealing with in my life, at work and those that were happening in the world." ~K.B. Educator 2020 Growing Resilience Graduate "As a bodyworker, it is not uncommon for people to access trauma while on the table. Through Abbi and Amanda’s course, I have been able to more consciously create a supportive, safe environment for my clients, be more present and grounded when trauma may arise, and have a clearer sense as to when to make the suggestion to schedule time with a trained therapist." ~H. Turrone, Massage Therapist 2017 Growing Resilience Graduate |
Recommended Reading:
Books we read from in the course:
Books we recommend, influence and/or inspire us:
- My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem
- The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.
- Mindsight, by Daniel Siegel, M.D.
- Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy by Pat Ogden, Kekuni Minton, and Clare Pain
- Clearing Trauma Books 1-5, by Beth Dennison, S.E.P., M.A.
- When the Body Says No, by Gabor Maté M.D.
- Body Sense, by Alan Fogel
- Sacred Instructions, by Sherri Mitchell
- Decolonizing Trauma Work, by Renee Linklater
Books we recommend, influence and/or inspire us:
- In an Unspoken Voice, by Peter Levine, PhD
- 101 Trauma-Informed Interventions, by Linda Curran
- Emergent Strategy, by adrienne maree brown
- Trauma Stewardship, by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky
- Healing Sex by Staci Haines
Amanda Franz
Abbi Jaffe
Sister Sankofa (Former BIPOC Affinity Facilitator)
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Amanda Franz (she/they) and Abbi Jaffe (she/they) are somatic movement educators and therapists with a mission to re-center the body's wisdom in our lives and in our cultures. Through bodywork, education, facilitation, embodiment activism and community building, they invite people into the profound intelligence of their bodies and empower them to bring that intelligence everywhere they go. They are both certified Somatic Body Practitioners, and registered ISMETA Somatic Movement Educators. Abbi has a Bachelor's of Social Work from the University of Vermont and Amanda is a certified Level II Collab trainer and facilitator and has a BA in Visual Arts from Oberlin College. Abbi and Amanda collaboratively curate The Everything Space, a somatic education and therapy studio dedicated to unleashing the intelligence of the body. The Everything Space acknowledges the global implications of climate crisis, collective trauma and embedded systems of oppression and aims to unite personal growth and dynamic social change. They see through the lens of somatics and work to actively unbody white supremacy. |
Testimonials:
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"This course is thought provoking, applicable to current daily life! Everyone needs this course, especially those in the Therapeutic/ Medical / Educational professions. This course is a game changer for sure!!" ~Sister Sankofa 2023 Growing Resilience Graduate, Teaching Assistant & BIPOC Affinity Facilitator and our dear friend "I've been wanting to take this course since well before Covid. But I could never make the timing or cost work for me. I'm so glad I was finally able to take it in 2023- the pacing of the course, the wealth of information, and the gentle facilitation by the teaching team were highlights of my year. I'm a better human, a better practitioner, and a better partner for having taken this course. I'm eager to create safer space in my own office and encourage resilience while honoring the history each person carries in their body. I especially loved the community of folks who took the course along with me - we learned, co-regulated, motored, laughed, and got really deep together. What a gift!" ~ Hannah R, Massage Therapist 2023 Growing Resilience Graduate "Growing Resilience is one of the most impactful courses I have ever engaged in. This course quite literally has changed my life, introducing me to experiences, tools and choice in personal and communal liberation, healing, and life-supporting resilience." ~O.T. 2025 Growing Resilience Graduate "This course exceeded my expectations!" ~Emily B 2023 Growing Resilience Graduate "Throughout the Growing Resilience class with Abbi and Amanda, I was struck by the thoughtfulness of the class design. These classes offered a journey; each and every one. We were given time to connect with ourselves and our bodies; our fellow students using practices relevant to creating trauma-informed spaces; and as a group in both concrete learning and embodied experiences. Their ability to weave this diversity of learning into a coherent class narrative was remarkable." |
This course reassembled me in surprising and renewing ways. I hope more people in our community learn about the gifts of Growing Resilience! ~ MF 2025 Growing Resilience Graduate "I so appreciate the rich density of this class. Trauma is a thick topic, and this class didn't shy away from that complexity. Our adept teachers balanced the complexity of the topic with somatic exercises that allowed us, as students, to come to know our bodies and our experiences more fully. This provided a synergistic balance that, for me personally, allowed me to deepen my learning experientially and practically." ~2018 Growing Resilience Graduate "The Growing Resilience course was a moving and stretching experience for me. Not only did I learn more about the complexities of trauma and the ways in which it manifests, I learned how to deeply listen to and connect with my body. As an educator, I feel more equipped to bring trauma-informed practices into my workplace with an embodiment activist lens. Abbi, Amanda, and Sister Sankofa were incredibly thoughtful and intentional about the course--from the readings to the practices, each component felt purposeful and aligned. I am grateful to feel beautifully connected to a community of empowered, trauma-informed, resilient individuals and professionals. ~nat c., educator 2023 Growing Resilience Graduate & 2025 Teaching Assistant "This course is a balm for the body, heart, and spirit. In these intensely destabilizing times, having more frameworks, language, and a caring community of practice to make sense of it all is invaluable. Partway through the course, I realized something profound had shifted in how I was showing up for myself and my community. I feel more grounded, nimble, and open to holding the complexity of individual and collective trauma and more prepared to wade through uncertain waters to cultivate resilience in myself and in others. The brilliant facilitators Amanda and AJ and TA's Chrys and Nat are gifts to be with in how they joyfully and rigorously guide and model the endless journey of practice. I'm particularly moved by the politicized lens they bring to this work - that we must be acutely in tune with the cultural and structural forces that shape our trauma and our resilience as we seek healing, restoration, and liberation. I wish everyone had access to this course." - Ally Tufenkjian 2025 Growing Resilience Graduate |
