Trauma-Informed Creative Writing for Women of Color

Join us for ‘Trauma-Informed Creative Writing for Women of Color: Reclaiming Pleasure, Rest & Wellness’ at Arts Court in Ottawa and online via Zoom.

This workshop features psychoeducation on how trauma impacts the brain & body, and beliefs about wellness & worthiness. Creative writing is paired with trauma-informed practices, breathwork, mindfulness and gentle movement to support you with reconnecting with your body’s wisdom and feelings. You will be supported in exploring pleasure, rest and wellness from a place of self-empowerment, guided by the connection between your mind and body through writing.

You can expect:

✨A cozy & chill environment surrounded by other WoC, artists & writers of diverse experiences inside the beautiful Micaela Finch room in Arts Court.

✨Psychoeducation: presented on how trauma impacts the brain & body, and ways of experiencing self-connection through mind-body practices & creative writing.

✨Creative writing prompts paired with breathwork, mindfulness and gentle movement to explore topics connected with pleasure, rest & wellness.

✨Community Discussion: Sharing ideas, writing, and support for each other.

Trauma can disconnect us from our bodies, our stories, and the pleasure we deserve. For Women of Color, this experience is often compounded by societal pressures, racism, and generational trauma. In this workshop, we create a healing space for self-exploration and creative expression through creative writing that incorporates trauma-informed practices, breathwork, mindfulness and gentle movement.

Psychoeducation will be presented on how trauma impacts the brain and body, and ways of creating / writing from a place of mind-body connection.

We’ll explore how trauma can alter memory processing and emotional responses through the hypothalamus and amygdala, affecting self-expression and beliefs about worthiness.

Understanding these connections is key to reclaiming wellness and pleasure.

Through trauma-informed practices like breathwork, mindfulness, and somatic awareness, you’ll learn how to gently reconnect with your body and emotions through writing in a way that feels safe and empowering. We’ll use creative prompts, trauma education, and writing as tools for self-care and empowerment. This workshop offers an invitation to show up authentically, reclaim rest and pleasure, and leave feeling renewed.

About the Facilitator: Shalyn Isaacs, M.Ed Counselling Psychology

Shalyn Isaacs has been facilitating mental health and trauma education workshops every year for academic, corporate and non-profit organizations since 2016. She holds a Masters of Education in Counselling Psychology from the University of Toronto and held a private practice specializing in working with survivors of racial and gender-based violence. She has worked as a Mindfulness Facilitator at York University and the University of Toronto. She founded a grassroots organization called Womens Mental Health Talks at York University in 2016 that provided bi-weekly mental health peer support groups for women and gender diverse communities. In 2020 she founded the Embodied Liberation program that welcomed a small cohort of racialized women to learn together and from each other about trauma, healing, and somatics (mind-body-spirit connection) from a decolonizing framework.

She believes mental health education and creative writing are powerful tools for supporting collective healing and social-political change.

Her work involves bringing communities together to learn, share, and support each other towards personal growth and generational healing.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Arts Court, 2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa, Canada