Trauma-Informed Training: The Science & Practice of Therapeutic Chairwork

Please note that this is an in-person, experiential group workshop, and is limited to a maximum of 24 participants.

This workshop was developed due to demand for a deeper and more experiential learning on four topics which are covered in our "Healing Limiting & Trauma-Based Beliefs" trainings.

For dates and detail on the other trainings in this series (ie: Breathwork, Therapeutic Re-enactments, and Systemic Constellations - all focused on healing limiting & trauma-based beliefs); please see: www.trishwalsh.ca/trauma-training

WORKSHOP DETAILS:

DATE: Saturday, January 11, 2025

TIME: 10:00AM am to 5:00PM PST

VENUE: Green Thumb Theatre, in Studio A. Vancouver, BC

Chairwork is a powerfully transformative therapeutic tool which invites dialogue as if you are speaking directly to a problematic individual in your life and they are speaking back to you. Chairwork can also be used as a highly transformative tool to speak to, and heal, aspects of theself. This two way exchange is expressive and experiential going beyond cognitive “talk” to evoke a deeper understanding of inner dilemmas, uncover unconscious patterns, and correct long-held limiting beliefs. This powerful modality allows us to speak "from vs about".

This training was developed following a tremendous demand to practice this modality following its demonstration at our "Healing Limiting and Trauma-Based Beliefs" workshops. We are offering this workshop in response to requests for additional practical and experiential opportunities to use Chairwork in assisting in identifying and transforming limiting beliefs. This is one of a series of four experiential learnings, so keep an eye out for other workshops on Breathwork, Re-enactments and Systemic Constellations - all focused on healing limiting and trauma-based beliefs.

This workshop combines both theoretical and experiential frameworks and attendees will have the opportunity to learn and practice of various chairwork tools in a supportive environment in which supervision and instruction will be provided. Chairwork is often an intense and profound experience which can be used for both personal healing and as a tool in therapy for guiding clients.

Learning Outcomes

1) The history, science and research on the therapeutic use of Chairwork. Why and when would you want to use it?

2) What is Chairwork - an indepth description of the process, and variations of Chairwork.

3) Introducing Chairwork to Clients

4) Overview of the Therapeutic Considerations

5) Live demonstrations of Chairwork

6) Practical application in both guiding the Chairwork process and being guided in the process.

7) Using Chairwork for healing parts of Self

8) Avoiding common errors

9) Aspects of Chairwork which can be used on our own, working with healing aspects of self

10) Integration of the experience

Facilitators:

Angela Baff, BApSc (ME), BSc (OT), MTC, RCS

Angela is a counselling therapist, registered counselling supervisor and breathwork facilitator working in private practice in Vancouver BC. She also holds a BApSc (Mechanical Engineering), and a BSc (Occupational Therapy) a 28 year OT career which she has recently retired from. Angela has been an instructor, workshop facilitator and public speaker with a counselling training and personal growth organization called Clearmind International since 2005 and was a regular facilitator of their Awakening workshops. She values and cherishes the transformation that occurs when people step into all aspects of themselves. Her belief is that we are all on this journey together and her own work and learning is never done.

Angela has additional training in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Systemic Family Constellations, Inherited Family Trauma, Family Systems Theory, Emotional Focused Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Transpersonal Psychology, Cathartic/Holotropic Breathwork instruction and facilitation, and Non-Violent Communication.

Angela was drawn to her own healing journey due to feeling empty in all parts of her life: work, intimate relationships, and friendships to name a few. She prided herself in being independent, smart and able to figure things out on her own. This emptiness was different, there was no book, no strategy, no “let’s just put a smile on my face and move on” attitude; nothing was shifting this void no matter what she tried! She realized that all her strategies were keeping her safe but numb and it took being vulnerable and openly sharing with others to shift her inner world. It was a humbling, trusting and connective experience which infused her being with the truth that we are all connected, and that love exists. For her, love always felt elusive and ‘out there’, something she had to earn. Through the power of being vulnerable and open, Angela absolutely knows without a shadow of a doubt that love exists inside!! What a weird and wonderful fact!

She doesn’t presume to know what love is, but its grace has knocked on her heart and she has followed the call to support others to find their own unique path to the joy and love that lives inside of them. She is determined and passionate in this pursuit. It’s in diving off the edge into the unknown, into the scary, into the hidden that hones her skill to guide others into the depth of that territory. Angela leads with a gentle, accepting, and direct manner and has a deep reverence for our human dilemmas as it is the messy stuff of growth and healing.

She leaves you with a quote: “People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” – Carl Jung.

Trish Walsh BA, MTC

Trish Walsh, BA, MTC, is a Registered Master Therapeutic counsellor, instructor and workshop facilitator, located in Vancouver, British Columbia; the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. From 2008 – 2016 Trish was the Executive Director of the InnerChange Foundation; a Canadian foundation with the mandate of increasing funding, education and awareness in the area of addiction and concurrent disorders.

Since 2017 Trish has focused on developing and facilitating strength-based trauma informed trainings, education and supervision, for counselling program students, along with health and mental health professionals already working in the field who are interested in updating their knowledge and skills in the area of trauma healing, and increasing relational resiliency. Since 2015 Trish has been a therapist in private practice and an instructor in a 3-year counselling accreditation training program. Trish provides trauma-informed, and resilience-informed, trainings and workshops on healing intergenerational trauma, collective trauma, compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, and moral injury, to front line workers, school teachers/school administrators, organizations, and the general public. Trish’s growing focus from 2021 to the present are trainings to help strengthen individuals' relational-resiliency (“response-flexibility”), with the aim of helping to heal individual and collective/societal polarization.

In addition to Trish’s counselling practice, her work over the last 20 years has focused on knowledge translation: specifically, conveying research findings in medicine and mental health care to government decision makers, and to physicians, mental health professionals, allied health care providers, along with corporations, community groups and the general public. She has also consulted for several organizations to bring health information to their staff, stakeholders, and the general public. Trish has a particular passion for conveying research information in an engaging and easy to understand way, aiding decision makers in their funding and public policy decisions, and helping individuals to learn practical strategies for better health, happiness, and personal success.

Trish also provides training in Trauma-Informed Coaching and Transpersonal Coaching, for professional coaches.

For more information please see: www.trishwalsh.ca

Participant feedback from our last workshop on Healing Limiting & Trauma-Based Beliefs (March 9, 2024):

“Very well done!! Authentic facilitators, very knowledgeable. Thank you for a wonderful day!"

“Incredible material! Thank you! Your voices were soothing and calming which is great for this topic. Thank you!”

"I really liked the context, it built upon what I’ve been working on in my practice, and in my work. Keep up the great work! “

“I loved the exercises and resources offered!"

"Thank you so much for your authenticity and your genuine thoughts. I learned so much from you, and I’m excited to learn more!”

“I felt feelings I was not expecting - and I learned about some of my limiting beliefs that I didn’t know about. “

“I loved all of the group exercises and examples. It felt like real hands on learning!”
“The facilitators made the environment feel safe. Thank you! “

“A whole weekend workshop would be more than welcome! Lovely, willing group of people. And lots of beautiful, helpful info! Thank you for creating such a warm and welcoming learning space.”
“I appreciated the openness of everyone and the vulnerability of the presenters. And I appreciate the resource list we’ll be given. I enjoyed the variety of resources and techniques we were shown. The subject matter was enough to be thought provoking but not too emotional. “

Other recent feedback:

"Trish presented her trauma-informed workshop at our staff retreat for professional and mental health development. This workshop is incredibly helpful, informative and relevant for everyone who wants to better understand themselves and those around them whether in a corporate or social setting. It dives into the biological and psychological reasons of why we react the way we do, and provides guidance on how to manage and change behaviours. I’ve done several different corporate personality and behavioural tool analysis, and none of them have been as insightful, or as useful, as this workshop both professionally and personally. Thanks again for a great workshop". Cindy Chetley | High Performance Coordinator Nordiq Canada, Canmore, Alberta

"Your presentation was amazing and we’ve had nothing but positive feedback from staff. It was the perfect workshop to have before our leadership course. The two workshops were very complimentary and having the information you presented going into the leadership course made the learnings easier to understand and more meaningful. Thank you for sending us all the resources, it will be shared with all of the attendees. Thanks again! "

"Hi Trish, I’m echoing Cindy’s comments above, especially the one around setting us up for the rest of our retreat – I recognized triggers in myself I wouldn’t have otherwise. It was also nice to meet you in person. We’re hopeful we get to work with you again! THANKS! " - Megan Begley | Chief Operating Officer, SafeSport Officer Nordiq Canada, Canmore Alberta https://nordiqcanada.ca/

"Trish, thank you for your wonderful presentation on Trauma-Informed Care. The feedback received from many of the participants was very positive, with many people saying it was the highlight of the 3 day conference! We found it highly valuable". - BC Provincial Health Authority

"Trish's presentation to our group was not only informative but incredibly insightful. Her warm approach, well attuned and focused presence and wonderful sense of humour made for an excellent transformative learning experience for all." -Izumi Miki McGruer, BC Regional Vice President Advisor Solutions, Canada Life

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Green Thumb Theatre, 5522 McKinnon Street, Vancouver, Canada