Join us For a Communal & Decolonized Approach to Well-Being

What is a decolonized approach to well-being? It’s one that recognizes and resists ingrained ways of thinking and behaving related to dominance and power. By embracing practices around embodied living, we can reestablish our natural inclinations towards connection which impact health. When we practice embodiment, our body experiences safety which facilitates presence, an essential quality if we are to connect with others even in the midst of conflict and difference.

Though most of us are born with these essential mechanisms and inclinations towards connection, there is a growing consensus that we are living in a world of increasing disconnection, addiction, exhaustion, burnout, misery and hopelessness. This has been compounded with the onset of Covid, the attack on the US Capitol, racial injustice, issues related to freedom of speech, and political polarization. Social distancing exacerbated the isolation many experienced before Covid.

Much of this is manifesting in decreased tolerance for difference and conflict which individuals, families and communities have experienced as punishment, exile and reactivity which exacerbate isolation, disconnection and rejection.

Discover and Practice Decolonized Approaches for Personal and Professional Growth

Strife, polarization and discord affect mental health and our approach to healing

Whether you are a practitioner or have experienced therapy as a client, or both, it’s likely that the training underlying theoretical approaches used for healing reflect and reinforce underlying power dynamics rooted in monocentrism and supremacy that perpetuate pathology. The conditioning runs so deep, even with post graduate training centered on embodied practices, it’s hard not to slip in and out of conditioning that is rooted well within psychology practices, thinking and research.

A checklist or information sheet regarding these practices is insufficient to dissolve generations of subconscious learning. It takes consistent practice to automate healthier behaviors and patterns of thinking.  More importantly, our lives are not static.  Learning is a process that unfolds over time in the context of our everyday interactions and daily activities.  

If the underlying and often emotionally charged assumptions, expectations and perspectives riddled with inequities and historical legacies of social injustice don't change, nothing will really change.  The polarization, disconnect and oppression will continue.

  

Spend six weeks over alternating *Fridays and Sundays learning and interacting with Meira Greenfeld, a renowned activist, community leader, educator, clinician and attorney where she will education and provide strategies and thought provoking inquiry to transform your thinking with respect to well-being, and in particular, how you approach conflict and difference.

Learn in Community Over Six Weeks

If you care about your personal and professional growth, you've probably already experienced or witnessed amazing instances of transformation and possibility.  You will also have had some awareness of what it takes to change.  However, even experienced professionals can struggle with new paradigms and get stuck or stressed when it comes to dealing with novel or politically charged experiences.  If we have unresolved trauma, this can also make us susceptible to internalized prejudices and blind-spots.  

Besides, growth isn't linear. You aren't going to meet every type of person or situation in which a clash based on race or other intersecting identity might occur. And in many cases, it isn't enough to possess awareness and humility.

This six week extended workshop allows you to practice the perspectives you will discover over time.  We simply learn better in a communal setting with time to implement what we learn in our everyday settings and return again to the community setting to address any nuances and inconsistencies.  Unlearning and relearning takes time.

How might this interactive learning benefit you?

Ever feared being "cancelled" or "called-out" by friends, colleagues or family? If so, this interactive learning experience is for you.

No matter what information a trainer provides, you have to bring your grounded self to the learning space. At least an awareness and ability to get to that space and know when you are not. See, it's not so much about learning about the "other." It's about learning about you. And you with another. It's about your tolerance for difference.

Decolonizing your experience so that you are more attuned in the midst of conflict and difference is like learning a new language.  It takes some courage, patience and willingness to let go of the guard rail a bit to just start.  If you can do that,  you'll be better able to connect with another and co-create a reality in which difference is not an inherent liability or barrier to inclusion.  Moreover, you will give yourself the chance to experience new vitality and energy as you shift away from oppressive practices that affect our well-being.

Oppression isn't Just What Happens to Other People.

Do You Recognize the Footprints?

✓  Perfectionism

✓  Productivity

✓ Burnout

✓ Fatigue

✓ Isolation

✓ Sense of urgency

✓ Intolerance 

✓ Fear of confrontation

✓ People pleasing

✓ Win or lose

✓ Paternalism

✓ Gaslighting

Being aware of these patterns is not sufficient. If that were the case, most therapists could provide their clients with checklists and send them on their way.  Connecting the dots is a lot harder than most people think.  When oppression has been internalized and intersects with other people's intersections, well, it can be quite difficult to sort out the toxicity.  And distressing.  Sorting oppression out inevitably impacts our identity and is not an undertaking that lends itself to a quick fix.  In most cases, awareness is followed by swift stress responses to protect that identity.  This will be the *meat* of these upcoming interactive sessions.

Don't let this opportunity pass you by.

Learn By Doing

Maybe you're a little bit anxious about exposing your true fears or thoughts to other participants.  Are you self-conscious about how you might present in a world that is divisive regarding matters of race, politics, gender, culture, immigration status, sexual preference?  You may even be asking yourself how you can be authentic when you are afraid of making a mistake. 

Well, isn't it worse not knowing? Being unsure? Winging it?  Or would you rather put your foot in it at the wrong time if you are caught unawares and stressed.  It happens all the time that individuals suffer personal or professional repercussions from not knowing.  You need guidance that is informed, reliable and supportive as you explore this terrain and reclaim your confidence and expertise as a competent and caring professional AND human being.

This workshop is designed to facilitate real learning with practical and "hands-on" information to YOUR questions.

You Have More to Lose Living in Doubt or Fear

What You'll Learn and What We Will Cover:

We will touch on the context that inhibits open discussions of conflict and difference and then explore common scenarios that lead to breakdowns in connection.  Active listening isn't usually enough to help with attunement in a narrative fraught with anxiety, confusion, anger and other reactivity, implicit and explicit, then you are vulnerable to continued discomfort and disconnection.  Often what's at stake is inexperience processing conflict.  We live influenced by a dominant culture with underlying messages of "winner takes all."  

✓  How to become more action-oriented in your ability to confront racism and oppression

✓  Learn how oppressive forces have been so effective for so long

✓ Discern between conflict, harm, abuse and trauma

✓ Discover practices that build competence and resilience

✓ What is meant by "institutionalized oppression"  and how do you detect its effects in your work environment

✓ How do you actively listen when you don't understand or relate to what is being said?

✓ Is good intent sufficient to culturally attune to your audience?

✓ Is retreat always the best option if you are in the middle of a discussion that has become toxic?

✓ How might you best respond to being called a racist? 

✓ What is the difference between Conflict Theory and Critical Race Theory and why might either matter?

✓ Is "Cancel Culture"  now a bad thing?


✓ Does White Privilege prohibit real connection between those who identify as white and other races?  

✓ What responsibility do mental health professionals bear in dismantling systemic oppression and structural racism particularly as these forces have been perpetuated by the mental health profession?

✓ Is Social Justice devolving into word policing and virtue signaling? 

✓ How do we discern performative action from real and impactful effort?

✓ Can those from traditionally marginalized groups be oppressive and/or racist?  

✓ Does lived experience trump rational thinking?

✓ Can "wokeness"  go too far and cause more harm than good? 

✓ Is racial trauma distinct from PTSD?

✓ Do Identity Politics distract from issues such as the unequal economic and financial system that benefits the top 1 percent more than the rest of the nation? 



“There must exist a paradigm, a practical model for social change that includes an understanding of ways to transform consciousness that are linked to efforts to transform structures.” — bell hooks

You'll Learn From:

Social activist and racial justice advocate

Meira Greenfeld, JD, LCSW, ASDCS, CTTP has been involved in activism and advocacy for decades having been inspired by the activism of her parents and grandparents who impacted many lives with their community work. Their work reflected an inherent respect for human dignity and resilience. Meira has witnessed and lived in places of active civil unrest that include the Caribbean and the Middle East.

Her experience of cross-cultural dynamics is informed by a mixed racial background and lived experience in five different countries that reflect opposing colonial experiences and perspectives regarding race. She is a sought-after speaker and Harvard Law graduate with a passion for helping individuals transform despair, anger and frustration into actual and impactful change. She was a student of Professor Derrick Bell, the founder of Critical Race Theory from whom she learned Constitutional Law.

She has over 15 years experience of conflict resolution and negotiation experience that includes working with entities such as IBM and Microsoft in addition to representational work as a Board Member of the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project which required her testimony at state proceedings following prison uprisings in Massachusetts.

She is also an experienced social activist with award winning community work for leadership and public service that includes work within the LGBTQ community acknowledged in Duke Law J. 1988 Feb; (1): 29-70 by Dr. Troyen A. Brennan, M.D., for research assistance on a study that advocated for greater access to health care for those diagnosed with AIDS early in the epidemic.

Meira is currently working in private practice as a licensed trauma psychotherapist specializing in C-PTSD, relational-based trauma, addiction, autism, identity cohesion and racial/intergenerational trauma. Her current aspiration involves expanding her practice to cultivate leadership among providers and community members. Among her goals, she wishes to support change that increases access to mental health services while also improving the conditions and terms under which providers work.


Here's the plan:

EVENT DURATION AND DATE

We will reconvene the next cohort May-June, 2023. 9:30 am PST /11:30 am EST for two hours alternating on Sundays and Fridays so as to accommodate different schedules. There will be a total of six sessions over three months.  

SUBMIT QUESTIONS IN ADVANCE

I will try to respond to every question you send.  Let me know if you want to remain anonymous.


GET TO KNOW ME OR OTHER ATTENDEES IN ADVANCE

You can chat with me on FB, on messenger, but preferably by email. You can also text me at 602-691-6560.   Participate in Q&A during the workshop.  It would be nice, but you don't have to be on camera.  I will record only a portion of each session, about 30 minutes at the start to honor the comfort level and privacy of all who attend.

Waitlist Today

You can build authentic connections with colleagues or clients outside of your cultural/racial identity.

THIS WORKSHOP IS FOR YOU IF

  • It bothers you that you might be offending people with unknown  prejudices.
  • You wish for authentic connections with BIPOC clients, colleagues and friends.
  • Your work environment  lacks inclusivity.
  • You would like to participate in meaningful change that supports real equality and empowerment.
  • Equality aligns with your personal commitment and values.

YOU ARE NOT QUITE READY IF

  • You are satisfied with your affirming practices.
  • You don't wish to work with BIPOC clients.
  • Your therapeutic style or agency requirements require "by the book" treatment with little room for adaptation or accommodation for client preferences.
  • You are looking for a "quick fix" and a designation that you are free of prejudices.  

Testimonials:

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