Transforming trauma: A Community Approach to Healing

Corrymeela and Starling Collective are excited to announce a 3-day series of collective transforming trauma events in partnership with Dr James S. Gordon and the Center for Mind Body Medicine: 

Transforming trauma: A Community Approach to Healing

Collective trauma requires collective healing. Together, more than ever, reimagining cross cultural collective trauma informed responses of hope and healing are vital to repair relationships and collective harms within NI society.

Day 1

Community Approach to Trauma: A journey 

10th April 2024 – Long Gallery, Stormont Parliament Buildings: (Registration 9.30am -3pm )

Corrymeela in partnership with Starling Collective have been leading on a ground-breaking collective transforming project, delivering trauma informed approaches to practice training to over 160 professionals, practitioners and volunteers. Together with a consortium of partners, ANAKA Collective, The Hummingbird Project, Place to Wonder, Counselling All Nations, L.O.R.A.G and Belfast Massage Project, we have supported over 2000 asylum and refugee communities in the midst of trauma, and adversity.

Building on the project momentum of the last two and half years we are excited to be joined by international acclaimed speaker and author, Clinical professor, Dr. James S. Gordon, Founder and CEO of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine.

Join us for an inspiring day of celebrate to end of the Trauma Project, and share lessons learned, lived experience, and practice with multiple communities and organisations, throughout NI and beyond.

Day 2

Transforming trauma: A model in practice

11th April 2024 - Location:  Mac Theatre, Belfast: The Factory Time: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm 

Corrymeela and Starling Collective are excited to announce, world reknowned trauma expert and author Dr James S Gordon, CMBM  will lead a unique opportunity to participate in a collective transforming trauma workshop.

About this event:

The Center for Mind Body Medicine introductory workshop will provide an overview of mind-body medicine and will include a grounding in the science that supports it and practical experience of several self-care techniques. Attendees will learn how stress and trauma impact physical and psychological health. They will practice several evidence-based self-care skills to address and reduce their stress. And they will learn how to use these skills with their patients, clients, and students. This workshop will include both didactic presentations and experiential learning as well as an overview of how this approach has been integrated into community programs. 

Day 3

A Community Approach to Healing                                    

12th April 2024: Queens University Belfast Canada Room :  2pm-5pm                              

Collective trauma requires collective healing

Together, more than ever, reimagining accessible, cross-cultural, trauma informed healing modalities of hope and healing are critical towards a vision whereby communities can live in safety, dignity, equity, and hope, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, disability, or sexual orientation.

Over the last two and half years Corrymeela and Starling Collective, partnering with Center for Mind Body Medicine, have been on a trauma informed journey listening to groups, communities, and workforces within the asylum and refugee context in Northern Ireland.

Join us for an afternoon of exploration and discussion to disseminate the project findings and how an international model is applying scientific and evidence-based trauma informed model of healing throughout different conflict zones worldwide.

Guest speakers:

Dr. James S Gordon - The Center for Mind-Body Medicine

James S. Gordon, MD, a Harvard-educated psychiatrist, and a pioneer of mind-body medicine and integrative medicine, is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine. He is a clinical professor at Georgetown Medical School and was chair of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy (under Presidents Clinton and G.W. Bush). He is the author, most recently, of Transforming Trauma: The Path to Hope and Healing.

Siphiwe Moyo, B.A Hons, M.A.- Empower IE

Siphiwe is currently employed by Empower IE, as a Community Development Worker supporting Refugees and International Protection Applicants, and is a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Advisory Board member.

Siphiwe is advocating for policy change and establishing an anti-racist network within the Republic of Ireland and beyond.

Holds a BA Hons in Community and Youth Work, and a Master of Arts in Refugee Integration

Denise Bradley, BSc Hons (1st) Psych. Trauma, LLM - Corrymeela

Denise has over 25 years of leadership, management, and practitioner experience in Northern Ireland's community and statutory sectors working with trauma and healing within marginalised populations, including female survivors of domestic and sexual violence, gender-based violence, displacement, and conflict.

Denise is an accredited trauma-informed practitioner, and Programme Manager for Marginalisation at Corrymeela, and since joining the staff team has been leading in the development of implementing trauma-informed approaches as a critical peacebuilding mechanism, both regionally and beyond.