Women of color, racism and somatic healing Info Sessions

From Irene Green.

Women of color, racism and somatic healing
Are you a woman of color?
Do you sense that your body is holding stress and trauma from your experiences with racism?
Do you want to learn more in a company of other women of color?
Do you want to try body-awareness based therapy for healing the effects of social, collective and historical traumas?

Free INFORMATION SESSIONS:

September 16, 2009, Wednesday
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.

September 19, 2009, Saturday
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

2500 University Ave W, Suite F-5, St. Paul

presented by
Thea M. Lee, M.A., LMFT(CA), SEP
651-319-2110
lee.theam@gmail.com
Thea will be presenting a workshop at the upcoming Color CoordiNATION conference on 9/12.

Biology of Stress and Racism:
You may have had an intuition over the years that your body is holding stress and traumas inside. In the fields of trauma, neuro-science (i.e., science of the nervous system) and developmental psychology, we are beginning to understand that stress/trauma is in fact not in the event or only in the mind but also in the body’s nervous system. The same can be said about stress and traumas caused by racism. Here is how:

Human bodies are biologically wired in the nervous system to respond to stressful/traumatic experiences. When they get stuck in the survival mode of fight/flight/freeze, our bodies will continue to respond to day-to-day events as if the stress/threat is still going on.

The following symptoms are commonly associated with the state of the body being stuck in fight/flight:

* anxiety, fear, excessive worrying, irritability, anger outbursts
* tense muscles, pain
* insomnia, nightmares
* flashbacks, hyper-vigilance (i.e., ready to react, jumpy, etc.)
* inability to stop thinking about the stressful/traumatic experiences
* impulsivity

The following symptoms are commonly associated with the state of the body being stuck in freeze (i.e., physical/mental/emotional shut-down from overwhelm and helplessness):

* depression, numbness, emptiness, feeling spacey/lost/confused
* constant fatigue, sluggishness, low energy
* limp, weak muscles
* poor concentration and memory
* need to isolate, need to avoid reminders of stress/trauma
* indecisivenss

Racism and other forms of oppression such as sexism, homophobia and economic inequality cause stress not only in the mind but also in the body; day-to-day encounters with subtle prejudices, discrimination and lack of equality keep our bodies in a moderately revved up fight/flight state or in overwhelm, and this wears down our mind-body resiliency. Racism and other forms of oppression can also cause traumas (i.e., social traumas) because our bodies respond to inter-group conflicts, exploitation and violence, and discriminatory social, cultural and legal practices as a threat to our survival. Collective and historical traumas are enduring effects of events such as American Indian genocide and displacement, African American slavery, colonialism and wars that remain in our individual as well as collective nervous systems.

Body-awareness based therapy, also known as somatic therapy, teaches people how to pay attention to their bodies’ sensations, and uses this awareness to gently guide the nervous system out of fight/flight/freeze mode and restore balance, flow and resiliency in their bodies.

A Women of Color Project introduces this new way of understanding and healing the effects of oppression to marginalized communities in the Twin Cities. A minimum of 6 participants will commit to:

* Attending a 2-hour group orientation session (separate from the information session) to understand stress and traumas in the body and meet other participants;
* Receiving 3 personal sessions over a course of 4-6 weeks: The focus of the sessions will be on stress/trauma caused by exposures to racism as well as internalized racism in one’s own community. Each session is 90-min. A participant may ask other participant(s) to sit in on any of the session as a community witness;
* Attending a 2-hour group closing session to share their experiences and give Thea, the facilitator, feedback;
* following the rules of confidentiality.

The introductory cost of participation is sliding scale of $100-$150 and may be paid in installments.

Similar projects with a focus on other forms of oppression are being considered for future offerings and include:

* A White Women Allies Project: enhancing effectiveness as anti-racism activists by understanding the role of developmental (i.e., childhood) trauma in perpetuating racism and working through vicarious trauma from witnessing the impact of racism on people of color;
* A Women Combat Veterans Project: focusing on the intersection of sexism and combat traumas;
* A Lesbian/Bisexual Women of Color Project: focusing on the intersection of homophobia/heterosexism, racism and internalized racism;
* An Adoptees of Color Project: focusing on the intersection of developmental traumas from the adoption process, racism and internalized racism

About Thea M. Lee:
I am a 46 year-old immigrant Asian American therapist specializing in body-awareness based therapy for healing traumas. I grew up as a member of an oppressed minority group in my country of origin and witnessed the multi-generational effects of colonialism and racism in my family. As a result, my life-long interest is in understanding the nature of oppression and healing its effects on individuals as well as communities.

I have worked in settings including a non-profit rape crisis center, a county juvenile hall, and a state prison for women. I have led training and presented on topics including body-focused therapy, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, cultural competency in health care and mental health, and social/collective/historical traumas to groups including the Minnesota American Indian Institute on Alcohol and Drug Studies, Indian Health Board of Minneapolis, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Rape Trauma Services of San Mateo County (CA), and Dartmouth Medical School cultural competency community volunteers. I am also a yoga instructor and have taught 2+ seasons of staff self-care yoga at Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center in Minneapolis.

I will be presenting at the upcoming Color CoordiNATION Interaction 2009, a community-building conference for LGBT people of color, in Minneapolis on 9/12/09. More information about the conference is available from www.colorcoordination.org.

I moved to Minnesota 3 years ago and have a body-awareness based therapy practice in St. Paul. My husband, Tommy Lee Woon, and I are starting a training program, “Touching the Heart of Cultural Competency,” which teaches people from all walks of life to use the understanding of stress/traumas in the body for self-care and enhancing their social justice work.

Information Session Location and Parking:
2500 University Ave W in St. Paul is located right by Hwy 280 University Ave Exit in a large brick building that occupies the entire block. Suite F-5 is on the second floor in the northeast corner of the building. The building has 2 front entrances and one of them is marked “2482.” Once you enter the building from either entrance, please follow the signs to Embodied Health/Suite F-5.

If you are unable to use a staircase, please contact me at 651-319-2110 or lee.theam@gmail.com to arrange for the use of a freight elevator.

Metro Transit Bus stop is located in front of the building. Routes 16, 50 and 87 come by this stop.

Metered parking spaces in front of the building are enforced daily until 4:30 pm, cost $0.50/hour, and have a 2-hour limit.

One- and two-hour, free parking spaces are available behind the building on Franklin Ave as well as on the west side of the building on Cromwell Ave.

Additional 1- and 2-hour, free parking spaces are available on Pelham Blvd., which runs perpendicular to University Ave on the east side of the building.