Workshops & Trainings

Equipping Communities Through Education, Empowerment, and Healing

Holding Space without Losing Yourself: Self-Care for BiPOC Clinicians
3 NBCC Hours

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Who can attend?

This training is designed for licensed and pre-licensed BiPOC mental health professionals and graduate-level clinicians. Registration is open to all who agree to the learning expectations and community agreements. It is also recommended for supervisors or anyone working with BIPOC clinicians to strengthen their ability to support supervisees through culturally responsive, trauma-informed supervision and wellness-centered leadership.

Course Content

I. Foundations of Burnout & Racialized Stress

  • Definitions: burnout, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma

  • Racial Battle Fatigue (Smith, 2004)

  • Identity-based stressors

  • Microaggressions & cultural taxation

  • The “Only One” experience in professional settings

II. Cultural Narratives & Generational Expectations

  • Strong Black Woman / Strong Brown Woman schema

  • Survival-based family messages

  • Role strain & identity fatigue

  • Internalized pressure to overperform

  • Emotional labor and code-switching

III. Trauma, the Nervous System, & the BIPOC Body

  • Polyvagal theory basics

  • How racial stress shrinks the Window of Tolerance

  • Hypervigilance vs. shutdown

  • Body cues that are often ignored

  • Somatic exhaustion from chronic emotional labor

IV. Systemic & Organizational Barriers to Rest

  • Lack of psychological safety at work

  • Disproportionate workload expectations

  • Culturally biased perceptions of “professionalism”

  • Ethical tensions around practitioner impairment

  • Power dynamics affecting boundary setting

V. Culturally Grounded Wellness & Healing Approaches

  • Somatic grounding

  • Breathwork, rhythm, and movement

  • Storytelling as restoration

  • Faith, spirituality, and ancestral practices

  • Community care vs. individual self-care

  • Cultural rest rituals

VI. Evidence-Based Self-Care Approaches

  • Trauma-informed self-care

  • Nervous system regulation

  • Emotional decompression plans

  • Workload boundary strategies

  • Accountability partnerships

  • Rest scheduling methods

VII. Intervention & Application: 30-Day Rest Plan

  • Participants will create a personalized plan including:

  • Daily grounding rituals

  • Weekly rest practices

  • Boundary statements

  • Energy mapping

  • Social support mapping

  • Cultural/ancestral healing elements

VIII. Ethical Considerations

  • Clinician impairment

  • Boundaries and dual roles

  • Over-functioning as ethical risk

  • Recognizing when to seek supervision or support

  • Implications for client safety

Course Objectives

Understanding Identity Fatigue: Exploring the psychological toll of navigating racialized environments while in a caregiver role.

  • Naming the Unseen Labor: Vicarious trauma, cultural taxation, and the expectation to "hold it all together."

  • Rewriting the Narrative of Strength: Letting go of martyrdom and redefining wellness through authenticity.

  • Culturally Rooted Boundaries: How to say no with integrity, without guilt or loss of connection.

  • Collective vs. Individual Care: Healing through connection, community care, and ancestral wisdom.

  • Somatic and Grounding Practices: Body-based techniques for regulating the nervous system and releasing stress.

  • Discuss ethical concerns related to practitioner impairment, boundary erosion, and cultural expectations of over-functioning