Trauma-informed training for the people who show up every day
Rebekah works with the organizations whose staff absorb other people’s worst days for a living. Secondary traumatic stress is a genuine occupational hazard for anyone working closely with a traumatized population, carrying the same potential impact on body and psyche as direct post-traumatic stress. Rebekah’s training exists so that people can stay well enough to keep doing work they care about — drawing on decades of direct experience in emergency response, addiction treatment and homelessness services, and on her own history.
Watch: Rebekah in public conversation with Dr. Gabor Maté on trauma and addiction.
Featured Partnership
University of Washington School of Medicine
Rebekah served as presenter and panelist for an eight-part webinar and podcast series produced by the University of Washington School of Medicine in partnership with the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network (MHTTC) — an accredited series on trauma, the nervous system and sustainable caregiving delivered to clinicians and human services professionals. Sessions included Stress Test, My Nervous Nervous System, Investigating Thoughts, Head, Heart and Gut, Tending Our Tender Selves, Care Without Carrying, Walking a Parallel Path, and Walking the Path We Make.
Example programs
The workshops below are examples of programs Rebekah has developed and delivered. Each is adapted to the group in front of her — treat these as starting points for a conversation rather than a fixed catalogue.
Taming the Dragon — secondary trauma management for field professionals
An in-depth look at how the stress response, once activated, becomes chronically stimulated in high-contact caregiving roles — and how to interrupt that before it becomes a health problem. Blends current psychology with ancient Chinese medical concepts and treatment, including the NADA auricular protocol.
Seeds of Caring — healing community trauma together
A day-long workshop covering trauma recognition and integration, East Asian medicine principles and the physiology of stress. Participants learn auricular ear-seed placement, body acupressure points, EFT, qigong meditation, and grounding in harm reduction, social justice advocacy and recognizing burnout. Everyone leaves with printed materials and a packet of ear seeds.
Can You Care Without Carrying?
Caring and pain tend to arrive together, as though really caring about someone requires carrying some of their suffering. This session interrogates that assumption — what you actually believe about yourself and the world, how it shapes your work, and whether there is a way to stay effective and close to people without hauling the weight home. Reflective rather than instructional.
Feeling Safe, Sane and Stable
A trauma-informed programme for moving through hard conditions with steadiness: building a grounded foundation in the face of adversity, practising non-violent communication across real disagreement, de-escalating conflict, and assembling a personal self-care toolkit you can also teach to others.
Workshops
Who she’s worked with
- Center for Human Services
- City of Seattle Youth and Family Workers
- Noel House
- Chemical Dependency Professionals of Washington State
- Rite of Passage Journeys
- East West Bookstore
- Ryther
- Real Change
- Post Prison Education Program
- Seattle/King County Healthcare for the Homeless
- YouthCare
- YWCA
- Washington Low Income Housing Alliance
- Recovery Café
- Elizabeth Gregory Home
- Facing Homelessness
- United Indians of All Tribes (Labateyah)
- Young Jesuit Volunteers
- Community Health Outreach Workers of Seattle
- Neighborcare
- Crisis Clinic
- Seattle King County Drug Diversion Court
- University of Washington MHTTC Program
Examples of past engagements
Academic and public health partnerships
- University of Washington School of Medicine, with the MHTTC Network — eight-part webinar and podcast series, presenter and panelist
- College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Illinois — keynote speaker, Human Services Symposium (CEU-accredited)
On-site organizational training
- Roots Young Adult Shelter, Seattle WA — staff training in secondary trauma and self-care
- Recovery Café, Seattle WA — staff training
- Elizabeth Gregory Home, Seattle WA — training delivered to staff and volunteers
- Seattle Human Services Department, Youth and Family Empowerment Division — secondary trauma training for ECEAP Family Support staff
- United Indians Youth Home / Labateyah — secondary trauma training
“The spaciousness and groundedness of peace just oozes out of her when she talks. And the materials are vast, yet each technique or pointer is super helpful. It’s a treasure trove!”
— Dr. Shoshana Helman, Internal Medicine Specialist
Community and conference delivery
- Conference on Ending Homelessness, Yakima WA — community acupuncture provider
- Seeds of Caring / Seeds of Change — delivered as public day-long workshops