October 12, 2026 12:30 - 4:30 pm
WNC Learning Retreat: Cultivating Safety: Somatic Practices for Working with the Inescapable Attack of Oppression
Title: Cultivating Safety: Somatic Practices for Working with the Inescapable Attack of Oppression
Presented by: Diana Parra, LCMHC, SEP (they/them/elle)
Location: In Person, at Haw Creek Commons (315 Old Haw Creek Road, Asheville, NC 28805)
Level: Intermediate
Description:
What does safety feel like in the body? How do experiences of oppression shape the nervous system’s capacity to access safety, connection, and self-responsiveness? And how can clinicians support clients in cultivating greater access to relative safety, even in the presence of ongoing stressors and inequities?
This highly experiential workshop facilitated by a psychotherapist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner invites clinicians to explore these questions through both theory and practice by integrating social justice perspectives with a somatic lens. Participants will explore safety as a dynamic, moment-to-moment embodied experience that exists on a continuum rather than as a fixed state, and is influenced by history, context, power, and relationships.
Through a combination of didactic teaching, experiential exercises, partner activities, and guided somatic practices, participants will develop greater capacity to recognize and assess opportunities for cultivating relative safety in clinical settings. Attendees will leave with practical tools and at least three somatic interventions that can be integrated into clinical work to support clients in developing greater resilience and embodied experiences of safety.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Describe the impact of systemic oppression on nervous system functioning and experiences of safety among historically marginalized client populations.
- Integrate a somatic understanding of safety as a fluid, moment-to-moment experience that exists on a continuum rather than as a fixed or absolute state and acknowledges the influence of context, power, and lived experience.
- Identify and assess opportunities to enhance relative safety through interventions targeting three domains: the body, the physical environment, and the therapeutic or relational field.
- Utilize at least three somatic interventions that support clients in cultivating greater experiences of relative safety and cultivating resilience