Conference Schedule

Below is the tentative schedule for the 2023 Embodied in Color Conference. Timing is subject to change.

Day 1: Friday, November 17th 2023

Conference Starts: 9:45am PST/ 10:45am MST/ 11:45am CST/ 12:45pm EST

Day 1 of the conference consists of two 2-hour seminars led by Dr. Orson Morrison and Linda Thai. These sessions will be recorded. 4 CE credits will be issued to participants requiring CEs. Please remember to fill in your relevant licensure information and complete a post-workshop survey for each session to receive your CE certificates.

 
 

Conference Opening

9:30am PST/ 10:30am MST/ 11:30am CST/ 12:30pm EST
15 minutes

Opening remarks and an introduction on the mission of the conference from the founders of Clinicians of Color and Chicago Minds.

 
 
 

I am because we are (UBUNTU):
Ancestral relationships in the service of healing

10am PST/ 11am MST/ 12pm CST/ 1pm EST
2 Hours

Led by Orson Morrison, Psy.D.

The field of mental health continues to reckon with its legacy of euro-centrism and narrowly-defined notions of healing and wellness. Honoring and relating with one’s ancestors has been a part of many world cultures. These relationships have the potential to offer healing. Incorporating and enlisting the help of one’s well-ancestors in the service of personal and collective healing is one way to move towards decolonizing the field of mental health.

In this workshop we will explore the role of the ancestors in the service of promoting healing in various common presenting concerns such as multi-generational trauma and the patterns that persist in families across time. If left unhealed, these wounds will continue to be passed on epigenetically and re-enacted across generations. We will also discuss frameworks such as Ancestral Lineage Healing and ancestrally-resourced psychotherapy as pathways for healing. The workshop will also include time to reflect upon one’s own relationships with ancestors.

 
 
 

Embodied Practices for Ancestral Healing

12:30pm PST/ 1:30pm MST/ 2:30pm CST/ 3:30pm EST
2 Hours

Led by Linda Thai, LMSW, ERYT-200

The last 500 years of human history has seen the rapid expansion of capitalism that is rooted in extractivatism, through the spread of imperialism, colonialism, enslavement, land theft, genocide, war, and ecocide; and has disproportionately impacted Peoples of the Global Majority.

The assimilation/annihilation of our peoples, the demonization of our ancestral wisdom, and the inferiorization of our cultures, and the erasure of this history can cause for us to forget the strength, the fortitude, the creative brilliance and resourcefulness, and the wisdom of our ancestors.

This workshop invites participants to deconstruct the hyper-indivualized, problem-focused, pathology-saturated, linear approaches to healing, and to re-imagine a soulful, non-linear approach that invokes and invites ancestral and cultural wisdom. By re-engaging with ourselves and each other in this way, my hope is that we remember, re-member, and re-ember our birthright of dignity.

 

Day 2: Saturday, November 18th 2023

Conference Starts: 8am PST/ 9am MST/ 10am CST/ 11am EST

Day 2 of the conference will feature 5 interactive, experiential workshops with elements in sound healing, ancestral healing, art, movement, and story circles. These sessions will not be recorded and CE credits will not be offered.

 
 

Reflective Self Portraits using Photography, Collaging & Mixed Media

8am PST/ 9am MST/ 10am CST/ 11am EST
1 Hour

Led by Lesli-Ann Belnavis Elliott, MS, ATR

This workshop will allow the participants to creatively reflect and honour themselves as mental health practitioners and their experiences. It will explore the theme of self via making self-portraits using photography, collage-making materials and mixed media.

Participants should be prepared to have the following:

  1. Printed images of self or Objects (i.e., physical and/or printed) that represent elements of self (E.g., a shoe, clothing item, book, printed lyrics from a fave song, fave cereal carton, etc)

  2. Canvas paper/mixed media paper size 8x10" or bigger

  3. Magazine images of things you like and words/phrases that reflect aspects of self

  4. Old newspaper

  5. Glue

  6. Scissors

  7. Found objects (cloth scraps, bottle covers, cardboard/cardstock, yarn, etc)

  8. Paint (I.e., acrylic, watercolor, etc)

  9. Markers and/or pencil crayons

  10. Oil pastels (optional)

  11. Chalk pastels (optional)

  12. Digital art making apps (optional)

 
 
 

A Moment of Pause in Sound

9:15am PST/ 10:15am MST/ 11:15am CST/ 12:15pm EST
1 Hour

Led by Gail Jackson

During this workshop Gail will guide us, with the eyes closed or lowered gaze, to the beginning of the pause. From the beginning of the pause we are invited to notice the breathe, any sensations that arise, notice the thoughts and emotions that come and go, notice the silence. Allowing the ears to be the eyes during this sound meditation. Afterwards we will have a few moments for folks to share what came up for them during the meditation. Please avail yourself to find a comfortable position and wear earbuds or headphones to get the most from the experience.

 
 
 

Connecting with our Ancestors and Healing our Hearts with Curanderismo

10:30am PST/ 11:30am MST/ 12:30pm CST/ 1:30pm EST
1 Hour

Led by Jennifer Salazar Lowe

It is easy to judge ourselves harshly because we have internalized a lifetime of judgments. This workshop will encourage self - love, healing heart wounds and coming back home, to self. We will call in our ancestors who will help guide us through an experiential process exploring our history in order to understand and resolve the problems of the present. When we explore our inside we allow ourselves the opportunity to release. We allow our heart and nervous system to heal. I will guide you through platicas (conversations), a limpia (cleansing), and a soul retrieval. I will encourage you to release the old sustos (traumas) releasing the harsh judgments from others and ourselves. Come and experience empowerment and harness the healer in you.

 
 
 

Reclaim Your Name: Healing Internalized Oppression

11:45am PST/ 12:45pm MST/ 1:45pm CST/ 2:45pm EST
1 Hour

Led by Jenn So

What is your truth behind your name? Was it a family name? Was your name changed for survival? Did you lose your name? We were given a name and there is a story and truth to each name. This workshop is an intensive deep exploration of healing from internalized racism. Many individuals were forced to assimilate by changing names to survive. We will spend several hours in this workshop to exploring our names and true names and reclaiming our identities.

 
 
 

The Power of Yoga and Sound

1pm PST/ 2pm MST/ 3pm CST/ 4pm EST
1 Hour

Led by LeNaya Smith Crawford

Participants will learn how yoga and sound can be powerful tools on their healing journey. By learning about how these practices affect the nervous system, participants will gain an understanding of how sound and yoga can be effective tools for addressing stress and anxiety. Participants will also get to experience a gentle seated yoga and sound healing practice.

 
 
 

Conference Closing

2:15pm PST/ 3:15pm MST/ 4:15pm CST/ 5:15pm EST

Led by Clinicians of Color, Chicago Minds