HERBALISTS WITHOUT BORDERS INTERNATIONAL
  • Home
  • ABOUT US
    • HWB VISION & VALUES
    • HWB BOARD OF DIRECTORS
    • CORE COORDINATORS
  • OUR WORK
    • PEOPLE'S CLINICS >
      • INT'L BORDERLESS MEDICINE
      • VETERANS RESILIENCY HOLISTIC CLINIC
    • COMMUNITY SUPPORTED HERBALISM
    • HWB SEED GRANTS >
      • HWB 2023 SEED GRANTS
    • NOURISHING COMMUNITY GARDENS >
      • HWB Gardens Project
    • MEDICINAL SEED SAVING
    • TRAUMA TRAININGS
  • OUR MEMBERS
    • ABOUT OUR CHAPTERS >
      • FIND A CHAPTER
    • SCHOOL MEMBERS
    • A-G BUSINESS & NONPROFIT MEMBERS
    • H-P BUSINESS & NONPROFIT MEMBERS
    • Q-Z BUSINESS & NONPROFIT MEMBERS
    • DONORS & SPONSORS
  • GET INVOLVED
    • DONATE >
      • DONATE SUPPLIES
    • JOIN AS A MEMBER TODAY
    • RENEW TODAY
    • VOLUNTEER
    • OTHER WAYS TO GIVE
  • BLOG
  • News/Media
    • HWB NEWSLETTERS
    • eGUIDES
    • HERBAL ACTION WEBINARS & PODCAST
    • HWB IN THE NEWS
    • MEDIA INFO/DOWNLOADS
    • RESOURCES & LINKS
  • Member Portal
    • Full Member Portal Home >
      • Member Portal Resources
      • Members Only Blog
      • HWB Member Seed Grants 2023
    • Coordinator Portal Home >
      • Coordinator Materials
      • Coordinator Templates
      • Coordinator FAQs
      • Coordinator Calls
      • HWB Seed Grants 2023
      • Quarterly Report
      • Coordinator Calendar 2023
    • Core Volunteer Portal
    • 2nd Fridays Volunteer Hangout
    • Clover Member Level Portal
    • HWB Board of Directors Portal

Vermont Trauma Conversation

12/13/2018

 
Picture
~By Wren Fulner, HWB Feature Blog Writer

In an increasingly divisive political world, intersectional activism is more essential than ever. The recent project of Kristin Henningsen and Kenzie McDonald in Burlington, Vermont to start an inclusive and representational conversation around trauma through a weekend long workshop is an excellent template for healers to address community needs.  This event came together through an alchemy of partnership, learning, and listening, with support from a small grant from Herbalists Without Borders, as well as hosting by Railyard Apothecary.
Picture
Their work began months before, meeting with the local Vermont Herbalists Without Borders chapter to plan a fundraising herbal spa day and craft fair to support workshop scholarships for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and transgender folks.  This diversity was critical to the success of the trauma conversations because “the demographic of the participants should mirror the speakers, and vice versa”. The fundraiser was remarkably successful and raised funds to send between 12 and 15 people to the weekend’s workshop; Kristin and Kenzie are planning another spa day fundraiser gathering soon.

The November weekend workshop itself was a whirlwind of practitioners of all modalities sharing space, from nurses to herbalists to reiki and yoga healers, as well as a collection of insightful speakers, “a really nice mix of science and spirit”.  Framing the event as an experiential conversation rather than an academic training was critical to the desired result of a “sense of community and action” for the group. Arriving there took time, however, and through community feedback during the planning stages, Kristin and Kenzie realized the necessity of changing the rhetoric of the event to “trauma informed learning” rather than “training”, moving away from the expectation that a single weekend can provide all the tools one might need to support folks with trauma.
Picture
There will certainly be a follow up event in months to come, and the organizers look forward to being able to apply their learnings. More volunteers are needed, as well as earlier advertising in order to connect with the widest diversity of participant identities and modalities.  In addition, Kristin and Kenzie wish they would have provided a feedback form at the event itself, rather than after the fact, so as to gather more useful input for future gatherings.

Though the kyriarchy will continue creating trauma that challenges the skills and energy of healers, events such as this foster the community resiliency from which we can find strength to do the work.

A big thank you to Kenzie and Kristin of HWB Vermont.

ABOUT WREN:

Wren Fulner is a queer amateur herbalist, a recent transplant to Eugene, Oregon from the cold winters of Minnesota, and writer for the Herbalists Without Borders blog.  She is largely self-taught, both in herbalism and writing, and also enjoys hiking by the rugged Pacific Northwest ocean, practicing tarot and astrology, and playing Dungeons and Dragons when she can get a group together.  Rose and Tulsi are her favorite herbal allies, though she's recently learning to love Skullcap as well.  She hopes to share a house with her partner before too long, on acreage to homestead and establish an enormous garden for nourishment and healing.

    HWB Blog

    Keep up with the latest!

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    October 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2015

    Categories

    All
    About HWB
    Allergies
    Apothecary
    Articles
    Beginner Level
    Books
    COVID-19
    Desktop Calendars
    Downloads
    EDUCATION
    EGuides
    Featured Business Member
    Featured Chapter
    Featured Member
    Featured School Member
    Feature Friday
    Feature Writers
    Free People's Clinics
    Healthy Living
    Herbal Action Podcast
    Herbalism
    HWB Board
    HWB Events
    Hydrosols
    Key Issues
    Learn About Herbalism
    Level 0: Good For All Levels
    Level 1: Beginner
    Membership
    MONOGRAPH
    Monthly Book Review
    News
    Newsletter
    Seed Companies
    Stories
    Tips Tuesday
    Trauma Events
    Wellness Wednesday
    YouTube

    RSS Feed

    @herbalistswithoutborders

    Tweets by hwbglobal


    Please note that if you post a comment just to share your own personal links or spam, your comments will not be approved. 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF HWB.

HWB is a 501c3 NGO nonprofit. Our nonprofit is a global member network of of herbalists, medicinal plant growers, herbal educators, alternative holistic modality practitioners and others dedicated to herbal health access for all, medicinal plant conservation, health justice and more. 

Our international headquarters office is in NY and our US Donation Distribution Network is based in Wisconsin. Please email for our mailing address to ship donations.

Find us

Contact Us

HWB: Serving Communities Since 1995. 
Herbalists Without Borders™
Herbalists Without Borders©

©1999-2023, all rights reserved.

SEARCH

Home
About Us
​Our Work
Find a Chapter
Join as a Member
Donate
Newsletters
​
Main Blog
Privacy Policy
Password Protected Areas (must be logged in to access): 
Members Only Page
Members Only Resources
Members Only Blog

​Clover Member Page
​Coordinator Home Page 
2023 Seed Grant Kits
Google Translate
Visit the Herbalists Without Borders™ Bookshop Page (affiliate link).
  • Home
  • ABOUT US
    • HWB VISION & VALUES
    • HWB BOARD OF DIRECTORS
    • CORE COORDINATORS
  • OUR WORK
    • PEOPLE'S CLINICS >
      • INT'L BORDERLESS MEDICINE
      • VETERANS RESILIENCY HOLISTIC CLINIC
    • COMMUNITY SUPPORTED HERBALISM
    • HWB SEED GRANTS >
      • HWB 2023 SEED GRANTS
    • NOURISHING COMMUNITY GARDENS >
      • HWB Gardens Project
    • MEDICINAL SEED SAVING
    • TRAUMA TRAININGS
  • OUR MEMBERS
    • ABOUT OUR CHAPTERS >
      • FIND A CHAPTER
    • SCHOOL MEMBERS
    • A-G BUSINESS & NONPROFIT MEMBERS
    • H-P BUSINESS & NONPROFIT MEMBERS
    • Q-Z BUSINESS & NONPROFIT MEMBERS
    • DONORS & SPONSORS
  • GET INVOLVED
    • DONATE >
      • DONATE SUPPLIES
    • JOIN AS A MEMBER TODAY
    • RENEW TODAY
    • VOLUNTEER
    • OTHER WAYS TO GIVE
  • BLOG
  • News/Media
    • HWB NEWSLETTERS
    • eGUIDES
    • HERBAL ACTION WEBINARS & PODCAST
    • HWB IN THE NEWS
    • MEDIA INFO/DOWNLOADS
    • RESOURCES & LINKS
  • Member Portal
    • Full Member Portal Home >
      • Member Portal Resources
      • Members Only Blog
      • HWB Member Seed Grants 2023
    • Coordinator Portal Home >
      • Coordinator Materials
      • Coordinator Templates
      • Coordinator FAQs
      • Coordinator Calls
      • HWB Seed Grants 2023
      • Quarterly Report
      • Coordinator Calendar 2023
    • Core Volunteer Portal
    • 2nd Fridays Volunteer Hangout
    • Clover Member Level Portal
    • HWB Board of Directors Portal