Plant Spirit Healing for Trauma
In ancient times and in traditional communities, those experiencing trauma, depression, anxiety, anger, and altered states would go to a folk/cultural/shamanic healer. Even today, healers in traditional societies often incorporate a number of tools including ritual, ceremony, plant medicine, drumming, chant, and movement therapy. Western approaches to healing mental illness rely predominantly on psychopharmaceuticals and talk therapy, but for many, relief is not found and they are left in a state of dis-ease. Through traditional approaches to wellness we can offer individuals additional tools in their emotional toolbox to help create a life of stability and joy. Plant spirit healing is just one of these “adjunct” approaches that can greatly enrich the quality of life for individuals living in chaotic times.
We need to rethink the medical model approach which has removed cultural and spiritual components of the healing process. As we have “advanced” we have moved further and further away from a model that honors these essential expressions of the human experience instead choosing to adopt a fractured system where mental health professionals treat symptoms not individuals.
This course addresses the role of the body as a healing tool for trauma and other forms of emotional/mental dis-ease. Using the somatic framework of the five senses we will look to incorporate the healing power of the green nations into a useful and approachable framework for embodied healing. Additionally, I am honored to be co-teaching this course with two compassionate and gifted healers/friends who will be offering special sections on Flower Essences for Grief and Loss and Herbal Approaches to Sexual Trauma.
Instructors/Contributors
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Jenn Allen, MS, CCTP
Jenn Allen is an Herbalist, Botanical Perfumer, Sacred Beekeeper, Writer, Yoga Teacher, Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP). She is best known for her accessible and down to earth teaching style that weaves the hands on techniques of the healing arts with the Sacred. She seeks to integrate traditional ceremonial practices like the Sweatlodge, Sacred Movement and Plant Spirit Medicine with contemporary eco-psychological theory into a new paradigm model for mental health At home, she stewards sanctuary space for her beloved honeybees and endangered woodland plants.
www.jennjallen.com PO Box 252 Swiftwater, PA 18370 jenniferjoanallen@yahoo.com |
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Reuven Fein
Reuven Fein comes from an Armenian family tradition of healers going back four generations. Through his life he studied acupuncture, martial arts, energy healing, visualization techniques, and herbal medicine. He works with plant spirit energy, flower essences, and herbal protocols. Reuven has been studying with admired teachers Kate Gilday, Don Babineau, Rosemary Gladstar, David Dalton, Margi Flint, Chris Marano, and Katja Swift. He also traveled to Central and South America where he studied with Native Shamans.
PO Box 259, Marblehead, MA 01945, United States 617-402-0050 info@feinacademy.com www.feinacademy.com |
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Elizabeth Buck Henke
Liz is a free spirited soul who felt called to the healing arts at the age of 15. Her interest in crystals and essential oils started her journey, and it only grew from there. She followed her interests to become a massage therapist who focused on energetic work, as well as women's health. During this time she also created a line of natural body care products. All of these steps along her path were moving her deeper into her calling to the healing art of herbalism. She completed her herbal apprenticeship at Sage Mountain under the wing of Rosemary Gladstar. This experience would ultimately change the course of her life as she had truly found her heart's work; connecting plant energy with people.
In 2012, Liz opened Talking Drum Herbals, an artisanal herb company that is the lovechild of Earth and herbalist. She finds herself called to strengthen her work in women's health, and has created a program dedicated to the art and practice of vaginal steaming. Liz has created and shared The Goddess Steam Lodge, a passion project where women have a safe, sacred space to heal and connect with themselves within a community. She also offers several focused CSA's for women, in addition to a cornucopia of herbal offerings and workshops. When she isn't in the apothecary or chasing her children, she is gardening, photographing botanical beauties, drumming, or crafting; all things that help her spirit soar. Charlottsville, VA www.talkingdrumherbals.com |
The information provided by this workshop is purely educational and is not intended to replace the advice, diagnosis, or treatment offered by a medical or mental health professional. If you believe you have a psychiatric concern, please see a local professional for continuous support.