New Year, New Approaches to Anxiety: A Learning Series for You

Anxiety impacts all of us and is rooted in many layers of our being: it is physical, psychological, relational, and existential. In this series of workshops for school and the general mental health workforce, Hala Khouri, author, facilitator, and practitioner, will offer a physiological and socio-political framework for anxiety and trauma to support us as we enter a new year. In this series, Hala will share tools and practices to transform our stress and anxiety and build capacity for self and collective care and resilience.

“New Year, New Approaches to Anxiety” Learning Series will address and explore:  

  • Building a culture at work (and home) that values wellbeing

  • Having tools to manage and release stress and anxiety

  • Feeling less overwhelmed and more grounded and inspired

  • Cultivating relationships that are healthy and connected

  • Engaging with the world in a way that reflects your values

  • Building capacity for self and collective care and resilience

  • Finding joy amidst the chaos

Learn more and register here

Who is this series for? 

This series is offered to school and mental health providers in the Pacific Southwest (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and U.S. Pacific Islands of American Samoa, Guam, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau); this series is open to other providers outside of our region. 

 

  • State leadership (e.g., departments of education, child services, behavioral health)
  • District, county, and local behavioral health and education leadership
  • Professional behavioral and school mental health associations (e.g., associations for psychologists/school psychologists, counselors/school counselors, nurses/school nurses, community and school-based health centers
  • Community-based organizations that provide mental health services

 

See more about the PS MHTTC here

When is this series?  

January 11th, 18th, 25th, Feb 1st from 3:15-5:15pm (four consecutive Tuesdays)  

Find your local time here 

Note that while you do not need to attend all four, it is highly encouraged to at least attend the first session and build learning thereafter.  

What is the sequence of this series?  

Session 1- Trauma Informed Framework for Healing, Managing Anxiety and Building Resilience  

January 11th 3:15 pm - 5:15 pm PT 

 

Goals: 

  • Understand anxiety and the stress response; review the physiological framework for how stress and trauma affect the body, mind, and emotions
  • Invite self-reflection on how we are impacted by stress and anxiety
  • Learn somatic tools to get present in the body and release stress and anxiety

 

Session 2- Understanding Your Own Psychology: Self- Awareness for Empowerment and Radical Empathy 

January 18th 3:15 pm - 5:15 pm PT 

 

Goals: 

  • Reflect on how you manage stress and what being well means to you 

  • Explore the roots of your stress and anxiety through a personal, interpersonal, and socio-political lens. 

  • Learn how to work with your personal triggers so you can show up with more empathy and accountability 

  • Uncover your internalized beliefs about self-care and caring for others 

 

Session 3- Relationships, Boundaries, and Communication 

January 25th 3:15 pm - 5:15 pm PT 

Goals: 

  • Understand the difference between codependency and healthy attachment 

  • Learn about the role of transference and countertransference in your work 

  • Co-regulation as the foundation of effective communication 

  • Mirroring and active listening as tools for healthy communication 

  

Session 4- Practice, Reflection and Intention Setting 

February 1st 3:15 pm - 5:15 pm PT 

Goals: 

  • Practice communication tools in small groups 

  • Reflect on your personal goals for releasing stress and anxiety 

  • Create an action plan to implement changes and healthy habits in your life 

  

Two (2) Continuing Education Hour credits per session and a total of eight (8) CEHs are available through full participation in this event series. 

 

Learn more and register here 

Who is the faculty for this series? 

Hala Khouri

Hala Khouri, M.A., trains direct service providers and educators on how to be trauma-informed with their students and clients. Believing that oppressive systems harm all of us, even those who benefit, Hala has a private practice for individuals and couples. She also works with A Thousand Joys training direct service providers and educators to be trauma-informed and culturally responsive. The focus of both her clinical and group work has been trauma- personal, interpersonal, and systemic.  She brings her decade of clinical experience combined with her experience as a facilitator of group processes for over 15 years. As a Lebanese immigrant in a multi-racial marriage who also gets white skin privilege, Hala is able to be a bridge in the work of equity and inclusion with diverse groups. Hala is known for her compassionate yet straightforward style of facilitation which invites people to grapple with the often charged topics of diversity, inclusivity, justice, and oppression. She knows that none of us individually created these harmful systems, but it’s up to all of us to shift them and create a new paradigm that embraces and celebrates everyone. 

Hala earned her B.A. in Psychology from Columbia University and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology and an M.A. in Community Psychology with an emphasis in Liberation Studies and Social Justice from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Hala is trained in Somatic Experiencing, a body-based psychotherapy that helps resolve trauma and its symptoms. She lives in Venice, California with her husband and two sons and teaches yoga classes weekly. 

Listen to Hala on this podcast episode:
EP 129: Healing Individually and Collectively - Nervous System Awareness in Social Justice Activism with Hala Khouri  

 

Extended Learning Opportunities After this Series 

In addition to this learning series, we offer three extended learning opportunities with Hala to explore Peace from Anxiety and more: 

 

  1. Peace from Anxiety Book Club - (Every third Tuesday of the month, except the last session, scheduled for the second Tuesday; February 15th- June 14th, 2022 from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. PT). You do not need to have attended the “New Year, New Approaches to Anxiety Learning Series” to join the book club.

    Learn more and register here 

  2. Peace from Anxiety: Small Coaching for Teams - Both during and after the “New Year, New Approaches to Anxiety” learning series, Hala and the PS MHTTC are offering customized coaching sessions for teams of two to ten people for one hour. Coaching sessions are available to participants who want more personalized support around working with their anxiety or stress (or other challenges they are facing in their mental health). These small sessions will be limited to up to 10 people and will offer a chance for a more intimate sharing with Hala and others in the group. Everything shared will be held with strict confidentiality.  

    A total of five sessions (five slots for five teams) will be available with priority to participants based in the Pacific Southwest region of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and the Pacific Islands. Sessions can be scheduled anytime between January 15th June 15th 2022 and are available on a first come first serve basis. (Hala is offering these five sessions for our participants in the Pacific Southwest region of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and the Pacific Islands).  

    To request a coaching session, email MHTTC Program Manager Ingrid Severson at iseverson [at] cars-rp [dot] org to set up your team with a coaching session with Hala).
     

  3. Peace from Anxiety: A Summer Check In and Reboot (August 9, 2022, 3:00-5:00 pm PT) - This is an opportunity to reconnect with your approaches to anxiety in your practice, to refresh strategies and frameworks to help you manage your experiences, and learn from PS MHTTC peers who have been exploring this work with Hala throughout the year. You do not need to have attended the Learning Series or Book Club; Hala will be leading this session as a standalone.

    Learn more and register here