WORKSHOPS

Trauma-informed         Culturally-informed           Transformative

At Gwizhii Institute of Learning, we deliver expert-led workshops in trauma-informed practice, culturally grounded approaches, and dispute resolution. With decades of experience and a national reputation for excellence, we are known for providing psychologically safe, high-impact learning experiences that foster dignity, trust, and belonging for all participants. 

Clients range from small teams to national organizations across the legal, technical, financial, healthcare, education, and governance sectors.

In 2025, founder Karen Snowshoe (K.C.) received the Law Society Award, one of the highest honours in the legal profession, recognizing her lifelong contributions to trauma-informed and culturally sensitive practice.

Level I

Trauma-Informed Practice: Creating a Foundation of Safety

We take a decolonial approach to setting the foundation of this work together, engaging our minds, bodies, emotions, and relationships. We focus on learning through experience, and will connect with larger socio-political and historical contexts as well as your own inner world.

In this session you can expect to:

  • Explore how a trauma-informed approach has roots in Indigenous practices of resistance and resilience;

  • Connect with your own practices, from your own traditions, in order to do trauma-informed work from a centered place;

  • Learn how trauma, including trauma resulting from structural violence, impacts the nervous system;

  • Generate your own “map” of embodied practices that help you find an internal place of connection, safety, and dignity; and

  • Explore questions relevant to your setting and context with peers and experienced practitioners.

Level II

All Our Relations: Working With Others and Trauma-Informed Support

Most of us as leaders and human beings want to avoid causing others trauma. Yet there are many normalized workplace interactions that can become re-traumatizing to people by eliminating choice, creating safety for some (but not for others), and making access to information opaque. In this three-hour experiential session, we will help you recognize the prevalence of trauma, how past trauma shows up interpersonally, and apply key principles that allow you to respond in ways that resist re-traumatization. Join us in making trauma-informed approaches the new normal standard of care in your setting.

In this session you can expect to:

  • Learn the paradigm-shifting question to ask in a trauma-informed approach;

  • Recognize signs of trauma responses in interpersonal interactions;

  • Map personal anchor points to help you avoid escalating a situation where there are trauma responses;

  • Discover 6 principles of trauma-informed practice that actively resist interpersonal re-traumatization; and

  • Apply these principles to real workplace dynamics and challenges.

Level III: Option A

Working With Others: Culturally-Informed Teams

Interrupting the normalized processes by which our organizational systems generate trauma in communities and individuals begins here. Becoming a trauma-informed and culturally-informed organization is a change process that requires intention, ongoing commitment, and increasing levels of
awareness.

In this session you can expect to:

  • Start a conversation about trauma-informed understandings from a racialized lens and becoming culturally aware;

  • Understand team levels of awareness around: connection, conflict resolution, and communication;

  • Identify the organizational domains involved in creating a trauma-informed organization;

  • Begin to assess what it looks like when the 6 principles of trauma-informed practice are present or absent in these domains in your organization; and

  • Leave with concrete ideas for the immediate next steps.

Level III: Option B

Leadership Support

Becoming a trauma-informed organization requires commitment and systemic awareness. This workshop is designed for senior leaders and governance teams ready to transform policies and culture.

In this session you can expect to:

  • Identify key domains where systemic change is needed;

  • Assess how the six principles show up — or are missing — in your organization;

  • Establish mechanisms for ongoing feedback to support the continuous growth of trauma-informed leadership; and

  • Leave with clear, actionable steps for sustainable transformation.

Custom Workshops

In addition to our three core levels, we also design customized workshops to meet the unique needs of your team or organization. These sessions build on trauma-informed principles while addressing specific challenges in your context.

Examples of customized workshops include:

  • Introduction to Trauma-informed Practice & Application
  • Trauma-informed Advocacy
  • Trauma-informed Practice & Indigenous Reconciliation
  • Introduction to Trauma-informed Dispute Resolution
  • Creating Trauma-Informed Dispute Resolution Processes
  • Dispute Resolution in the Indigenous Context
  • Creating Trauma-informed Space for Vulnerable Clients & Witnesses
  • Cultural Competency & Trauma-Informed Approaches for Working with Indigenous Clients
  • Truth and Reconciliation At Work: Affirming Indigenous Identity and Cultural Safety in the Workplace
  • Advancing Reconiliation through Trauma-Informed Practice
  • Preventing Vicarious Trauma
  • Trauma-Informed Leadership for Frontline Staff

👉 Have a specific need in mind?  We’ll work with you to co-create a workshop that fits.

Every workshop is designed to spark reflection, build resilience, and create real change in your workplace.

Ready to begin YOUR journey?

Schedule a Consultation