From Excavation to Re-Authoring
This is a visual guide to the 2-day workshop. We move through a complete, trauma-informed arc, starting with safety and excavation (Day 1) and moving into strength and re-authoring (Day 2).
Before any work can begin, we build a "safe container" together. Your safety and autonomy are the most important things in the room. These are our core agreements.
What is shared in this room, stays in this room. What is written is for your eyes alone unless you choose to share it.
This is not for an audience. Do not worry about grammar or spelling. The goal is process, not product.
You do not have to share, speak, or do any exercise that feels wrong. You can pass at any time, no questions asked.
You are your own best expert. If you need to step out, get water, stop writing, or stretch, please do.
Our workshop is built on a proven, trauma-informed framework. We must move through the stages in order, and our two days are designed to guide you through this journey.
First, we build a foundation of safety and grounding. (This is our entire Day 1 morning).
We safely make space for the "excavation" of our story. (This is our Day 1 afternoon).
We find our new story of strength and bring it forward. (This is our entire Day 2).
Our first day is dedicated to building safety (Stage 1) and gently making space for our story (Stage 2). We end by taking our raw writing and transforming it into a "contained" creative piece.
We start by anchoring in the "here and now." We use a 5-senses grounding exercise to connect to the present moment. This reminds our body that it is safe.
The "5 Senses" exercise is a complete tool, using all our senses to ground us in the present.
After a private, 20-minute "Expressive Write," we move to containment. We don't want to leave our raw emotions on the page; we give them shape. We find 10-15 powerful words from our writing and craft them into a "Found Poem."
This transforms the raw material (left) into a new, contained piece of art (right).
Our second day is dedicated to Stage 3: Reconnection. We shift our focus from the story of our pain to the story of our strength and resilience—the story of our *response* to pain.
We use a core Narrative Therapy tool to separate ourselves from our problem. We map the "Problem's Influence" vs. "Our Values" to find "Unique Outcomes"—small moments where our values won.
| Problem's Influence | My Values & My Response |
|---|---|
| "Stay inside. Don't trust." | "Value: Connection. Response: I texted one friend." |
| "You're not good enough." | "Value: Creativity. Response: I doodled for 5 mins." |
We write the full story of our "Unique Outcome" (our response)—this is our new, re-authored narrative.
In the final step, we take our new story of strength (our "Unique Outcome") and give it a voice. We craft it into a spoken word piece, a letter, or a short monologue. Sharing this piece aloud is the final act of "re-authoring," bringing our story of resilience from the private page into the public world as an act of power.
We close our time by writing a private "Letter to My Future Self" to carry these new stories and strengths forward.