Recognizing and mitigating trauma is a core leadership challenge. Leaders are becoming more aware of the impact of individual and collective trauma on the health of employees and the overall organization. Unaddressed trauma has been shown to prohibit organizations from being innovative and able to realize visionary futures. In this cutting-edge exploration, a small group of organizational executives grew their understanding of what trauma is and how it shows up, exploring ways to mediate and proactively address the presence of trauma in their organizations, and personally grow as instruments of restoration.
The lab was open to senior leaders at organizations, including corporate, governmental, non-profit, and academic institutions.<br />
Initially, we attended to establishing a welcoming, safe, and confidential relational field. We introduced several individual and group practices to support emotional and somatic regulation, which have proven to be helpful when exploring this sometimes challenging topic. From there, we moved from noticing trauma patterns in the organizations we work with to recognizing how individuals and teams are affected by the presence of trauma, learning about resources that support trauma mitigation and healing, and developing personal resourcefulness in the presence of trauma.<br /> <br /> We started with 24 participants and completed with 21. We met for 10 group sessions from February 2024 to December 2024. We also introduced dyads and triad groups between sessions. <br /> <br />
In the first session, we set personal and group intentions. At the start of each session, we attuned to all onscreen, then Gisela or Monica led a ~5 - 8 minute practice (ranging from meditation, 3-synch, centering, gratitude practice, and other somatic practices). Each of the practices was quite organic. We led these practices attuning to the field moment by moment. For example, in one session, we felt participants came in feeling tired, and we did a resilience-building practice on the spot. At the end of each practice, we always did a mood check (1-2 words to describe the current mood), which significantly helped build coherence and skill amongst participants over the year in learning to sense and name their internal sensations and emotions, normalizing any emotion was welcome, not just “positive” ones.
As we moved through topics and sharing in each session, we paused and allowed the field to settle/digest through either short movement or Somatic Experiencing techniques in orientation and stabilization. We also utilized 2 to 5 minute short resilience-building practices when pendulation or titration was needed. Participants were invited to practice these between sessions.
We applied trauma-informed principles, using tools like naming, normalizing, and community agreements to deepen safety and help participants orient. For example, when naming organizational traumas, we highlighted “embrace non-closure” to support nervous systems in navigating the 2-hour session’s flow.
We then began to meet the collective trauma landscape by naming the needs, feelings, and trauma responses in workplace interactions. Participants shared specific examples of the presence of collective trauma in dyadic relationships or teams they are part of. This opened the awareness that the different trauma layers (individual, intergenerational, and collective) can all be present simultaneously. In session 4, we had one participant who was deeply touched as she shared. The group held space and she worked 1:1 with one facilitator in front of the group to slow down, co-regulate, and resource herself. Many participants reported at the end that they had never observed such a way to co-regulate and took away many learnings, deepening the field and their own embodiment of what’s possible in self-regulating after a triggering event in the workplace.
A visual scribe accompanied our lab. She worked in the background. After each session, we shared her images with the group and used them at the next session to recap the prior session, creating a sense of continuity. Midway in the lab, one session focused on attuning to the nervous systems of groups. We used the slides to stimulate the learning.
We used a fishbowl activity to simulate conflict, revealing perception lenses and varied responses. It highlighted co-regulation’s value in leadership before addressing collective trauma in large systems.
Starting in Session 2, participants explored fight/flight/freeze/fawn responses, reflecting on their primary trauma responses and how cultural conditioning shaped them. Breakouts revealed all four responses within the group, highlighting how individuals react in relation to others, especially in workplace teams. Notably, those with freeze patterns were quiet, prompting an invitation to share their experiences. This opened a crucial dialogue on how freeze responses interact with fight or flight, raising awareness of trauma-informed leadership that considers cultural backgrounds alongside personal trauma responses.
In Sessions 3 and 4, participants examined how these patterns show up at work, how leadership behaviors may perpetuate them, and how organizational policies either support or reinforce trauma responses. The diversity of industries and roles among participants enriched the discussion, deepening the understanding of leadership’s role in fostering inclusion without othering. There was a growing awareness of personal conditioning, unconscious biases, and how absence or denial limits what is noticed and addressed. Participants reflected on how today’s organizational structures are shaped by historical patterns, influencing leadership behaviors. Some realized their actions stemmed from trauma states, recognizing how they had unconsciously normalized these behaviors. With this new awareness, they explored how to shift their leadership approach beyond conditioned responses.
We did not proactively prompt participants to connect to their ancestral roots. Instead, it came up organically in people’s shares where they could connect to their own histories, including perpetration, colonization, slavery, patriarchy, etc. Since our participants intentionally comprised a very diverse field by design (US, African, Latin American, European, and Asian ethnicities and 50/50% US and non-US based individuals), there was a lot of sharing about how different cultures and histories shaped their worldview and what is acceptable in the workplace. One woman shared about being German, and another was Spanish/Portuguese, and how they could feel the influence of their ancestral roots, creating one lens that influenced how they lead.
One participant, an African American woman, shared about how patriarchy, colonization, and oppression were part of her past experience. She often referred to what lives in her through her ancestors and cultural influence. We did one meditation inviting the ancestors to resource us and for us to be able to not only bring the strength of our ancestors to our leadership/being but also to meet others and their ancestors behind them in the workplace as a way to open the lens and inclusiveness on teams when leading them.
Because we paid attention to participants' activation levels and practiced self-regulation and co-regulation, the capacity to explore systemic trauma grew.
We titled the session Mitigating Trauma in Organizations rather than Integrating or Healing because many leaders have limited capacity or influence. Mitigation felt more attainable. Sessions 8 and 9 focused on mitigation and integration, while session 10 explored ethical restoration.
In session 9, we examined one of Gisela’s client cases, illustrating how trauma-sensitive facilitation over three day-long events helped an organization of 70 shift from decades-long conflict—rooted in forgotten causes and costly litigations—to visioning a new organizational culture. This nine-month process moved members from being unwilling to share space to rebuilding trust through shared values and commitments.
Leader participants valued this concrete example of a systemic trauma-informed process. We highlighted techniques for facilitative leaders to stay grounded in conflict while applying the non-dual principle that all voices belong, regulating activation, and fostering co-regulation.
The final session’s visual summary reflected our focus on ethical restoration. We emphasized that aligning vertically with the law of life and horizontally with respect for each other fosters flourishing. Participants engaged in an embodiment practice, drawing on relational and earth-based resources and connection to the light.
In our last session, we held a ceremonial closing called Stringing of the Beads, an Indigenous tradition. Each participant named their learning and insight from the lab. They acknowledged how their lives evolved over the year, noting changes in their leadership at work. Many referred to new abilities to self-regulate, notice trauma patterns, and interact differently with colleagues. They recognized that mitigating trauma involves cultivating new ways of Being and Seeing Systems, transforming how they lead and respond.
During the US elections, we addressed external pressures affecting individuals and workplaces. Participants reported feeling better resourced to handle these challenges.
Participants also commented on learning through the co-facilitation model of Gisela and Monica. Many experienced a healthy co-leadership model where power was shared, or saw two female leaders embodying both power and softness. Beyond processing and sharing, the field co-created by the facilitators transmitted leadership that participants appreciated. As co-facilitators, we also grew in our ability to work through challenges and value each other’s complementary skills.
"I learned a lot about trauma and how it impacts a work environment and the people who are connected to it. I learned my role in participating in that environment and that I can take an active role in mitigating/reducing the trauma and encouraging healing. I have slowed down. I find myself intentionally taking a breath, pausing, and responding instead of reacting. I actively work to invite others to participate."
"I feel changed with a deeper, embodied experience and knowledge of holding space in me and in a group situation to be a bridge in the midst of polarization and help to mitigate trauma."
''The Lab has taught me to slow down and breathe - consider my own self-regulation and then calibrate with the community I am in. I have been inspired to invite others to participate. I have become more aware of my body-sense in a critical moment - and become curious about what I am feeling and the root of why. This self-awareness grounds me, and I can more openly consider what the other person/people are doing/experiencing in the same critical moment(s).''
"I would have liked to have worked more with the content related to the mitigation measures in organizations that we started to deepen into near the end of the lab. I understand that the facilitators may have assessed that, as a group, may not have been collectively ready. It was a great Lab. Great to have co-facilitators who prepared well for each session and demonstrated a lovely working relationship."
"I am becoming more aware of how trauma is impacting people’s behavior and how this contributes to systemic incapacity to create sustainable change. I am very interested in knowing how to mitigate this in my workplace."
"Monica and Gisella's fantastic facilitation and demonstration of willingness to adjust to experiences. Everyone in the Learning Lab seems willing to be vulnerable, 100% authentic, and ready to try new things. I love the grounding exercises we use as warm ups. In the minutes that lead up to our sessions, I feel my whole body/being calm and almost get on a different plane. Even while doing this reflection/exercise, I feel a different kind of groundedness than in the rest of my day."
Thank you so much for your interest in participating in an Integration Lab of the Pocket Project! We appreciate your time and consideration in filling out this application. Because Integration Labs are intensive, you can only apply to one lab. You are welcome to fill out the form in the language the lab is offered in.
Crisis Trauma Relief
Trauma-Informed Practice
Collective Trauma Integration
Community of Practice
Raising Awareness
Overview
What we do
Who we are
Підпишіться на наші інформаційні листи. Допоможіть нам зцілювати колективну травму та зменшувати негативні ефекти для нашої глобальної культури.
Gisela Wendling 
English