Public Speaking
& Mental Health Workshops
Thank you for your interest in learning more about my previous public speaking and mental health workshop engagements. My facilitation approach combines evidence-based research mostly in the fields of somatic psychology and financial psychology with trauma-informed, and creative-artistic methods to support participants' with holistic learning and engagement.
To connect about booking speaking or workshop engagements, please
send me an email at: info.shalynisaacs@gmail.com
(Upcoming) April 17th, 2025:
Rewriting Career and Financial Visions:
Trauma-Informed Creative Writing on Canvas
Ottawa School of Art
This workshop provided mental health education on how trauma and systemic inequities shape the way our brain and body influence financial and career decision-making. Following a brief presentation, I facilitated a gentle yoga practice and creative writing session where participants engaged in writing about their career and financial visions that honor their mental health, cultural identities and core values.
Key Takeaways:
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Understand how trauma and systemic inequities impact the brain, body, and decision-making with career and finances.
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Learn mind-body resources for supporting nervous system regulation to make career & financial choices from a grounded place.
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Craft a vision of career & financial success that honors one's mental health, culture, and values.
March 8th, 2025: Financial Healing & Wellness
for Women of Color
Ottawa Arts Court Centre
This workshop provided mental health education on how trauma and systemic inequities shape the way our brain and body influence financial and career decision-making. Following a brief presentation, I facilitated a gentle yoga practice and creative writing session where participants engaged in writing about their career and financial visions that honor their mental health, cultural identities and core values.
Key Takeaways:
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Understand how trauma and systemic inequities impact the brain, body, and decision-making with career and finances.
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Learn mind-body resources for supporting nervous system regulation to make career & financial choices from a grounded place.
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Craft a vision of career & financial success that honors one's mental health, culture, and values.
November 4th, 2024:
Wellness for Women of Color:
Reclaiming Authentic Self-Expression,
Joy, and Self-Care
Ottawa Arts Court Centre
This workshop focused on using holistic wellness practices such as breathwork, gentle movement and guided visualization to support women with writing about reclaiming authentic self-expression, self-care, and joy practices to support their well-being.
Key Takeaways:
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Explore how practicing joy, self-care and authentic self-expression support us with navigating systemic inequities within the workplace or diverse institutions from a place of connection to our mind-body, clarity, and inner wisdom.
June 2024: Trauma-Informed Leadership
for Staff & Board of Directors
Organization: BFO (Bereaved Families of Ontario)
This workshop explored principles and practices of trauma-informed leadership when working with those from marginalized communities.
Key Takeaways:
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Understand how systemic inequities impact the brain, nervous system, and decision-making of those from communities who have faced discrimination and systemic barriers.
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Explore how to incorporate trauma-informed principles into leadership dynamics with marginalized communities.
May 2024: Cross-Cultural Perspectives
of Death & Grieving
Organization: BFO (Bereaved Families of Ontario)
This workshop provided research on cross-cultural perspectives of death and grief in various cultures, and culturally-sensitive ways to support people from diverse cultural communities in the grieving process.
Key Takeaways:
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Deeper understanding of diverse death rituals and grieving practices across different cultures.
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Knowledge and awareness of ways to support people from diverse cultural backgrounds in the grieving process.
May 2024: Creative Writing for
Financial Wellness & Empowerment
Organization: Trauma of Money
Money stories shape our financial choices, self-worth, and sense of possibility. This workshop uses creative writing as a tool to explore, rewrite, and reclaim personal financial narratives. Through guided journaling, storytelling, and reflective exercises, participants will uncover limiting beliefs, cultivate financial self-trust, and envision empowered financial futures.
Key Takeaways:
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Identify and reframe inherited financial narratives that impact decision-making.
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Use creative writing as a tool for self-reflection, empowerment, and financial healing.
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Cultivate a mindset of financial self-trust, abundance, and aligned decision-making.
June 2024: Trauma-Informed Leadership
for Staff & Board of Directors
Organization: BFO (Bereaved Families of Ontario)
This workshop explored principles and practices of trauma-informed leadership when working with those from marginalized communities.
Key Takeaways:
-
Understand how systemic inequities impact the brain, nervous system, and decision-making of those from communities who have faced discrimination and systemic barriers.
-
Explore how to incorporate trauma-informed principles into leadership dynamics with marginalized communities.
May 23, 2023:
Healing Money Trauma:
How Trauma Impacts Our Relationship With Money
and Ways to Experience Financial Empowerment
Organization: Fruits From The Roots
Psychotherapy Centre
This workshop provided information on the ways trauma responses held within the body influence our relationship with money and financial decisions, based in insights from somatic psychology and neurobiology. Strategies based in mindfulness and mind-body processes were discussed as ways to support emotional regulation and financial decision making.
Key Takeaways:
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Identify how trauma responses held in the body, along with neurotransmitters and core regions in the brain effected by trauma impact financial beliefs and decision-making.
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Learn strategies for supporting nervous system regulation and financial decision-making from a place of clarity and inner wisdom.
Jan 2023:
Overcoming Career 'Imposter Syndrome'
and Self-Doubt with Women of Color
Organization: Accelerate Her Future
This workshop explores how systemic barriers, cultural expectations, and intergenerational narratives shape self-doubt and imposter syndrome in the careers of women of color. Through guided reflection, storytelling, and trauma-informed strategies, participants will learn to reframe limiting beliefs and cultivate confidence in their professional journeys.
Key Takeaways:
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Understand the historical and systemic roots of imposter syndrome for women of color.
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Develop self-affirming narratives and strategies to navigate self-doubt.
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Build a supportive network of peers for continued encouragement and growth.
May 2022:
Supporting Workplace Mental Health
Through Decolonial Mind-Body Practices
Organization: Accelerate Her Future
This session introduces decolonial approaches to workplace well-being, integrating knowledge about nervous system regulation and somatic awareness, and mindfulness practices rooted in non-Western wisdom. Participants will explore how reconnecting with the body and community care can foster resilience, reduce stress, and challenge extractive work cultures.
Key Takeaways:
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Learn how colonial work structures impact mental health and well-being.
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Explore culturally-rooted mind-body practices for stress management and resilience.
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Gain practical tools to advocate for holistic and sustainable workplace wellness.
March 2022:
Trauma-Informed Frameworks for
Navigating the Workplace
Organization: Kinship Group - Women of Color,
by Benevolent Health, UK
This workshop explores how trauma—both personal and systemic—shapes workplace experiences and professional dynamics. Participants will learn trauma-informed strategies to set boundaries, advocate for their needs, and cultivate psychological safety in professional settings. Through reflection and discussion, we will reimagine work environments that prioritize healing, equity, and well-being.
Key Takeaways:
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Understand how trauma manifests in workplace interactions and decision-making.
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Learn practical strategies for setting boundaries and self-advocacy in professional spaces.
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Explore ways to foster trauma-informed workplaces that center care and inclusivity.
October 2021:
Self-Care in the Workplace:
Prioritizing Rest as a Form of Resistance
Organization: University of Toronto
In a culture that glorifies overwork, rest is a radical act of self-preservation and resistance. This workshop explores how systemic pressures, productivity myths, and internalized hustle culture impact well-being, particularly for women of color. Participants will learn practical strategies to integrate rest, set boundaries, and reclaim their right to sustainable work-life balance.
Key Takeaways:
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Understand the historical and systemic forces that devalue rest and self-care.
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Learn to set boundaries and challenge guilt around prioritizing rest.
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Develop personalized strategies for integrating rest and self-preservation into daily work life.
March 2021:
Somatic (Mind-Body) and Trauma-Informed
Frameworks for Supporting the Mental Health
of Racialized Communities
Organization: Ontario Society
of Registered Psychotherapists (OSRP)
Healing from systemic oppression requires more than mindset shifts—it requires reconnecting with the body. This workshop explores somatic (mind-body) and trauma-informed approaches to supporting the mental health of racialized communities. Through experiential practices and discussion, participants will learn how collective healing, nervous system regulation, and ancestral wisdom can foster resilience and liberation.
Key Takeaways:
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Understand how systemic oppression impacts the body and nervous system.
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Explore somatic and trauma-informed practices for healing and resilience.
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Learn to integrate embodied liberation into community care and advocacy.
May 2021:
Embodying Liberation:
For Women of Color on a Path
of Decolonizing Their Minds & Bodies
Organization: Women's Embodied Liberation
Decolonization is not just intellectual—it’s embodied. This workshop invites women of color to explore how colonialism has shaped their relationships with work, rest, self-worth, and their bodies. Through somatic (mind-body) practices, reflective writing, and community dialogue, participants will reconnect with ancestral wisdom, reclaim self-trust, and cultivate a liberatory way of being.
Key Takeaways:
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Unlearn colonial narratives around productivity, rest, and self-worth.
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Explore somatic and reflective practices for healing and self-reclamation.
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Reconnect with ancestral wisdom to cultivate a liberated, embodied way of living.