Psychoeducation is an evidence-based therapeutic intervention for clients and their loved ones, it helps to provide information in order to better support, understand and cope with a mental illness.

Yoga Nidra is a form of guided meditation also known as “effortless relaxation”. It is most often practiced lying down with a teacher guiding the session. It encourages us to draw our attention inwards, and we develop the skills to surf between states of sleep and wakefulness, where our body returns to its natural state of homeostasis.

TIC is an approach that guides itself from the assumption that an individual is more likely than not to have a trauma history. TIC recognizes the prevalence of traumatic experiences in society and acknowledges the ongoing role trauma may play in an individual's life.

This gradual shift in terminology is motivated by the fact that the term survivor denotes a sense of empowerment and strength in recovery to some, while the term victim may denote a sense of helplessness to others. However, some people identify as a victim, while others may prefer the term survivor. At Repose, the best way for us to honor your therapeutic journey is to ask for your preference.

Identity is loosely defined as who you are, the way you think about yourself, the way you see yourself, the way you are viewed by the world, and the characteristics that define you.

Gender refers to the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex.

Mindfulness is a state of being. It is the quality of being wholly present and completely engaged in whatever we are doing in the moment. Allowing ourselves to be free from judgment and distraction, and fully attuned to our thoughts and feelings without getting trapped in them. This moment-to-moment awareness is one that is trained through breathwork, meditation, and guided imagery, allowing us to enhance this skill and utilize it in our daily lives.

There is often a link between one’s identity and the risk of traumatic exposure. Any verbal or nonverbal prejudiced communication whether on an individual or systemic level, may contribute to one feeling overwhelmed. This may then turn into an inability for one to adequately cope. Some traumatic events occur solely as a result of how someone may describe or express their identity (gender, racial and sexual minorities for example). Such chronic traumatic experiences may negatively impact an individual's identity and identity expression, and result in an alteration in identity and self-esteem.

Intergenerational trauma is a psychological term that asserts that trauma can be transferred between generations. It states that after the first generation of survivors experiences trauma, they transfer this trauma to their children via altered genes and behavioral conditioning often perpetuated by continued race-based traumatic stress.

Attachment theory believes that humans are born with an innate drive to develop deep emotional bonds with their caregivers. A bond that exists beyond the basic fulfilment of physiological needs, but also of emotional needs. The safety or lack thereof of our early relationships go on to influence our psychological wellbeing and interpersonal-connectedness later on in life.

The acronym POC stands for Person of Color. This denotes a person who is not white. Although this term is increasingly common, it may still not be acceptable to all audiences and excludes the experiences of some marginalized communities within the substrata of racial and ethnic identities.

The acronym BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, People of Color. This term seeks to unite all POC in the work for freedom and liberation while acknowledging that not all people of color face the same level of oppression and injustice. This conscious awareness allows us to recognize that Black and Indigenous bodies face some of the worst injustices in society as a consequence of racism, classism, and settler colonialism.

LGBTQIA++ is an umbrella term that seeks to encompass all identities of the gender and sexuality minority. Some but not all of the identities include: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Demisexual, Pansexual, Non-Binary, Gender Non-Conforming, Graysexual, and more.

The term Womxn is a powerful encompassing of a broader range of gender identities other than “woman”. It seeks to foreground transgender, nonbinary, and womxn of color.

This term describes a person of Latin American origin or descent and is used as a gender-neutral or nonbinary alternative to the commonly used terms “Latino or Latina”.

Polyvagal Theory is a tool for working with trauma as well as understanding social connection and communication. The polyvagal theory posits how all of us experience some degree of trauma in our early lives. Whether this trauma was a singular event that brought great fear or a prolonged sense of feeling unsafe. Each of these experiences elicits responses that remain ingrained in our nervous systems and frequently emerge to add fear to situations experienced later in life. Polyvagal theory offers a precise science about the vagus nerve, which is one part of our autonomic nervous system (our control room).

The vagus nerve, is one part of our autonomic nervous system that connects the brain to the organs of the belly, and the heart. It relates to our human ability for connection and communication with others. Learning about the vagus nerve allows us to understand our human nervous system and how it predictably relates to stimuli in our environments and determines varying levels of danger and safety.

This system controls conditions inside one's body. Most activities in this system are done without any conscious control over them. It is interestingly divided into 2 main sections. The sympathetic nervous system (our hot system) and the parasympathetic nervous system (our cool system). These 2 systems are inclined to have opposing actions, where one system stimulates a response, and the other inhibits it.

The sympathetic nervous system guides our body’s swift involuntary response to dangerous or stressful situations. A flash flood of hormones heightens the body's heart rate and alertness, sending extra blood to our muscles, allowing us to be prepared for any perceived threat/danger.

The parasympathetic nervous system often called the rest-and-digest system, is tasked with saving the body’s energy by increasing the activity of the intestines and glands during periods of rest and slowing the heart rate. It inhibits the body from being overworked and restores it to a calm and regulated state.