Workshops for Organizations

Healing Roots offers workshops on a variety of topics. These can be customized to fit an organization's needs, including time and budget.

European American Identity and Culture

Topics include:

• What is culture?: The dynamics of culture
• The history of whiteness
• Opportunities to transform whiteness
• Major characteristics of modern European American culture
• Our cultural roots
• Building relationships across culture
• The value of culture and diversity

Narratives of Whiteness

Cultural "narratives" that our society has inherited that maintain inequities and racism, including:

• The narrative of cultural superiority
• The narrative of meritocracy
• The narrative of the white savior

We then discuss how we can promote counter narratives, including:

• Cultural awareness and humility
• Systems thinking
• Community engagement

Western vs. Indigenous Ways of Knowing

We study several cultural concepts to understand some of the deep differences that can create misunderstanding and oppression, including

• Concept of self: individualist vs. collectivist
• Land/nature
• Knowledge

Preparation for Truth-Telling

A process for preparing European Americans to listen to the stories of people of other cultures of their suffering and oppression. Includes:

• Studying our experiences with deep listening: What gets in the ways? What patterns do we repeat? What supports us to listen deeply?
• Cultural concepts that lead to disconnection or misunderstanding
• Resources for listening and empathizing