Our Support System Institute offers practical trainings for community partners and creative professionals to build trauma-informed support systems and apprenticeship pathways. Through hands-on workshops, mentorship models, and shared curriculum design, participants gain skills in expressive arts facilitation, culturally responsive care, ethical apprenticeship practices, and organizational sustainability. Each module centers lived experience and co-creation, helping partners create safe learning spaces, increase access to paid creative apprenticeships, and strengthen community networks for healing and professional growth.
❋ Advocate 101A 4-part training series to equip community partners with the tools they need to advocate for adolescents coping from trauma and help build creative support systems for them and their families.
❋ Skills Coach 101A 4-part training series to equip professional creative partners with the tools they need to become one of our Creative Skills Coaches and participate in one of our creative support systems.
❋ The PromotersA monthly gathering of community partners to discover ways they can help our creative support systems, spread the news about our initiatives, and connect with other advocates for families coping from trauma.
❋ Creative EntrepreneurshipA monthly series of trainings and talks about ways our professional creative partners can build their creative businesses and incorporate their apprentices along the way.
Advocate 101: A 4-Part Training Series | Support System Institute
Every young person healing from trauma needs more than one caring adult — they need a whole support system around them. That's where you come in.
Advocate 101 is a 4-part training series designed for community partners, mentors, and caring adults who want to show up well for adolescents navigating trauma, foster care, and adoption. Whether you're a teacher, coach, church leader, neighbor, or simply someone who wants to make a difference, this training will equip you with practical tools to become part of a family's support system.
What you'll learn across the 4 sessions:
🔹 The basics of trauma-informed care and how it shows up in adolescent behavior
🔹 How to build trust and safety with youth and families
🔹 Practical ways to advocate for a young person in school, community, and social settings
🔹 How to work alongside families as part of a coordinated support system — not just a one-time helper
By the end of the series, you'll walk away with a clearer understanding of your role, tangible strategies for connection, and a network of fellow advocates in our community.
💬 Open to all community partners — no prior experience required
Families with adolescents impacted by trauma don't need perfect people. They need present ones. Join us and become part of the circle.
Advocate 101
Advocate 101 is a four-part training series designed to equip community partners with practical, trauma-informed tools to support adolescents and their families; each session blends clear psychoeducation on how trauma affects the body and mind with actionable guidance for navigating the foster care system and maintaining family stability, plus hands-on instruction in expressive, creative techniques that strengthen connection and resilience—so participants leave prepared to recognize trauma responses, advocate effectively within systems, and implement accessible arts-based strategies that help keep families together.
Part OneTrauma on the Brain
Part TwoUnderstanding the Foster Care System
Part ThreeParts of a Support System
Part FourA Creative Life
Creative Skills Coach 101
Our Creative Skills Coach 101 training is a practical, four-part series designed to equip professional creatives with evidence-informed tools, trauma-sensitive communication strategies, and hands-on facilitation skills to become effective Creative Skills Coaches for adolescents recovering from trauma. Across four interactive modules—foundations of trauma-responsive practice, creative modalities and adaptations, group facilitation and boundary-setting, and co-creating care pathways with clinical teams—participants build confidence through role-plays, case studies, and real-world project planning. Graduates join a supportive network within our collective, receive implementation resources and ongoing supervision options, and are prepared to co-create safe, empowering creative spaces that bolster resilience, regulate affect, and strengthen therapeutic alliances with young people.
Part One
Trauma on the Brain
Part TwoUnderstanding the Foster Care System
Part ThreeEthics and Safety of an Apprentice
Part FourCreative Connection