Rest, Resilience, and Reconnection: Reimagining Healing from Racial Trauma

As healers, therapists, and counsellors from racialized and Indigenous communities, we often carry the weight of our clients' trauma alongside our own. How can we cultivate sustainable practices of healing and resilience for ourselves and the communities we serve?

Join us for an inspiring and thought-provoking conversation with Dr. Rajni Sharma and Dr. Monnica Williams as we explore transformative approaches to healing racial trauma. We will delve into:

• Honoring ancestral and cultural wisdom in therapeutic practice.
• The role of community and connection in fostering resilience.
• Innovative and emergent therapies, including psychedelic-assisted models, for deep healing.
• Building a community of practice dedicated to collective liberation and well-being.

This gathering is a space for racialized psychotherapists, counsellors, and Indigenous healers to connect, learn, and imagine new possibilities for healing.

Meet Our Guides:

Dr. Rajni Sharma is a dedicated psychotherapist, art therapist, and community psychologist whose work is centered on healing from racial trauma. Her research and practice explore the integration of mind-body approaches and psychedelic therapies to address the impacts of oppression on mental health.

Dr. Monnica Williams, a renowned clinical psychologist and Professor, is a leading expert on mental health in communities of color and interventions to reduce racism. With over 200 published articles, her work has significantly advanced our understanding of trauma and culturally responsive care. She is also at the forefront of ensuring racial equity and access in the field of psychedelic medicine.

Invitation to an Immersive Healing Experience:
This online event also offers a glimpse into our plant medicine research retreats, including our upcoming event in Oaxaca, Mexico (November 20-25, 2025). This retreat offers a profound opportunity for racialized clinicians and Indigenous healers to experience group-based, psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy as a tool for personal and professional growth, community building, and healing from racial stress.

Both speakers are faculty at the University of Ottawa's MA Program in Psychedelic & Consciousness Studies.

Learn more: https://www.mentalhealthdisparities.org/retreats.php

We request a small fee to help offset membership costs. Please let us know if this poses a hardship.