I learned to ski as an adult so I will never be great, but I absolutely love it and can hold my own. As my two older kids have long surpassed me in terms of skill level, one of the things I now do when I go on a hard run with them is to let them go first and watch what they do. I look for the path they take, how fast they go, where they struggle, and then make adjustments based on my own strengths and challenges when we ski together.

When Origins Co-Founder Andi Fetzner and I started Origins back in 2017, the trauma-informed movement was still young. Sure, there were organizations and communities who had been doing trauma-informed work for years, or even decades, but it wasn’t quite mainstream yet. One of our observations was that there was an enormous opportunity for others to learn from those who had gone down the mountain first. There was so much wisdom from those early adopters, but there wasn’t much out there that formally documented the learnings–the wins, the struggles, the lessons learned.

Fast forward a couple of years and Andi connected with Eisner Health, a community health center in Los Angeles County. Eisner Health began it’s trauma-informed initiative in 2018 (although the seeds had been planted a few years before it formally began). Eisner Health shared many of the philosophies about trauma-informed care that we hold at Origins–the importance of focusing internally, the role of organizational culture, and the need for a shared language –and we saw an opportunity to partner. We applied for and received a grant from ACEs Aware to share their story and recently published a practice paper with those lessons.

Register here for a free webinar on February 16th from 12-1 pm PT to hear tips from Eisner Health’s journey implementing trauma-informed care, many of which are universal takeaways that can be applied across sectors. The full practice paper will be sent to everyone who registers for the webinar.

Because this mountain is challenging and we don’t need to go down it alone.

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Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwrdOqorTMqH9VfeeFHMICZ8ryEmzR4hF1S

Lori Chelius, MBA/MPH is a Co-Founder of Origins Training & Consulting. Andi and Lori work with organizations across a number of sectors to build strong foundations based on solid values, build resilience, and provide even better care for the people they serve. She lives in California with her wife, three kids, and their dog, Oliver.