STAR-Lite Training: Learning Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience in a Single Day for Cultural Competence, Racial Healing, Equity, and Justice.

When terrible things happen, like racism and COVID-19, our peace has been stolen from us. Let's build peace back into our lives and communities.

This online STAR-Lite Training has been made possible by partial funding from the Engelsma Family Foundation. Everyone is welcome regardless of financial limitations. If you have the financial resources to cover tuition, we ask you to pay $40.00 or make a donation of any amount you can after clicking the green Tickets button.

If you are taking this training for continuing education (CEs or CLEs), please select the ticket option that includes the $40 training tuition and the additional $35 CE fee. If you are an attorney who wants 5.5 hours of CLEs for this training, please also contact us via info@mnpeace.org so that we can notify the CLE board accordingly. Thank you!

STAR-Lite Training Facilitators:

Donna Minter, PhD, LP, Certified STAR Trainer, USA and International Experience, Neuropsychologist, Clinical Psychologist, and Forensic Psychology Examiner, Founder and Executive Director, Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute

Crixell Shell, MS , STAR Trainer and Assistant Executive Director, Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute, Rule 114 Community Mediator, Coming to the Table Racial Healing Talking Circle Facilitator

STAR-Lite is a single-day research and practice-supported training integrating neuropsychology, trauma healing and resilience, restorative justice, nonviolent conflict transformation, and broadly defined spirituality. The goal of the training is to become trauma-informed, resilience-oriented, and restorative justice-focused in our lives and communities. STAR-Lite is for individuals who wish to learn the basic STAR concepts and models within a shorter-time frame than the full STAR Training. While STAR-Lite is not a pre-requisite or replacement for the full STAR Training, it may serve as a refresher course for graduates of the full STAR Training. STAR-Lite is designed for those wanting to understand psychological trauma toward building peace within their spheres of influence for increasing cultural competence. Rather than being limited to the traditional DSM-V medical model-based understanding of psychological trauma, STAR and STAR-Lite are designed for those seeking to address psychological trauma from a broader bio-psycho-social-cultural-spiritual perspective toward seeking truth, mercy, justice, and peace for healed just relationships in our culturally diverse families, organizations, and communities.

Training objectives:

1. Learn and reflect on the various types of trauma and common responses to psychological trauma for increased cultural competence.

2. Learn and reflect on the links between unhealed trauma and cycles of victimhood and violence experienced by all people.

3. Learn and reflect on the basic STAR trauma healing and resilience models and associated practices for increased cultural competence.

4. Explore ways to apply trauma healing, resilience, and restorative justice practices toward building culturally competent peace within your sphere of influence.

98% of STAR-Lite and STAR graduates rated the trainings as “Very Good” to “Excellent”

100% increased their confidence to appropriately aid and assist when their clients, family, friends, and community members face stressful and traumatic circumstances.

99.5% indicated they recommend the STAR-Lite and STAR Trainings to others.

As a courtesy to licensed mental health professionals, teachers, nurses, and attorneys who also wish to receive a 6.5 hrs of CEs or 5.5 hours of CLEs, STAR-Lite has been approved by the Minnesota professional boards. The CE/CLE fee is $35.

A day before the training, all registrants will receive an email providing the Zoom video conference link and training documents to print in preparation for the training. If you believe you did not receive the pre-training email, please check your Spam Folder for this pre-training email before contacting us at info@mnpeace.org

Cancellation Policy: Refunds for this training, less a $30 administrative fee, will be given if written cancellation is received from the registrant at least 7 days prior to the training. No tuition refund is offered after 7 days prior to the training. Transfer of tuition to another STAR-Lite training in Minnesota is granted if written request is received 24 hours before the day of this training. Refunds or transfers are not available for no-shows. There is high demand for this training. If you realize you cannot attend, please contact us immediately at info@mnpeace.org to let us know. This will open your spot to another attendee. Thanks!

MN Peacebuilding depends on people just like you to provide financial support for our community education trainings and events. If you have financial resources, please make a single or monthly recurring donation here: https://www.givemn.org/organization/Minnesota-Peacebuilding-Leadership-Institute

Please review these STAR-Lite Training Guidelines :

Our STAR-Lite training is designed for those wanting to understand psychological trauma and move toward building peace within their spheres of influence. Our trainees come from a wide variety of backgrounds; we represent different political leanings, cultural practices, religious traditions and understandings of spirituality and spiritual practices. The STAR-Lite Training is a single-day training based on the STAR program that originated at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA. Mennonites are an historic peace church denomination, which is Christian but neither Catholic nor Protestant. The STAR and STAR-Lite Trainings are not religious programs and warmly welcome people from all backgrounds.

The single day STAR-Lite training is specifically designed for individuals who wish to learn the basic STAR concepts and models within a shorter time frame. Though it is not a pre-requisite or replacement for the five-day STAR Training, it does serve as a refresher course for graduates of the full STAR Training.

As you can imagine, rich diversity makes a dynamic learning environment as we explore issues of trauma, security, justice, and peacebuilding and relate it to our own contexts. In order to create an optimal learning environment, please take time to read the following understandings about this single day training.

STAR and STAR-Lite recognize that trauma affects body, mind, and spirit and addresses all of these aspects. Trauma hits us where we are most vulnerable and makes chaos out of the order of our lives. Healing processes need to address body, mind and spirit. As human beings, it is normal for those coming from a spiritual tradition to seek comfort and reassurance from their faith at such times or to address deep questions of meaning. All of us are aware of the religious tensions that exist in our world today. Your STAR-Lite group will likely be a microcosm of this world and we see it as a rich opportunity to build bridges of understanding.

STAR-Lite is conducted as a multi-cultural, multi-faith gathering. This is different than conducting the sessions as an interfaith or intercultural training (see definitions below). It means each of person is given the safety and space to interact with the content of STAR-Lite freely using the language of his/her own culture and faith tradition or spiritual practice. We ask that you exercise respect and sensitivity in this and at all times, speak only for yourself.

We have also found that, given the diversity of people who come to STAR-Lite, many issues, both individual and structural, could be used as case studies of trauma and the resulting cycles of victimhood, oppression, and violence. Because of the complexity, long history, and emotional intensity of such issues, getting centered on any one could result in diversion from the objectives for the training and jeopardize the learning atmosphere for others. Therefore, for the emotional safety of the group, we ask that STAR-Lite not be used as a platform for the promotion of a particular theological, ideological, or political issue.

Multi-faith: a situation where persons of different faiths are present in one setting

Multi-cultural: of or relating to or including several cultures

Interfaith: activities that involve an interaction between different faiths such as dialoguing, praying, marrying, or working on joint projects.

Intercultural: studies of a large number of cultures, or studies that try to identify dimensions that are not culture specific: cultural dimensions applicable for all cultures.

STAR-Lite is an educational event. Many STAR-Lite trainees have found the day to be therapeutic, but STAR-Lite is not designed to be therapy. The experiential exercises are to illustrate ways of addressing trauma and building resilience toward building peace within one’s sphere of influence; the academic input is educational in nature -- neither should be used as diagnostic or professional treatment tools. Any concerns you have about psychological issues should be discussed with a qualified mental health professional. If you have questions about this during the training, please discuss them with our staff.

From these understandings, we offer the following guidelines for the training:

a. See our time together as an opportunity to stretch and grow, owning that many of us have much to learn about other people’s cultures and faith traditions.

b. Speak for yourself rather than being prescriptive for the group.

c. Share who you are, but refrain from theological, cultural and philosophical debates and proselytizing.

d. Use the “ouch, then educate” principle if someone says something that offends or hurts, e.g. “Ouch, making that generalization about Africans, Muslims, Americans, etc. reinforces tired, outdated stereotypes. In fact...”

e. Assume that no one in the group is deliberately wanting to hurt or degrade your faith or people. Tell personal stories to illustrate why you feel a certain way about something controversial rather than making general statements or pronouncements.

f. Ask rather than make statements about another’s culture or faith tradition, e.g. “I understand that Hindus…Am I correct?” “Is it true that in your community you …?”

STAR-Lite staff reserves the right to ask a trainee to withdraw from the training early if, based on our experience and judgment, his/her disruptive conduct jeopardizes the group’s educational experience. Prior to asking a trainee to leave, we will speak privately to the person, identify the behavior(s) causing disruption for the group, and give a verbal reminder of the policies above. If mutual understanding cannot be reached, as a last resort and with regret, the trainee will be asked to leave.

STAR-Lite and all of Peacebuilding's trainings are available by contract arrangement for community groups, organizations, and corporations.

The content of this training is based on the STAR (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience) Program, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA. www.emu.edu/cjp/star