Why the name Raise Your Resilience? Back in 2014 we were wrestling with this idea. We thought back then that the word “trauma” in a tended to scare them away. Unlike today, where the word means little due to over and incorrect use. What we wanted was to speak to what the benefit was. At one of the retreats we were at with Dr. Berceli, said to me, “If you want to change the world, heal trauma.” The vision was born. Later, he wanted to do a video of me, and we had some points to make, and otherwise I was free to flow. One of those moments included describing what we wanted to help people do and “raise our resilience” rolled out of my mouth. My partner at the time, Petra Martin, was sitting inside my peripheral vision and she heard the words, and pointed at me with a smile. The name of that vision was born.
What makes Raise Your Resilience unique? Three things primarily: It’s structure as a company, it’s vision, and it’s program.
A Unique Company
One is that Raise Your Resilience is a membership based experience, and awards franchises.
The first level is that all clients are members if they opt in. This is mostly to continue the idea of aftercare. They have access to resources that are not available to others, and they have a social media site that is theirs exclusively where they get to hear from the CEO and other Mentors of Raise Your Resilience; to develop community relationships and foster post trauma growth with others who have finished the program. The hope is that this growth experience is moved outside the virtual community. A better outcome for the client.
Unique to the industry, is the franchise model. Meaning, highly proprietary, and, requiring training. It won’t be easy. In fact, if you don’t share the vision of Raise Your Resilience in speaking to and healing the trauma of this world, you can skip this part. The requirements are that they complete the Toolbox Mentor program, and then the Mentor Training program, after that, 4% of sales. Why 4%? Each percent is a reminder of the Four Agreements: be impeccable with your word; don’t take anything personally; don’t make assumptions; always bring the A game. Eventually I will be looking to some of these early adopters to become the officers of the company. The VPs of Tech, Training, Finance, Marketing, and Communications. Not that they need formal educations in these fields, although that wouldn’t hurt! That isn’t what’s important. The most important is that you’re a grad of the Mentor program. That means the one year healing program, and the minimal one year Mentor program, where you learn how to be a guide to others. Having the vision of healing trauma is first, and foremost.
An opportunity down the road to eventually be running the company by themselves. They have a far different incentive then to carry on the culture and business.
Becoming voting members of the LLC, they have a say in decisions that effect the organization, although the final decision is that of the CEO/Founder.
What do I mean by franchised? I’m talking about a proprietary way of doing business that differentiates Raise Your Resilience as a company devoted to providing trauma healing services, and consistently delivers the best customer experience nearly every time. For example, the client/provider meeting is semi-scripted. Why? Because that ensures safety for all, and the best experience for the client, based on my experiences delivering healing services over the last eleven years, and seeing the change when I changed the program. I say “semi” because every client is different, and every session is dynamic, just like a tremor is. One cannot script that, and I wouldn’t try. That is the art of tremoring. The Mentor gets to bring their gifts and talents to the table in the broader context of the training manual and business protocols, guidelines, and standards. This also means brand consistency, marketing consistency, and for the individual franchisee, marketing efforts they can have a say in, but is mostly done by the home office. Let’s not recreate the wheel, yes? The managing positions in the company are all written down, the training of the Mentors is written down, so that everything can be orchestrated. Everyone can be on the same page, making the music of trauma healing and extraordinary living. That means better outcomes for the clients.
with a unique vision
The second thing that makes Raise Your Resilience unique is the vision. Some years ago Dr. Berceli, the creator of TRE, said to me at the Advanced training in Portland in 2014, “If you want to change the world, heal trauma.” And I took that and crawled with it. Now its time to run with it. There are two parts to this vision”
The original task - heal trauma. I realized that more of us in a unique framework can do more of this with consistent high quality client experiences than I ever can alone. The problem we solve is just that big. Trauma is indeed the planet’s #1 health problem, bar none. Physical health, and mental health. Changing it could save billions every year.
The second part of this is changing those systemic policies and culture that create traumatizing stress. Sexual assault, addicition, homelessness, and poverty being four examples. This needs to be spoken to. It is my vision that the mentor officers of this company will speak to those issues as they see fit, and as an organization to collaborate with others to speak to the powers that be, or are to be, and to use corporate money to meet the needs at the personal level.
By necessity then Raise Your Resilience cannot be a one man operation. I hope it to be a national voice to those issues of trauma treatment as well as trauma creation on this planet. If we want a future, it has to be done.
RYR will be unique because of the people who run it, from the CEO down - they will all be healed or well on their way. They will understand trauma better than most, and will understand the clients, and their colleagues very well. And we’re going to have a lot of fun doing this work. Not because trauma is fun, but because there doesn’t need to be a whole lot of focus on the wound to heal. There doesn’t need to be a lot of “drama.” Yes, we still will have stuff to deal with, yet we’ll also have the resources. Healing is glorious to watch. It cries out for the victory lap, and that is so inspiring. And that inspiration drives the work.
There won’t even be a “headquarters” for some time to come. A lot of this will be virtual existence. Eventually this seven county area might have one right here on Whidbey, but otherwise as it grows nationally, maybe even internationally, there may not be a need for a brick and mortar presence. The important presence is each of us authentically as we show up for each other. These will be people hungry to do better work, hungry for and skilled at connection, where we each matter. The tech person, the marketing head, the Mentors all over, and the clients. Making others feel safe, comfortable, and that they matter is a value the company wishes to exude. The company vision matters, the Mentors matter. Each Mentor is a member/owner, in that on the day the founder chooses to sell the company, they become the owners. And they will carry Raise Your Resilience into the future. A better focus for now, and later.
And A unique program - Better tools.
The trauma healing program itself. It is “oft imitated, never duplicated.”
The program is a year long. This is 12 months of weekly sessions that focus on aspects other than your wounding events. Yes, it requires you to be responsible for your own healing, and doing what work there is. That is in fact, your one guarantee of results. There are three reasons for this 12 month length:
To develop habits. Learning the use of tools to the point of mastery isn’t about a weekend, or 21 days. It is about many repetitions, and a year is a solid amount of time to practice repetitions! This is also the necessary time to begin to see changes in yourself, and to be able to track them. Healing isn’t a microwave experience. Those promising two hours, two sessions, two weeks, two months and so on have no idea about the human organism or trauma. You will not heal in a year. I didn’t. It took me a little over 5 years. However, I was able to do my own work after a year. And that 5 years was worth every second since.
The building of the developmental needs of attunement and attachment. At the core of developmental trauma, these two are critical. The program also starts on the reconnection to the body, which is the very first disconnect of traumatizing stress in infants. These aspects develop because of the live interaction with the provider.
Coming out of attunement and attachment into that place of co-regulation is an elixir! It is truly the foundation of all fulfilling relationships, whether or not they are work related, friendships, or romantic. Being in the relative safe and comfortable healing environment with a Mentor allows the nervous system to restore it’s ability to feel safe, to tell when others are safe to trust, or even be around, and when it’s appropriate to take risks without fear of crushing rejection.
Most importantly, the development of safety as a felt sense in the body. Without that there is no healing at all.
There is a SM community just for the clients who opt in to be members of Raise Your Resilience, as a form of after care as well as a place to get to know one another and the providers that drop in. In other words, work on those social skills!
The program starts where the issue of trauma starts - in the body. Not in the brain. Trauma starts in the body and moves back into the psyche. With topo-down and bottom up tools, there is an integrated healing process that develops likfe skills while symptoms dissolve.
Is an investment, not a cost. YOU aren’t a cost. You have value, greater than that of any monetary investment. Let’s look at it this way. An investment in common thinking wants a return, correct? You invest X, you get X= in return. If you became a better employee by healing your trauma, would that not open the door for a higher wage? To break even against the investment of the program strictly financially speaking would be $2.04 an hour. In my experience I made that jump and more just in my last wage increase. Now, let’s look at the intangibles that go along with healing trauma, those “soft skills” that employers are looking for: communication (the community membership), critical thinking (cognitive element of the program, module 3), creativity (right brain waking up from trauma), emotional intelligence (emotions element of program, module 2), and conflict management membership community practice, emotional and cognitive elements of the program), and work ethic (that work ethic is completing the 12 month program, and doing the work. The intrinsic value of that alone…?) The upshot is you’ll be able to tell when it’s time to move to a better opportunity with a greater degree of confidence, assurance that moving out of your comfort zone is the best thing to do, and the courage to face possible failure. YOU, are not a cost, you are an investment. What do you want out of your investment? And please, think broad and deep…
With outstanding results.
Would you like outstanding changes in your own life? Click the button to examine your choices!