Dr. Jen Clifden
Mental Health Researcher | Professional Educator | Burnout Preventionist
The Light You Cast™ Curriculum
We know a lot about the origins and impacts of burnout in caregivers.
The Light You Cast™ explores and expands the origins and positive impacts of caregiver mindbodysoul health.
When we create space for the caregiver to focus on discovering and magnifying the origins of their inner mind, body, and soul wellsprings, they not only actualize their innate ability to heal from and stave off burnout and compassion fatigue, they bring more of their soul into their role. As they bring more of their soul into their role, their capacity to embody their core assets of compassion, patience, kindness, empathy, and unconditional positive regard expands exponentially. ​
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The Light You Cast™ is specifically designed for relationship-based professionals to:
* Become a relationship researcher *
* Reverse the cycle of burnout *
* Protect the self against compassion fatigue and moral injury *
* Detox the toxic stress response *
* Heal the body and soothe the nervous system *
* Deepen self-sense (mental health, emotional intelligence, soul health, agency) *
* Cultivate people-sense (social intelligence, compassion, empathy, resonance) *
Because of this training, I have now proclaimed that I am in my age of restoration—
professionally, personally, and spiritually.
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You have helped me more than you will ever know. You helped me get back to myself.
High School Teacher
Where to Start
The Light You Cast Curriculum™ is designed to suit the varying needs of organizations and institutions. Start with a single talk or workshop, deepen your learning with more immersive, targeted programs, and sustain & broaden organizational impact with online courses
Introductory Options
(in person or online)
Deeper, Multi-Session Work
(in person)
Self-Paced & Sustaining
(online only)
Includes single booster sessions, half-day, or full day professional development sessions.
Includes more targeted, multi-week development trainings for groups and cohorts.
The entire (8) module signature Light You Cast™ curriculum fully online and fully self-paced can be licensed for just you or your entire organization or staff.
What We Know
Burnout is not an indicator of lack of capacity or resilience of the caregiver.
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It is an adaptive response of the mind, body, and soul to protect itself from emotional and psychological injury or harm when experiencing dwindling energy reserves.
When the caregiver's innate mind, body, and psychological protective system conserves energy for survival, less energy is available to flow out to those in their care and to themselves.
This light-dimming cycle of energy conservation manifests as cynicism, blame, lack of patience, and loss of tolerance and perspective in one's relationships as well as lack of capacity to care for the mind, body, and soul of the self.
The mental, emotional, and soul health of the caregiver in a relationship-based profession is not a luxury – it is a professional, and deeply personal, necessity.
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It is not the caregiver's inability to cope that is leading to pervasive soul sickness of our caregivers in our systems of care.
Relationship-based callings have unavoidable stressors that can cause harm to the soul of the caregiver if not acknowledged and strategically metabolized. Stress has a way of sticking around and stymieing the healthy functioning of the caregiver's mindbodysoul system.
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Burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral injury are very real "costs of caring" that not only cost systems over $3 billion dollars a year, they have incalculable costs on the caregiver's mind, body, soul, family, and social systems.
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When caregivers burn out, their capacity to create and hold spaces imbued with the light of compassion, hope, empathy, and unconditional positive regard is dramatically dimmed.
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Systemic and structural stress not only exacerbate burnout, theses unique toxic stressors exacerbate racial, socioeconomic, gender and language injustices in the systems in which our caregivers serve. ​​
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Caring for our caregivers must occur both at the systems level to name and dis-charge the injustices that create a toxic and traumatic work space while we simultaneously provide immediate and strategic mindbodysoul "critical care" for caregivers on an individual level within the system in which they care.
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Check out the experts whose work influences and informs TLYC curriculum
Curriculum
The Light You Cast™ curriculum teaches the science of relationships
and is based on:
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Healing-Centered Design
Mindfulness
Social and Emotional Learning Theory
Interpersonal Neurobiology
Trauma-Responsive Care
Attachment Theory
The Light You Cast™ curriculum guides the caregiver through interactive and engaging professional development experiences where they learn the
3 R's of burnout prevention and self-revitalization.
Core Restoration Practices
REST
Healing Pillar: Regulate Nervous System and Rhythm of the Body
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Engage trauma-responsive body-centered practices that teach caregivers how to harmonize, soothe, and regulate their mindbodysoul system.
RESTORATION
Healing Pillar: Making Meaning/Integration
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Consciously metabolize
toxic stress into self-confidence, compassion fatigue into unconditional positive regard, and moral injury into agency and purpose.
REVITALIZATION
Healing Pillar: Connection with Others
Cultivate social intelligence, relationship skills, and people sense so to stay out of judgment, recognize the emotions of others, and be in-tune with those in their care.
Signature Practice
The Light You Cast™ curriculum is designed to equip the caregiver with the necessary information, habits of mind, and practices to process the unique stressors of their relationship-based calling into their greatest personal assets and professional strengths.
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Our signature Burn Clean Cycle™teaches the caregiver how to manage the innate stressors of a relationship-based calling while they learn strategies and practices rooted in neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology to magnify their psychological capital of hope, resilience, integrity, and optimism.
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Burn Out Burn Clean
Our Process of Support
RECOGNITION
Validate the caregivers experience of being called to a relationship-based profession that is intimately connected to the core of who they are and acknowledge the need need for sustained and systematic support in monitoring and assessing their physical, emotional, mental, and soul health.
EDUCATION & AWARENESS
Learn the 3 R's of caregiver mindbodysoul healing and energetic health -
REST, RESTORATION, REVITALIZATION; raise awareness of the primary sources of toxic stress in relationship-based professions and of the stages and manifestations burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral injury.
AWAKENING
Discover and engage trauma-responsive principles, practices, and perspectives to REGULATE and soothe the nervous system so to RELATE to stress in a healthy way in order to cultivate REASON and wisdom from pain, uncertainty, stress, and anxiety.
EMBODIMENT
Experience slow and gentle body-based movement designed to melt tension while providing moderate amounts of healthy stress to boost mental and emotional energy, improve balance and body-awareness, and help to reduce inflammation that leads to disease; cultivate brain-health through mindfulness-based visualizations that activate the self-regulatory part of the brain to soothe stress, alleviate anxiety, and over-ride overwhelm.
RESTORATION
Learn how to engage The Infinite Well-Being ModuleTM, our signature practice for metabolizing stress into conscious care and awareness, mental strength and agility, emotional intelligence and vitality, and value-based self-agency and action.
SUSTAINED SUPPORT
Engage in strategic school-based support and peer networking so to continually manage and mitigate the onset of burnout, secondary trauma, and moral injury while magnifying collective healing and individual restoration and rejuvenation.
Evidence of Impact
Qualitative data collected from participants who completed
The Light You Cast™ curriculum demonstrates their capacity to metabolize the stress of their profession into a catalyst for growth, self-actualization, and social and emotional intelligence.
Participant post training responses about their heightened awareness and capacity for self-revitalization, self-confidence, and emotional vitality
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“I can re-story a threat to be a challenge.”
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“My perception of a situation creates my feelings in that present moment. What I am feeling directly influences what I say and do. I should go into each moment knowing that I have a deep well of kindness, calmness and caring to bring to that next moment or next interaction with students.”
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“My joy comes from seeing the beauty of each child when they are learning and feeling successful!! I also feel joy when children come to see me with such love and excitement!!!
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“If I am feeling stressed, just taking a few moments to focus on my breathing will help reset my body.”
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“How important gratitude is. Asking how I want to be today and recognizing my breath.”
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“That we have to be intentional about creating opportunities to connect with and show compassion for students.”
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“Creating micro moments in the day to stop the fast pace and connect with those in my care - miracles are more like changes in perspective, so I realized I have more control than I thought."
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“In order to truly affirm others, I need to affirm myself first.”
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“I am naturally resilient, and that resilience within is cultivated in relationships with others, and hence as a teacher I am critical in building resiliency in my students. Embracing and honoring trauma is at the heart of allowing fear to turn into love.”
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"I am enough."
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"This training, while it addresses the very personal needs of avoiding burnout and coping with stress, finds its way into improving our relationships with everyone we encounter on our mission of care. Self-love as the cornerstone of racial justice seems simple, cutting edge, and essential all at once. "
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