Testimonials
Empowerment Self-Defense Workshops
“The Safety Team has done a tremendous job with cultivating a safe and secure environment from the very beginning. I felt seen and welcomed from the very first workshop, which allowed me to relax quickly and feel courageous enough to try new things. I felt that no matter what I decided to do or how I showed up throughout the workshop that I would be accepted without criticism, which is extremely meaningful to someone (like me) who often spends a lot of energy masking around others.
-Kara ESD participant and instructor-in training
“I was so impressed with this class. The amount of knowledge gained in one session was much more than I expected. I walked away feeling informed, confident, and most of all, empowered. I highly recommend this class to anyone looking to have basic but extremely powerful self-defense methods in their toolkit. Honestly, I think everyone could benefit from this class.”
— ESD Participant
“I wasn’t sure I had it in me, but I absolutely did! The Team made a very difficult topic and made it and made it very easily digestible and enjoyable. I feel empowered to go share the knowledge and skills with my girlfriends.”
— ESD Participant
“I was anxious to begin with, but that went away very quickly. I loved it and want to do more.“
— ESD Participant
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“I thought all the instructors were very well spoken, organised and approachable – and the skits were super helpful, it made it less stressful.”
ESD participant
“The most valuable thing I learned is to be confident in my right to exist and defend myself.”
ESD participant
“Not only do you have the opportunity to learn some really helpful moves but they also provide necessary foundations which I loved. As someone who was looking to just build confidence in my own body after experiencing a handful of physical assaults in different scenarios, I also found the ability to vocalize my boundaries and use my body in a way that works best for me.“
ESD participant
“Thank you for creating such a welcoming and safe environment. I felt encouraged to use my voice! A work in progress that will require practice. This class and Level I have helped me to begin thinking about my boundaries and deserving respect.”
ESD participant
“I attended both level l and level ll workshops and really enjoyed each experience. The instructors are welcoming, kind and encouraging and at the end of each workshop I left feeling confident and energized. There was a wide range of ages, experiences and physical abilities in attendance and the instructors do a great job of adapting to everyone’s needs. I appreciate how this program combines education around topics like affirmative consent with time to learn and practice different strikes. The Safety Team does a great job of creating a fun and safe environment and I would definitely
recommend this program to women of all ages.”
“This is the third time I’ve attended a Level 1 workshop, spread out over several years, and I loved it! Super welcoming and safe feeling environment. I liked the acknowledgements at the start of the class, and the class is well organized. I appreciated the breaks and treats, and the skits are super helpful for demonstrating concepts. I always feel extra empowered and inspired after completing a workshop!
ESD participants
‘I took my 14-year-old daughters to this level one training and it was great. Super clearly taught, well organized, and empowering! I feel super grateful that I gave my kids this experience as they enter out into the world. And great role models for them in these instructors!”
ESD participants
Trauma Recovery Program featuring TESD™
TESD was “life-changing,” because it opened me up to be able to actually heal.
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“The teachers, the instructors are just amazing. They’re all just so present and so understanding and so knowledgeable. I felt very, I felt like we were in very good hands with all of them.”
“TESD™ is an empowering experience for finding your voice and connecting to your fight response in a safe and healing way, in a strong way, a powerful way…You’re feeling your impact, you’re feeling your bones.”
“What stood out for me with the individual session was that it was just so wonderful to be with someone who really understood trauma and who was just so validating.”
“The first thing that they say in the first group session is every attack is not your fault, and having that on a placard in front of me and having a group of strong women around me saying that being attacked is not your fault, validated something for me.”
“I recommend it to anyone. I can’t imagine it not being useful in some way, like maybe people wouldn’t have the same experience that I had, but just such great information and it’s held in such a beautiful way.”
“I was feeling really sort of weak and scared and wanting to hide. And then after the program, feeling way stronger and more upright and more confident, I guess, and just more able to face life.”
“I felt so deeply through all of the women there with me, and I think that it had a lot to do with this, like, shared understanding of what we’ve gone through and also of the link that we were going to go to heal. Heal.”
“I don’t think of myself as a very, like, athletic or physical person…it was surprising how much I enjoyed it. Like, the feeling of, of like, releasing that physical energy.”
“If you can sit here with these women who are strangers and see, like, the beauty and the strength in their story, it starts to become easier to see the beauty and strength of your own.”
“I think that it gave me a good amount of confidence in myself. I feel like I’ve been so in my former self, the version of me who experienced some really awful things. I’ve been able to show her a little more grace.”
“A really unique experience to walk into a room full of women who had survived something similar to what I had survived with the knowledge that were going to address it in new ways and in empowering ways. It was really beautiful. I felt really connected to them, and that was kind of surprising to me.”
“I really appreciate how they tell you over and over again that it wasn’t your fault, that it’s never your fault and it’s never the victim’s fault and it’s always the perpetrator’s fault. They say that over and over again. It’s very reassuring. It’s like a small part, I guess, but to me it felt pretty big. I feel like my system just needs to hear that a lot, and that was really helpful. And the movement, the strikes are really helpful.”
ESD Instructor Training
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“Eileen and Genie are fabulous instructors. Their passion, skills, attentiveness, humor, and grace set the tone for an enriching learning environment that is both fun and deeply impactful. It has been a gift to learn with and from both of them, and I value the ongoing dialogue that carries throughout workshops when updating the script and collaborating on different ways to deliver material to audiences. I also really appreciated having additional members of TST come in to speak and interact with us to provide more perspective on the organization as a whole and hear other interpretations of the material reinforced in various ways.”
“I found the small class and sense of community with other new instructors valuable. Everyone came with different levels of experience, expectations, and personal struggles. Building and supporting our little community centered around ESD was deeply meaningful for me. I already had a lot of background in the trauma information, but I think that is an invaluable part of the training for others that may not be coming in with the same level prior knowledge. ”
“I knew the training would be more than the actual self-defense strikes, but had no idea how thorough and well presented the rest of the content would be. The concepts/information we teach around awareness, avoidance, predator behavior/skits are extremely helpful in understanding the epidemic of violence against women and what we can do about it. The strikes/learning to use your voice are powerful and fun, but I would argue that the rest of the workshop content is even more important.”
“The most valuable part to me was the constructive feedback during each training.”
Trauma Recovery Training
— TESD Instructor-In-Training
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“There were so many takeaways from this course. The collective learning that occurred in this training was phenomenal. The knowledge and skills developed over the course of 6 days really stretched everyone. It promoted awareness of and integration of a higher level of trauma-informed care and truly empowered the participants.”
“Our students are the first in the country to receive this type of training/certification. UNH is the first in the country to bring it to campus with plans to implement it. Our surrounding communities will be the first in the state to have access to this groundbreaking and innovative approach to self-defense. This training changes the narrative of traditional self-defense concepts to focus on increasing the participants’ confidence in their voice, ability to control their body, and to learn how they naturally can respond to and regulate stress.”
– Dr. Katherine Godshall, DSW, MSW, LCSW-BACS, Clinical Assistant Professor at UNH
Safety Presentation
They do invaluable work supporting survivors of sexual violence and working to prevent future violence with a unique approach that combines trauma therapy and empowerment. Vermont is fortunate to have them.
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“To YOU, Christine, Nancy and the entire Safety Team who presented at yesterday’s WEOC Conference, you are to be commended for the important, meaningful and thought-provoking programs you are offering to women, children and the community. I was so engaged and empowered by your presentation.”
— Lynn Luczkowski, Marketing Advisor
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