Consultation Approach
Pat and Shana aid organizations in recovering from immediate trauma and help groups ameliorate its harmful effects. They can also support organizational discovery and learning as a means of improving organizational functioning and sustainability. Their work complements others’ ongoing efforts to develop healthy trauma stewardship patterns among staff.
Pat and Shana’s collaborative approach combines building trust-based rapport and insightfully offering ideas about the connection between work, culture, and trauma. By acting in evenhanded and inclusive ways, Pat and Shana provide a safer environment for all organizational members to share their experiences and create common meaning. They bring compassion for the difficulty of the situation and appreciation for the complex dynamics and heightened emotions occurring. They remain calm and nonjudgmental in moments of fear, confusion, and anger, and they help contain situations that otherwise feel completely out of control and unmanageable. Pat’s and Shana’s years of experience providing skilled facilitation, coaching, and leadership development supports their consultation.
Pat and Shana bring awareness of the realities of the world of nonprofits and their decades of experience as managers, leaders, and consultants to each organizational situation. They are committed to helping organization staff and leaders see a broad picture of organizational functioning. Everyone connected to the organization gains an appreciation of the harm done to the system as a whole. They complement their understanding of the realities of nonprofits with an enduring sense of optimism and commitment to social justice.
Pat and Shana with practice group
In 2013 Pat and Shana started a practice group with four other women with the purpose of providing a creative forum for asking difficult questions and facing tough circumstances in a supportive environment.
Since its inception that group has deepened its work by leaps and bounds. With Pat and Shana supporting and coaching, the group members took on a challenging consultation project working with a homeless youth program. Their courage and creativity resulted in transformative insights for the group’s leadership and a profoundly deep understanding of the organization’s culture and impact from the trauma it has experienced.
Sarah Murphy-Kangas, Principal, MK Consulting
My involvement with Pat, Shana, and other colleagues in our Organizational Trauma and Healing Practice Group has been illuminating on so many levels. Together, we are marrying theory and practice, learning about the prevalence of organizational trauma, and becoming better equipped to be agents of healing to groups and organizations who are wounded or floundering. This is such important work!
Kristin Cox, EEAP Coordinator/Sexual Assault Response Coordinator, Work Life, USCG Base Seattle
One of the most valuable tools for me has emerged out of conversation stimulated by the book: a practice group. The gift of working with organizations in trauma and healing has a price. Consultants can strengthen and anchor themselves by collaborating with colleagues. Pat and Shana have established a practice group as a vital mechanism for sustainable and practical encouragement of each other in our work.
Becka Tilsen, Leadership Coach & Organizational Consultant, BBT Coaching & Consulting
Pat and Shana’s consultation group carves a quiet moment in the storm to think deeply together, challenge assumptions, and expand our capacity to create meaningful interventions in the organizations we work with. Pat and Shana combine a huge breadth of experience and expertise with a warmth and genuine curiosity in new perspectives that create both a mentorship and collaborative group dynamic. The consultation group is a precious space that I am so grateful for.