Care Retreats
Embodied Practices for Care and Healing
Care Retreats offered by Kelly Caul, MSW, LCSW of Empowered Therapy, LLC and Colleen Caul, 200 HR RYT, of InspireMovement, LLC hold space to cultivate embodied practices for individual and collective care and healing.
They are customized to the needs of your group/organization and can range from a two-hour offering to a day-long gathering.
Care Retreats are designed to support individuals through compassion fatigue, burn-out, vicarious trauma, and/or maintaining a work/life/family balance during a pandemic. They include trauma-informed yoga and guided meditation for building nervous system awareness and regulation, as well as any of the below topics.
Topics include:
Cultivating compassion for self and others
Building awareness of signs of compassion fatigue/vicarious trauma
Exploration of the impact that trauma has individually and collectively
Polyvagal theory and the autonomic nervous system
Space for self-inquiry and self-reflection
Cultivating a culture of care and belonging
Somatic practices for regulation and healing
Practices to cultivate presence and curiosity
Meet Kelly & Colleen
Kelly Caul, MSW, LCSW, SEP |she/her
Founding Director of Empowered Spaces, Founder of Empowered Therapy, LLC, Psychotherapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner
Kelly is a clinical social worker, somatic psychotherapist, community builder, group facilitator, space holder for transformational growth and healing, and forever a student.
Through her private practice, Empowered Therapy, she offers both individual and group therapy while specializing in working with women, female adolescents, gender diverse individuals, and parents. Her holistic, collaborative, and non-pathologizing approach focuses on embodiment, empowerment, compassion, and building attuned connections.
As a white cis-hetero woman, she is also deeply committed to holding brave space for the cultivation of compassionate, accountable, anti-oppressive and equitable communities .
Since January 2009, she has been offering therapeutic empowerment groups for girls in middle school, Girls with Strength, and girls in high school, Quieting the Storm.
In addition, she facilitates workshops and trainings for the community on an array of topics that center personal and collective healing and transformation from a trauma-informed, resilience-focused, and anti-oppressive lens.
It is her dedication to personal and collective healing that sparked the beginnings of Empowered Spaces. She opened Empowered Spaces in April 2018 with the primary mission to hold space for deepening connections, co-creating community rooted in care and belonging, and transformational healing.
Education & Training
As a trauma-sensitive clinician, I have been trained in several different approaches for healing that are rooted in mindfulness, self-compassion and acceptance, attachment theory, neurobiology and a deep understanding of the nervous system:
Masters in Social Work (MSW) from Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis (2006), and received my LCSW from the state of Missouri in 2008
Internal Family Systems – IFS (Level 1)
Somatic Experiencing - SE (Advanced 1- In process of completing the SEP certification)
Working with Racism, Sexism, Homophobia and Other Forms of Unconscious Bias: An Internal Family Systems Approach with Percy Ballard, MD & Kate Lingren, LICSW
The Practice of Collective Care with Michelle C. Johnson and RW Alves
Off the Mat, Into the World Yoga, Purpose, & Action Leadership Intensive with Seane Corn, Hala Khouri, and Suzanne Sterling
Remembering, Responsibility, Reverence, & Reconciliation: An Anti-Racism Training for People Who Hold Space for Healing with Michelle C Johnson, Vivette Jeffries-Logan, & Kerri Kelly
Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga(20HR training)
Specialization in Trauma-Informed Yoga with Zabie Yamasaki, Transcending Sexual Trauma Through Yoga
Treating Complex Trauma with Internal Family Systems: A comprehensive certificate training course with Frank G. Anderson, MD
Dr. Bessel A. van der Kolk's Intensive Trauma Treatment Course
Accessing and Living from the Self, - Meditation, Mindfulness, & IFS Psychotherapy with Richard Schwartz and Loch Kelly
The Living Brave Semester with Dr. Brene Brown
Certificate in Mean Girls: Strategies and Resources in Identifying and Helping Relationally Aggressive Girls and Empowering Their Victims
Trained in Nonviolent Crisis Intervention through the Crisis Prevention Institute, Inc.
Colleen Caul, 200 HR RYT | she/her
Yoga Teacher, Founder of InspireMovement, LLC
Yoga has held a very special place in Colleen’s (she/her) heart ever since she experienced her first sun salutation sophomore year in college. She had studied ballet for eleven years and was intrigued by the mixture of flexibility, grace, strength and stillness within yoga. After graduating from Northwestern University, Colleen studied yoga sporadically while diving into the world of endurance running. She has run several marathons and in 2011, Colleen ran from St. Louis to New York City to raise funds and awareness for cystic fibrosis. Colleen’s love for yoga blossomed in 2013 when she started taking classes more regularly. Suddenly, she was able to use yoga, pranayama and meditation to lower her stress, maintain perspective and instill a true sense of peace and balance in her life. This transformation was so powerful that it eventually inspired Colleen to shift her career from nonprofit management to health and wellness.
Through her business, InspireMovement, LLC, Colleen hopes to empower you to cultivate personal strength, self-compassion, and inner peace. Her gentle and warm demeanor holds space for individuals to foster inner harmony and connect with a supportive community in an embodied and authentic way. Ultimately, Colleen strives to empower all people to honor their bodies, experience their breath, and connect with their inner selves, both on and off the yoga mat.
Colleen facilitates the Trauma-Informed Yoga program at Saint Louis University. Since the summer of 2018, she has hosted private Trauma-Informed Yoga workshops, series, and Self-Care workshops to various groups, including Family Court of St. Louis County, Washington University, S.A.F.E. Alternatives, Kids In The Middle, Pedal the Cause, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, June Jessee Memorial Foundation, S.A.F.E. Alternatives, SNAP (Survivors Network of of those Abused by Priests), and Got Your Six PTSD Support Dogs.
Empowered Spaces is where Colleen calls home. Colleen facilitates a variety of yoga series at Empowered Spaces throughout the year: Trauma-Informed Yoga (TIY) Series for Survivors of Sexual Trauma, TIY Series for Survivors of Trauma, TIY Series for Bereaved Parents, Yoga for Caregivers, and Yoga for Inner Peace & Wellness.
In addition to facilitating Trauma-Informed Yoga series for the community, Colleen offers private Trauma-Informed Yoga classes by appointment. Whether you feel hesitant to join a group yoga class or you simply prefer the style of a private class, these one-on-one classes can be a powerful way to deepen your embodied yoga practice.
Education & Training
Northwestern University, Bachelor of Science in Theatre (School of Communication)
Yoga Alliance, Certified 200HR Registered Yoga Teacher
Specialization in Trauma-Informed Yoga
13 Hours of Training with Zabie Yamasaki
20 Hours of Training in Trauma Sensitive Yoga with the Center for Trauma and Embodiment
14 Hours of Training with the Prison Yoga Project