Anti-Parent Blame Group for Helping Professionals
The Body as Bridge: Dismantling Internalized Parent-Blame Through Embodied Awareness
Inspired by Resmaa Menakem’s somatic abolitionism and embodied healing principles
This FREE group series will run every second Monday of the month through 2026 at 12pm Eastern for 50-60 minutes with two exceptions (January and October).
It intended for health and mental health professionals from the Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) community (in other words with some prior training in EFFT). Join monthly or drop-in; registration info below
Developed by: Adele Lafrance PhD C. Psych and delivered with the support of the International Institute for Emotion-Focused Family Therapy
Overview
This group series emphasizes body-based awareness, settling, and communal repair, inspired by Resmaa Menakem’s somatic abolitionism and embodied healing practices. It is designed for health and mental-health professionals who wish to dismantle internalized blaming patterns toward parents and caregivers (including self-blame if they are parents or caregivers themselves) and to cultivate a body-based sense of compassion, humility, and shared humanity.
Goal
We strive for our work - including, but not limited to the implementation of EFFT, to reflect an anti-parent-blame framework, recognizing the systemic patterns that position caregivers as “the problem” rather than part of a system deserving of support and healing.
We also embody an anti-mother-blame stance - shifting from fault-finding to understanding and addressing the conditions shaping maternal caregiving specifically.
Our intention is to create parent-affirming spaces, resisting narratives of deficiency and centering our responsibility in awakening parents’ innate instincts and drives to support their children, supported by opportunities to acquire and practice skills as a process of remembrance and reclaiming.
Inspired by Menakem's work, each group session moves through: awareness to embodiment to release to collective re-patterning. I ask that attendees please watch the video below as a primer.
Core Somatic Principles in Action
- Settling before insight (inspired by Menakem’s “body before story”).
- Naming and befriending sensations rather than suppressing them.
- Shifting from individual fault to inherited pattern.
- Releasing energy through movement and shared breath.
- Anchoring in community witness - healing blame through belonging
What to Expect
This group series involves highly structured groups - same structure each group. You’ll be invited to explore sensations, subtle internal stories, and relational patterns. Expect practices of breathing, felt sensing, gentle movement, and communal witnessing, with the aim of locating blame in systemic inheritance rather than individual fault. Limited verbal contributions will be invited in order to center the embodiment practices to support healing and growth.
Schedule - 2026
January 26 (exception date)
February 9
March 9
April 13
May 11
June 8
July 13
August 10
September 14
October 19 (exception date)
November 9
December 14
If you plan to join us, please watch the video below as a primer. Please only register if you intend to attend to allow space for those who can. These sessions will not be recorded.
Please reread this information as needed so that we are not overwhelmed by emails leading up to these free sessions. This is a volunteer-driven initiative offered with the support of the International Institute for EFFT. Thank you!