Event type: Workshop

“Our minds and brains develop in the context of synchronous relationships – how you play, interact and make music together. We become who we are by being in sync with the people around us, and that gives us pleasure and a sense of counting and being significant”.

– Dr Bessel van der Kolk, ‘Navigating Trauma’ Australian Psychological Society, 2025

About this training:

Although it’s very important to maintain the distinction between art and therapy, community musicians are often in positions where they need to support their participants’ mental health. This training is specifically for musicians and vocalists and takes a person-centred approach to understanding trauma and incorporating this understanding into your creative practice.

This training will:

Explore the benefits of music and music-making on mental health and wellbeing; Unpick popular perceptions and misuse of language around trauma and PTSD; Provide an overview of the physiology of trauma and an insight from the perspective of a clinical psychotherapist; Offer practical tips for creating safe spaces for participants and avoiding practices which may re-traumatise participants; Create a space to explore problem solving using real-life scenarios; Explore asset-based approaches to understanding trauma within social justice frameworks.

This event is aimed at musicians and vocalists working in communities.

In person event: Metal, Edge Hill Station, Liverpool L7 6ND

Length: 4 hours

Ticket Cost:

For attendees supported by their organisations the full price of a ticket is £65.00 For freelancers and individuals from non-regularly funded organisations attendees the price of a ticket is £45.00 For those on low or no income the ticket price is £20.00

We also have a small number of bursary places available for those with limited funds. Email info@collective-encounters.org.uk to request a bursary place.

*Please Note: Ticket sales will end 24 hours before this event is due to start.

Trainers:

AIDAN JOLLY is a researcher, performance maker, trainer and musician with more than 25 years’ experience of working with communities in struggle. He works on projects that seek redress for historic and current injustices, and is the Research Lead for Collective Encounters. He is also a PhD candidate at Edge Hill University, looking at radically generative communities of transition. He has worked with survivors of torture, veterans, homeless people, and has personal experience of complex PTSD.

JESS MICHAELSON is a Gestalt Psychotherapist, Supervisor and Trainer with over 20 years’ experience of working with traumatised adults from diverse communities, in particular with refugee survivors of Human Rights abuses. For the last 17 years Jess has been working as a psychotherapist and trainer for Freedom from Torture. Jess also works as a freelance supervisor and trainer offering training on many aspects of therapeutic work which includes working with asylum seekers, working with interpreters and self-care. Jess has a longstanding passion in human rights as well as in the therapist’s journey when developing their work with survivors of human rights abuses.

Jess has written a chapter “Holding hope: the challenge for therapists working with survivors of torture” in Psychological Therapies for Survivors of Torture: A Human Rights approach for people seeking asylum. Boyles, J (ed) 2017.

Feedback from previous attendees:

“It opened my eyes to the volume of individuals we walk past i life who have and are experiencing trauma and how this needs to be recognised in the creative environments we foster”

” This training gave me the access or entry-point into an informed framework for a trauma informed practice. I could really feel the benefit of lots of people’s wisdom and experience!”

“Full of practical solutions and thinking about approaches for our practice”

Come and join the UK’s leading full mask company, Vamos Theatre, for a taster session.

Vamos Theatre’s Elevate programme trains and inspires the next generation of artists from diverse communities across the UK (18 years +). The programme is open to all, but we are especially interested in meeting artists from ethnic minority backgrounds, deaf artists or those whose finances might be a barrier to accessing training opportunities.

The first stage, open to all, is a free full mask taster session where you can immerse yourself in Vamos Theatre’s approach to mask theatre, creating physical character and devising non-verbal theatre that connects and moves audiences.

From these nationwide taster workshops, Vamos Theatre selects a group of artists to attend a free residency in October 2026, where you’ll receive intensive training and space to create a public performance. All Elevate graduates will become part of our Alumni and be offered opportunities for further online and in-person training in the future.
Vamos Theatre’s Elevate programme 2026 is supported by The Garrick Club Charitable Trust and Arts Council England. Visit the Vamos Theatre website (link opens in a new tab)

This Autumn, renowned theatre company Frantic Assembly will travel across the UK to deliver FREE Trial workshops in association with 12 regional partner venues – we are proud to say that we will be hosting them here at Liverpool Everyman.

These high energy movement-based workshops are aimed at young people aged 16-24 who face barriers to accessing the arts, in the hopes to show them the arts can absolutely be for them.

Seeking out underrepresented talent in unexpected places.
What is a trial?
A 2-hour, high energy workshop to explore Frantic Assembly’s distinct approach to devising theatre. We will be hosting two Trial sessions, both on Sat 26 Sep the first at 1pm – 3pm, and the second at 3.30pm-5.30pm.

No experience necessary, all abilities welcome.
What is the Intensive?
Selected from the trials, 24 participants will join each other for a week in London. Guided by Frantic Assembly, they will create two original performances for a public audience.

All aspects of the Intensive (travel to London, accommodation, food) are paid for by Frantic Assembly, thereby removing financial barriers to participation.

For those that take part in the Ignition intensive, we offer a year-round access programme which continues to mentor and signpost training and career opportunities both with Frantic Assembly and their partners throughout the UK.

Sign-ups for the Trials are open now, on Frantic Assembly’s website (link opens in a new tab). If you have any questions or need more information please email ignition@franticassembly.co.uk

6pm

Ugly Bucket are renowned for their distinctive blend of physical storytelling, clown and personal testimony. In this physical workshop, we’ll explore how the curiosity and playful nature of the clown can fuel exciting ensembles. Using clown techniques and collaboration you’ll learn how to build stronger connections as an ensemble, creating work that resonates more deeply with an audience.Expect to move, sweat, laugh and embrace the unexpected.

6pm

As actors, we’re constantly asked to “live in the moment” and “respond truthfully”, as though the events unfolding on stage or screen are happening for the very first time.

But when the “play’s the thing”  and the performance often repeated or recreated multiple times, how do we keep our work fresh? How do we find genuine freedom and immediacy, and allow ourselves to make new discoveries each time we step into the space?
This workshop explores the art of truthful response through observation, impulse and play.

Through a series of practical exercises, we’ll sharpen our awareness, strengthen our listening, and practise responding to genuine stimulus.
By shifting our attention away from ourselves and our prepared choices, and onto our scene partner and our environment, we will explore how authentic connection can enable more spontaneous, alive and compelling performance.