Dr. Jen Clifden
Educator | Researcher | Relationship Scientist
"These groups served as a nurturing space of mutual support. Our sessions equipped me with practical tools to navigate the challenges of teaching and also instilled within me a profound sense of purpose and interconnectedness."
Middle School Teacher
The Light You Cast™ | ON-SITE
Transform the Way You Care for Yourself and Others
Our signature "gold-standard" 8 session curriculum, delivered on-site and in community, equips staff with research-based strategies and practices to strengthen mental health, social-emotional well-being, and relational health -- core aspects of personal empowerment and burnout prevention.
Health and well-being don’t happen by accident. Human-service professionals face high risks of stress, fatigue, and burnout—especially in relationship-based work where emotional labor is constant. Together, we create space to learn, heal, and grow while supporting human-service professionals to:
1 | Thrive in Community
Connect with peers, share experiences, and find strength in supportive relationships.
2 | Learn the Science
Understand how stress, trauma, hope, resilience, burnout, and joy shape mental health and relational presence—so we can help others thrive without losing ourselves.
3 | Practice Resilience Skills
Engage trauma-responsive, cognitive-behavioral strategies to regain composure, clarity, and compassion in stressful moments.
4 | Move Toward Healing
Use brain- and body-based mindful movement to reset the nervous system, boost immunity, calm the mind, and elevate mood.
"Because of this training, I am more patient with myself and others. I notice more openly and frequently, and I feel more connected to myself than I have before."
Special Education Paraprofessional
Fuel Your Light. Empower Their Growth.
In relationship-driven professions, your connection to yourself and your personal power—especially in challenging times—is what enables you to empower others.
Stress is unavoidable and an ever present force callings where we care deeply for others —how you use it to strengthen relationships is within your control.
Stress can be both a catalyst and a challenge: it can fuel growth in social-emotional intelligence, deepen mental health, and enhance the quality of your relationships—or it can drain your energy, leading to burnout and compassion fatigue.
Preventing personal disempowerment means transforming stress from a chaotic force into fuel for relational resilience. By applying the 4 E’s of stress awareness—Event, Environment, Experience, and Effect—you can redirect your energy, regulate your nervous system, and respond rather than react. The practice of burning balanced and aligning with your core strengths is learnable and can be applied immediately in any context.
The Light You Cast™ ON-DEMAND guides you through brain-based, trauma-responsive practices that turn stress into empowering energy, strengthen your mental health capacities, and amplify your Presence—so your light sustains you and radiates outward, fostering connection, safety, and meaningful impact in every relationship you engage.
ON-SITE Offering Formats
Immediate and Immersive
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One Day Immersive Event | 6 hours | 6 Clock Hours
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Two Day Event | 4 - 6 hours per day | 8-12 Clock Hours
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Three Day Event | 4 - 6 hours per day | 12-18 Clock Hours
Sustained and On-Going
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Monthly or Weekly | (8) 1.5 Hour Sessions | 12 Clock Hours
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Monthly or Weekly | (4) 3 Hour Sessions | 12 Clock Hours
Pillars of Practice
In every in-person session, we embody the three core pillars of mental health and well-being proven to create the foundation of resonant, restorative relationships while also healing and preventing burnout, compassion fatigue, and moral injury.
REST
BODY
Regulate Nervous System
Engage trauma-responsive, somatic (body-centered) practices that harmonize, soothe, and regulate the nervous system and strengthen physical health.
RESTORATION
MIND
Making Meaning | Integration
Metabolize mental and emotional stress with The Light You Cast Burn Balanced™ process to create clear thinking, emotional intelligence, value-aligned behavior, and an asset-based perspective.
REVITALIZATION
RELATIONSHIPS
Connection with Others
Build social intelligence and relationship skills to respond—rather than react—to others’ cues, creating resonant connections where people feel seen and valued.
"These meetings were a place for me to not just do inner work, but also connect with my peers who could relate and affirm every single feeling I had. I felt seen, heard, and validated every time I had the chance to engage in the coursework and with the group.”
Hight School Counselor
Core Experiences
HEALING SOMATIC
MOVEMENT PRACTICES
We begin and end every session with gentle, somatic (mind-body) practices designed to melt tension, reduce cortisol levels, activate the parasympathetic nervous system, soothe an overactive mind, and elevate the mood while strengthening the physical body.
We will also integrate specific movemindfully® practices by Kathy Flaminio to expand your tool kit of strategies to metabolize stress and trauma reactions in your own body, and you can take these practices forward and use with your students, clients, or patients.
CURRENT RESEARCH and BEST PRACTICE
Learn the most up-to-date science-backed, brain-based perspectives, practices, and exercises that are based on current research in mental health in work place, Social Emotional Well-Being, restorative practice, trauma-responsive interactions, and burnout and compassion fatigue prevention.
"PUT INTO PRACTICE"
HANDOUTS
that detail concrete, transformational tools and reflective practices with beautiful illustrations by Minneapolis-based artist, Jinjer Markley, that can be immediately implemented and applied to one's professional and personal context.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Communities provide a safe space to process emotions, practice self-care routines, and reinforce healthy behaviors. Connection fosters belonging and significance, which are critical for individual mental health that the relational health of the collective group.
Our Core Curriuculum
01
The 3 Basics of Banishing Burnout
Breath, Balance, Boundaries
02
Taking Time Stress Off the Table
Managing your energy -- not time
03
Essential Mental Health Buoys
The science behind the reason hope and joy help so much when stressed
04
Detoxing Toxic Stress
Health is not the absence of illness, and resilience is not the absence of stress
05
Compassion - The Ultimate Antidote
Self-compassion cures shame and compassion fatigue and transforms your connections with those in your care
06
Your Innate Healing Capacities
How pain and personal trauma create wisdom, insight, and courage and your capacity to create safe spaces of compassionate care for others
07
Your Mental Health is Contagious
Cultivating communal health through individual well-being
with Dr. Nuhu Sims
08
The Light You Cast
YOU are light that fills the cracks of broken systems - why your calling is as personal as it is professional
"After learning TLYC practices, I now go home after work tired, but happy and grateful. There is a big difference between being tired and being burnt out."
Hight School Counselor
Certificate of Clock Hours
Participants will receive a Certificate of Completion for up to 12 hours
of professional learning for submission to one's accrediting body for Continuing Education Credit consideration.
Testimonials
We listened. We learned.
Integrated and sustained workplace wellness matters!
“I strongly believe that our profession is very consuming and if we don't get in a routine and build our tools to take care of our selves we won't do it. Please continue the classes so we can build our resilience to be better teachers.”
“I found the training to be calming, centering, and hopeful."
“ The mindful movement was very accessible— it was very doable, especially for a novice like me.”
“This training really helped me to understand why compassion and joy are my foundation for teaching (and all of life), and why they need to stay my foundation. The training helped me to understand that this is why my students thrive - why we are connected and engaged even in these very difficult times.”
“With this past year being the most stressful of my career, I needed to to change my thinking and focus on my own mental health. Through this I realized that I need to be healthy in order to better serve those in my care.”
“This training, while it address the very personal needs of avoiding burnout and coping with stress, finds its way into improving our relationships with everyone we encounter on our mission to serve others. Self-love as the cornerstone of social justice seems simple, cutting edge, and essential all at once."
“I've heard all the SEL 'stuff' before but this was presented in a unique and personal way. Jen was wonderful. I love her way of interacting and positive perspective.”
