Affinity Wellness Education provides adult education classes on topics of key relevance to personal and societal health and wellbeing. We focus on the topics of trauma, chronic pain, and interpersonal relating because they occupy a huge role in people’s lives and because there aren’t many options for practical learning about these topics.

We aim to provide individuals with a rich, in-depth understanding of trauma and chronic pain so they are better equipped to help and advocate for others and themselves in the most effective manner possible. To do this, we explore the neuroscience behind trauma and pain and then we take the essential step of moving from lecture to lab, engaging in interactive exercises that allow us to feel or embody the ideas and develop real-world practical skills that can’t be gained with “book knowledge” alone.

Individuals with chronic pain too often find themselves on a long and futile journey that involves a lot of over-simplistic solutions, false hope, unnecessary expenses, and unsupportive attitudes from family, friends, and healthcare professionals. But it doesn’t have to be that way—the more people become educated about pain, the better the process and outcomes will be.

In recent years, the significant impacts of developmental trauma on physical health and social wellbeing has become more widely known. Like pain, trauma is complex and often counter-intuitive, and because it plays an enormous role in creating what we often describe as “personality”, it’s helpful for everyone to not only acquire more knowledge about trauma but also learn how to engage with others in a trauma-informed manner.

We want to build everyone’s relational skills for engaging with others in a way that maximizes the quality of the interaction.  This includes interactions where one is listening to another with care as well as more challenging interactions and difficult conversations that involve differing beliefs and opinions. We want to assist individuals in bridging perceived social gaps no matter how narrow or wide in a manner that maintains integrity, respect, and compassion. To accomplish this we teach various principles of navigating conflict and polarization and then we practice those principles together.

We are honored to have our courses listed in Massage & Fitness Magazine’s list of Continuing Education courses in North America that that are up-to-date on the latest understanding of pain, movement, and touch based on quality science and humanities.