2020-2021 – A Year in Review

· Provided counselling, support and services to 117 individuals
· Hosted Nova Scotia Strong Quilt Fundraiser
· Consulted with Nova Scotia Community Health Boards
· Received staff funding for one year from Federal Government
· Received project funding for MAAT (Music & Art After Trauma) from Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia
· Received over 330 signatures of support on petition
· Listed as resource on 211 and Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline
· Purchased eight Tablets for lending program with clients facing computer barriers
· Purchased gas cards for clients facing transportation/financial barriers
· Received donations from several community organizations and barriers for Christmas Gift baskets for four youth
· Lobbied government to officially proclaim Trauma Awareness Day on May 20 in Nova Scotia
· Provided counselling and support to individuals affected by the mass shooting in April 2020
· Developed and launched ATEN website
· Created ATEN YouTube channel
· Created ATEN Facebook and Twitter accounts
· Facilitated four presentations/workshops to over 200 people
· Provided tele-counselling and video counselling during Covid shut down times
· Became partner with Shuebnacadie Guardian Pharmacy Bloom Program
· Became a registered non-profit with Registry of Join Stocks Companies on September 8, 2020
· Facilitated weekly peer support group for women
· Facilitated weekly empowerment group for young girls who have experienced trauma, violence and abuse
Displayed African Queen Quilt at RBC Elmsdale for African History Month

We are excited to share with you that as of July 1, 2021 we will be located at 5 Mill Village Road, Shubenacadie Professional Building, Suite 205 (second floor). Contact info here.

We are sad to leave our "home base office" where it all began, and we will always hold a special place in our hearts for our little office. 

We would like to acknowledge and thank the following artists who took the time to create and donate a beautiful piece of artwork for our 2022 Kindfulness Calendar. We extend our sincerest gratitude for their valuable support and contribution to our first calendar fundraiser project.
​
Artist: Ben Mosher
Title: Try Trying Again

Name: Katelynne Cagliostro
Title: My Body is My Home

Name:  Bob Richards
Title: The Release

Name: Patrick McWade
Title: WRITE DANCE LAUGH LOVE

Name: Lynne Smith
Title: just breathe

Name: Margo Johnson 
Title: A Little Blue

Name: Diana O'Connell
Title: Memory From My Inner Child

Name: Danielle LeFort
Title: Strength

Name: Kevin Sibley
Title: Dark Cloud, Bright Sky

Name: Paula Arsenault
Title: birds sing

Name: Alissa Seymour
Title: Untitled

Name: Amanda Bent 
Title: Untitled

You can view the selected and donated artwork by visiting MAAT Session # 12 - June 16, 2021

We look forward to sharing our first Kindfulness Calendar with you in the Fall. 

We are thrilled to announce that Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin has officially proclaimed May 20, 2021 as Trauma Awareness Day in the province of Nova Scotia. This announcement is timely given the incredible difficulties faced by Nova Scotians over the past year due to COVID, the mass murder in April 2020 and other tragic events. We are Nova Scotia Strong!

Trauma Awareness Day is an opportunity to work together to raise awareness and help create environments where Nova Scotians can feel safe and empowered in their life, relationships, family and community.

​We welcome this opportunity to raise awareness and understanding about trauma. We will be hosting a special MAAT session on Thursday May 20th at 6pm (check our Facebook page for Zoom link) discussing trauma. If you would like to receive the Zoom link please send us an email at info@atenns.ca

​Click on the links below to learn more about:

• Trauma
• Trauma information sheet
• Empowerment
• Our services
• Resource links
• How to help/support someone
• Our YouTube channel
• Our contact info​

​The After Trauma Empowerment Network (ATEN) is a non-profit organization in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. Our mandate is to empower and improve the quality of life for individuals, families and communities affected by trauma through therapeutic counselling, emotional support, education and resources.
​
Our vision is: To improve the lives, well-being and functioning of individuals, families and communities affected by trauma so we can live in a world where individuals affected by trauma live an empowered life to reach their fullest potential.

​What we do:

• We provide our services and supports free of charge to all genders,
• We offer a Safe Space to all genders, backgrounds and cultures,
• 85% of our client base has experienced sexualized violence, trauma and abuse (including sexual trafficking and exploitation),
• We provide support and accompaniment to police, hospital and/or court,
• The age range for individuals accessing our services range from 13 to 74 years old,
• We offer a weekly youth group to vulnerable youth who have experienced trauma,
• We offer a weekly online discussion forum called MAAT (Music & Art After Trauma) where we discuss a topic relating to trauma, mental health and wellness combined with a music and/or art component,
• Individuals accessing our services and appointments has tripled over the past year,
• We provide educational presentations and capacity building sessions around trauma, mental health, wellness, healthy relationships, trauma-informed practices/care and more,
• We have a YouTube channel where we are building a database of video resources,
• We do not have any core funding from provincial or federal government for operational expenses (we are working on trying to establish this)

​What we need:

• As a result of outgrowing our current office space, we need to relocate to a larger office space which means our rent expense will increase,
• Since we do not have core funding for our operational expenses (rent, phone, internet, insurance, office supplies), we are making a plea to individuals, community members and businesses to help support us by making a financial donation,
• We are hoping to raise funds to assist with our operational expenses for one year (approximately $10 000)

 
With your kind and generous support, we can achieve this goal!
 
Please help and empower us so we can continue to empower others! We need your financial support and donation to allow us to continue to offer our essential service to individuals, families and communities.
 
Please help us spread the word and share this with your networks.

Much heartfelt thanks and gratitude!

Donations can be made on our Go Fund Me page
 
Email: info@atenns.ca
Facebook: After Trauma Empowerment Network (ATEN)
YouTube: After Trauma Empowerment Network (ATEN)

Announcement & Invitation

The After Trauma Empowerment Network (ATEN) is thrilled to announce that they will be hosting their FIRST online MAAT (Music & Art After Trauma) session on April 7th at 6pm via Zoom!

Project MAAT is a weekly online edutainment forum hosted by ATEN featuring education on trauma, mental health and other related topics combined with a music and/or art element.

The anticipated impact of this project is to make a positive difference in the lives of those individuals, families and communities living with the negative impact of trauma and mental illness.

Zoom meeting links will be posted on our Facebook page (After Trauma Empowerment Network (ATEN)). However, if you are interested in receiving the MAAT Zoom link each week via email, we invite you to please fill out the subscription form at the end of this message or send an email to info@atenns.ca with your name to be included on our email subscription list.

We are also seeking diverse artists (of various mediums) and musicians to join us for a guest appearance on MAAT. If you would be interested in joining us for a session, we invite you to contact us by email at info@atenns.ca with the subject line “Guest” along with your name, contact info and a little bit about yourself.

We would like to extend our thanks and gratitude to the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia for their generous funding and support for Project MAAT.

To learn more about ATEN visit www.atenns.ca.

We look forward to hearing from you.
​
Have an empowered day!

We are so excited to announce that ATEN was approved for full funding for Project MAAT (Music & Art After Trauma) by the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia!

We are overwhelmed with honor and excitement to have the support and trust from the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia in our ability to facilitate and succeed with this important project. We are immensely grateful to the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia staff and donors for making this possible and helping change the way people think.

Project MAAT is an hour-long online program hosted by Margaret Mauger and Vida Woodworth that features educational discussions about trauma, mental health and other related topics, combined with a music and art component.

MAAT was created to be an outlet, resource and support to individuals who have experienced trauma and for those who support them. We aim to offer a safe space for people to learn about sensitive and sometimes difficult topics while gaining the therapeutic benefits of music and art.

​More details to come...

Project MAAT (Music & Art After Trauma) is an hour-long online program hosted by Margaret Mauger and Vida Woodworth from the After Trauma Empowerment Network that features educational discussions about trauma and other related topics, with a music and art component.

MAAT was created to be an outlet, resource and support to individuals who have experienced trauma and for those who support them. We aim to offer a safe space for people to learn about sensitive and sometimes difficult topics while gaining the therapeutic benefits of music and art.

Beginning in April 2021 (date to be announced) each weekly episode will feature a topic of discussion with a guest musical performance and art display/discussion.
​
Topics of discussion will range and vary, and will include such areas as trauma, types of trauma, symptoms of trauma, violence, human trafficking, exploitation, triggers and flashbacks, coping strategies, gender and sexuality, mindfulness, boundaries, self-care, healthy/unhealthy relationships, mental health, etc....

We invite and welcome people to email questions, comments and/or topics they would like us to highlight and explore to info@atenns.ca.

Research has repeatedly indicated the many amazing benefits of music (the universal language) and art on body, mind, and overall well-being.

• Reduces stress
• Outlet for emotions
• Increase body’s production of antibody immunoglobulin
• Soothes and comforts
• Reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol
• Good for your heart (blood flows more easily)
• Elevates mood (increases production of dopamine)
• Relieves symptoms of depression
• Eases and manages pain
• Helps to regulate emotions
• Improves memory
• Helps with expressing feelings like fear, loneliness and anger
• Improves cognition
• Helps children with autism (social response, communication skills and attention skills)
• Connects us (social connectedness)
• Can lead to better learning
• Literally changes the physical brain – triggers the release of several neurochemicals important for mental health (dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, cortisol
• Entertaining
• Sources of pleasure/contentment
• Relaxes the mind
• Improves motivation and endurance
• Improves sleep
• Decreases fatigue
• Emotional and physiological regulation
• Emotional intelligence
• Stabilizing and grounding
  
• Reduces negative PTSD symptoms

"(Music therapy) can make the difference between withdrawal and awareness, between isolation and interaction, between chronic pain and comfort -- between demoralization and dignity."
Barbara Crowe (past president of the National Association for Music Therapy)
​
“Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears – it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more – it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity.”
Oliver Sacks, best-selling author and professor of neurology at NYU School Of Medicine

"Art is not always about pretty things. It's about who we are, what happened to us,
​and how are lives are affected." 
Elizabeth Broun, Artwell Art Therapy

More details to come soon ...

Thanks & Gratitude

More details to come...