Quiet the Noise: Trauma-Informed Mental Health Speaker & Workshop Facilitator
As part of her mission to make mental health content more accessible, Jenice Acosta, LCSW offers interactive workshops on nervous system regulation, burnout, and motherhood for first responders, educators, community organizers, and workplaces across New Jersey, New York, and beyond.
Quieting The Noise: Regulating Your Nervous System in an Overwhelming World
Between the demands of work, home, and the constant hum of the news and notifications, many of us are living in a near-constant state of alert. When we feel overwhelmed, reactive, or shut down, it isn’t a personal failing. It’s our nervous system doing its best to protect us. In this workshop, tailored to the people in the room (e.g., first responders, educators, community workers, or mothers), participants learn in plain language how the brain and body respond to stress. They then join a live, guided demonstration of regulation in real time. Together, we explore how to quiet the noise, both around us and within us, so we can respond to life from a place of steadiness rather than survival.
Participants will walk away with:
A clear understanding of how fight, flight, and freeze show up in everyday life, and how to recognize when they’re outside their “Window of Tolerance”
Hands-on experience with regulation tools, practiced together during the live demonstration
Simple, evidence-based practices for finding their way back to calm, at work, at home, and in the moments in between
Participants will walk away with:
Greater awareness of the cultural, societal, and workplace messages that have made rest feel like something they have to earn
An understanding of how burnout shows up in the mind and body, and how to notice the early signs before it takes hold
Practical tools to reclaim rest and protect their energy in both their personal and professional lives
Quieting the Hustle: Reclaiming Rest in a Culture of Burnout and Stress
Many of us have learned that rest is something we have to earn, or that we don’t deserve it at all. Inspired by the work of Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry and author of Rest Is Resistance, this workshop invites participants to step back and become curious observers of their own lives. Together, we look at the cultural, societal, and workplace messages that shape how we think about productivity, worth, and rest, and how those messages affect our mental health. This isn’t about adding one more thing to your to-do list. It’s about reclaiming rest as something you’re allowed to have.
The Joy & Grief of Motherhood: Navigating Matrescence
Motherhood can be joyful, meaningful, and deeply complicated, all at once. Researchers call this transition matrescence: the physical, emotional, and identity shifts of becoming a mother, as profound as adolescence. Alongside the love, many mothers also experience grief: for the life they had before, for the version of motherhood they imagined, or for how differently it looks and feels from what everyone said it would be. When that grief goes unspoken, it often turns into shame, isolation, and frustration. This interactive workshop offers a warm, supportive space for mothers to share their journey, feel less alone, and make room for every part of their experience.
Participants will walk away with:
A new understanding of matrescence and how it reshapes identity, relationships, and sense of self, so the changes they’re experiencing feel less isolating and more understood
Permission to hold both joy and grief without guilt, along with connection to other mothers who are navigating the same transition
Practical tools to move through the harder moments of motherhood, so they can live more fully in the joy of it
Testimonials
“Today’s experience, learning the butterfly hug with Jenice, was really amazing. It allowed my mind to calm, bring in happiness, and it was a great mindset shift.”
-Roxana M.“Jenice’s presentation on Nervous System Regulation was fantastic. She’s relatable, she presents things clearly, she’s engaging, and fun.”
-Denelle V.“Jenice’s presentation was awesome! So complete and to the point, and reminded me why it’s important to be intentional about resetting your nervous system.”
-Mike V.