Beginning Sunday, August 2, Tiffini Johnson’s six-week virtual ashRISE workshop offers trauma-informed tools, creative healing, and community at no cost.
Healing rarely happens all at once. More often, it begins with a single decision to believe that life can become something more than what trauma left behind.
That belief is at the heart of ashRISE, a free six-week virtual workshop created by author, trauma-informed coach, and survivor advocate Tiffini Johnson. Beginning Sunday, August 2, the workshop was designed for people navigating the lasting effects of trauma, grief, loss, and other life-changing experiences. Rather than focusing on simply moving on, ashRISE invites participants to understand what happened, explore how the brain responds to trauma, and begin transforming painful experiences into a renewed sense of purpose through education, creativity, and compassionate community.
A Workshop Born From Lived Experience
The story behind ashRISE is deeply personal.
Johnson has spent years supporting survivors through advocacy, coaching, writing, and volunteer work. She serves as a trauma-informed, compassion-focused certified coach, is a member of the RAINN Speaker Bureau, volunteers as a hotline specialist, and created both the HERO and ashRISE workshops to support survivors. She has also authored numerous books exploring resilience, healing, and the human experience.
Rather than separating her professional work from her personal history, Johnson openly acknowledges that her own experiences shaped the program’s creation. She believes healing begins when people are given practical tools, compassionate support, and permission to see themselves as more than the worst thing that has happened to them.
Understanding Trauma Through Science and Story
Unlike many workshops centered solely on discussion or motivation, ashRISE blends neuroscience, storytelling, practical coping strategies, and creative expression.
Participants learn how the brain responds to traumatic experiences, including the role of survival responses and defense mechanisms that often continue long after danger has passed. Understanding these patterns helps many participants replace shame with compassion while learning practical ways to reduce anxiety and regain a sense of presence.
Johnson believes that knowledge alone is not enough. Each session also encourages participants to connect what they learn with their own personal experiences, creating opportunities for reflection and meaningful personal growth rather than simply receiving information.
Transforming Pain Into Something Visible
One of the most distinctive elements of ashRISE is what Johnson calls the Personal Transformation Project.
Throughout the six-week experience, participants create something tangible that reflects their journey. For some, that may be writing. Others create artwork, music, quilting, or other forms of creative expression. The goal is not artistic perfection but transformation, turning survival into something meaningful and deeply personal.
Johnson often describes the process as learning to identify the “smoke signals” left behind by trauma before reshaping them into something that reflects strength, resilience, and hope rather than fear.
The workshop’s name reflects that same philosophy. Fire can destroy, but it can also prepare the ground for new growth. ashRISE embraces the belief that people cannot erase painful experiences, but they can redefine what those experiences mean moving forward.
A Safe Community for Honest Conversations
Every ashRISE cohort is intentionally kept small to encourage genuine conversation and connection.
Rather than creating another online class where participants simply consume information, Johnson designed the workshop to become what many participants have described as a sanctuary, a place where people can be seen, heard, and accepted without feeling pressured to explain or justify their experiences.
That sense of belonging reflects Johnson’s broader philosophy behind all of her work. Through Storynlight Circle, coaching, workshops, speaking engagements, books, and online discussions, she seeks to remind people that every story has value and that healing becomes more possible when people no longer have to carry their experiences alone.
Practical Resources That Continue Beyond the Sessions
Each participant also receives a comprehensive 90-page digital workbook filled with guided reflections, practical exercises, charts for recognizing emotional “smoke signals,” somatic practices, and additional resources that extend learning beyond the weekly meetings.
By combining education, self-reflection, and practical application, the workbook allows participants to continue building on what they discover throughout the six weeks long after each session concludes.
The workshop itself remains completely free, reflecting Johnson’s belief that financial barriers should not prevent people from accessing meaningful support during difficult seasons.
More Than Healing, A Different Way to See Yourself
At its core, ashRISE is not about pretending painful experiences never happened. It is about recognizing that trauma does not have to define the rest of a person’s story.
Johnson believes healing is less about forgetting the past and more about learning to carry it differently, with greater understanding, self-compassion, and hope. Participants are encouraged to remember what was lost, imagine new possibilities, shape intentional next steps, and empower themselves with practical tools that support lasting growth. Those four ideas form the framework behind the workshop’s name and philosophy.
For many participants, the six weeks become more than a workshop. They become the beginning of a different relationship with themselves.
Learn More About ashRISE
Registration is now open for the free six-week ashRISE virtual workshop beginning Sunday, August 2. Individuals interested in learning more can watch the introductory video, explore the workshop curriculum, and register through Tiffini Johnson’s website. Those interested in ongoing trauma-informed coaching, workshops, books, and community support can also explore The Storynlight Circle and Tiffini Johnson’s additional resources available throughout her website.
