TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Patricia Nammour
Cultivating Presence and Somatic Awareness: Guide participants through physical and somatic exercises to ground themselves, master the "presence of the actor," and connect deeply with their bodies.
Exploring Universal Emotions: Use emotional literacy frameworks to identify and express emotions that cross cultural boundaries, creating a shared human language within the group.
Fostering Authentic Self-Expression & Play: Provide structured spaces for creative writing and theatrical play, allowing participants to safely externalize their inner stories and voices.
Building Empathy and Connection: Use empathic listening and collaborative theater to develop a profound understanding of one another, transforming a group of individuals into a supportive collective.
Co-Creating Global Community Guidelines: Establish a standardized framework of mutual respect and group guidelines that participants can take with them to build safe, connected communities anywhere in the world.
France - Lebanon - Croatia
Condensed years of theater and emotional literacy experience into an intensive 5-module training program, using theater as a universal tool to cultivate empathy, connection, and deep respect, while laying the groundwork to build resilient human communities worldwide.
Immediate Community Integration: Participants successfully moved from being a group of strangers to a tight-knit, deeply connected community in just one weekend, guided by the shared principles of respect and safety.
Heightened Somatic Awareness & Presence: Participants gained practical tools to ground themselves, manage their physical presence, and use their bodies as a healthy channel for authentic self-expression.
Emotional Clarity & Universality: Through the 5 modules, participants recognized and processed universal emotions, breaking down personal isolation and experiencing the profound relief of shared human experiences.
Empowered Creative Agency: Every participant unlocked their voice through writing and performing, walking away with the confidence to step into their own stories and play them out.
A Replicable Model for Global Connection: Participants left with a clear understanding of the group guidelines and framework, equipping them to foster respect, empathy, and community-building in their own local contexts around the world.
Curating & Condensing Master Content: Solely responsible for distilling 25 years of professional theater, dramaturgical practice, and emotional literacy training into a high-impact, 5-module intensive curriculum.
Program Creation & Instructional Design: Developed the specific structure, sequence, and flow of the weekend—integrating somatic exercises, creative writing prompts, emotional literacy frameworks, and theatrical play into a cohesive learning journey.
Master Facilitation: Directly delivered and facilitated the intensive sessions, setting the global group guidelines, guiding participants through vulnerable emotional work, and anchoring the group's presence and connection throughout the weekend.
I assisted Patricia in delivering the ‘Let There Be Light’ training program in France while we were working on a theatre play together. The five-module weekend program emerged from 10 years of experience facilitating a yearly program in Beirut, which I also attended as a participant. This allowed me to gain an in-depth understanding of the program’s design. She guided me in helping her create a safe framework for the participants. At times, I was an observer; at others, I participated in the activities.
I found the way Patricia uses the craft of acting extremely relevant and consistent. The combination of her extensive professional experience as an actress and theatre-maker in Lebanon, together with her high level of emotional intelligence literacy, allows her to create a space where participants can experiment with, develop, and practise important social skills. I found the program both deep and playful, and, more importantly, experiential: the activities are not merely practice exercises intended to help us apply what we learn later. Instead, it is during the workshop itself that we live real-life experiences with the other members of the group. This makes the program very impactful, in my opinion.
Moreover, Patricia can facilitate the program in a multilingual format, as she speaks French, English, and Arabic. I believe this adds value by helping to ensure inclusiveness in the workshop.