Our February Monthly Member Gathering highlights two care farms that provide trauma-informed therapy. Simple Sparrow Farm teaches people how to care for land, gardens, and animals they are empowered to better care for themselves and others. Gould Farm, founded in 1913, is the first residential therapeutic community in the nation dedicated to helping adults with mental health and related challenges move toward recovery and independence through community living, meaningful work, and clinical care.
Presenters
Brett Thatcher LICSW, MTS (he/him) is a clinical social worker and psychotherapist at Gould Farm in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. He has completed post-graduate training in intersubjective psychotherapy and mentalization-based treatment. His current research interests include contemporary psychoanalytic theory, Queer and Critical Theory, and queer mental health in a heteronormative world. When not working, Brett is often found cooking a meal for friends, running or cycling through the hills, or reading his way through a pile of books.
Jamie Tanner is an Ordained Pastor & Theologian in Residence at Restore Church, Austin TX. Jamie is a retired combat medic in the US Army, mother of four, and married to Eric Tanner. In 2017 she founded Simple Sparrow, a care farm in Central Texas that teaches all ages, backgrounds, and abilities how to care for land, gardens, and animals with the mission of Learn+Grow+Heal. She got her masters from Dallas Theological Seminary and returned to complete a DEdMin. Her dissertation and research is a training program development and evaluation of the Simple Sparrow model, which combines spiritual care and trauma-informed care. The goal is to equip and support more care farmers who seek to provide spiritual and/or trauma-informed care for their own organization. At Simple Sparrow Care Farm, Jamie continues to develop and evaluate care farm programs and service outcomes. She also provides pastoral care in her community and enjoys reading outdoors with friends.