Photo Credit: Ramona Lam
Claire Sicherman is the author of Imprint: A Memoir of Trauma in the Third Generation. Her writing has been published in anthologies and journals including Awfully Hilarious: Period Pieces, Don’t Ask: What Families Hide, Sustenance: Writers from BC and Beyond on the Subject of Food, Grain Magazine, Pithead Chapel, Lost Balloon, Hippocampus and The Rumpus. Claire is a teacher, speaker, and mentor, supporting writers in bringing the stories they hold in their bodies out onto the page.
Claire is a graduate of the creative non-fiction program at The Humber School for Writers and earned her B.A. at UBC. She has certification in Narrative Therapy, The Healing Trauma Program, Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy, Healing Trauma: Working with Somatic wounds (Dr. Peter Levine), Grief & Loss Training, Healing Intergenerational Trauma Training (forthcoming), Compassionate Inquiry (self-study-forthcoming) Trauma-Informed Yoga, Yin Yoga, and Journalism.
Testimonials
“Claire is an expert in creating safe, warm, and welcoming spaces for people to share their writing. She brings not only a depth of understanding of the craft of writing, but also wisdom about the very human experience of being (or trying to become) a writer! In my one-on-one sessions with Claire, she opened my eyes to new possibilities for my writing by offering experienced, direct, and encouraging feedback. I honestly can't say enough about Claire's classes!”
- Laura Scappaticci https://www.laurascappaticci.com/
“Claire beautifully holds space for us to open our hearts and write from an honest place--- I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. Healing surfaced within each class and this process continues to unfold days, weeks, and years later. Claire masterfully folds in her writing expertise and resources with her innate ability to listen and echo the needs of each individual. She supported my story, my unique writing process, and that feels good. Because of Claire, I have become a more knowledgeable and brave writer. Thank you Claire for being my cheerleader and for believing that the story within me is worthy enough to be shared.”
- Joselyn
Claire 'steered the boat', listened to all of our feedback and our stories. She gave us prompts to stimulate our memories and imaginations. She treated us all with the utmost respect and gentle care, so that we were bathed in an atmosphere of acceptance and welcome. It became easy to support each other under Claire's tutelage and we all had a chance to write a longer story. She also offers a half hour one-to-one where she takes your questions and explores future routes you can take with your writing with the utmost interest and gentleness. She helped me to identify my roadblocks in writing and offered concrete suggestions on how to work with them. I recommend her classes so strongly. She is loving, genuine, but entirely professional in how she teaches. Bravo, Claire. Thank you for releasing your gifts into the world so that we can sample your humanity.
- Joanna
“I love Claire's sensitive, honest, gentle, heartful presence. And the way she listens deeply. And the way she seems to intuit what to ask to steer me down a broader road rather than just telling me what she thinks. I also really appreciated the concrete suggestions. I feel that Claire and the class gave me the boost I need to continue moving forward in my writing project.”
- Miriam
“I thought the workshop/class was incredibly well organized. I felt held by the whole experience – from offering a topic for discussion, to the somatic/grounding exercise, to the writing prompts, to the workshopping of pieces, to the invitation at the end of each night to reflect or write on a question/idea during the week. My only suggestion is that everyone signs up for this class!”
- JS Nahani
“Claire offers a safe and non-judgmental atmosphere wherein we can develop our writing projects. Claire’s approach includes writing prompts, meditations/visualizations, somatic explorations, educational portions about how writers develop their craft, and time for peer feedback on our writings. Her gentle and pro-active support helped me to move through resistances and gather momentum on my writing work.”
- Malgosia
“After learning more about writing about our ancestors with Claire and the group, I was able to write a letter to my grandfather. He was thirty-nine when he died and my mom was fourteen, so I never met him. Claire taught me that telling the story of him, even a small one, helps me and the family to heal. I can have a relationship with my ancestors through writing and that feels exciting. I am grateful to Claire for creating an interactive, online experience that blended insightful instruction with writing prompts, reading aloud and supportive reflection on our work. The small, intimate group allowed our voices to be welcomed and celebrated.”
- Jill