IMPACT Personal Safety

M I S S I O N A N D V I S I O N
IMPACT Personal Safety’s Mission and Vision

IMPACT Personal Safety is a nonprofit organization that teaches children and adults to prevent
and defend themselves against verbal, physical, and sexual violence.

By reducing the fear and impact of violence, we help to create a community where people live
powerfully, experience freedom, and pursue joy. We believe it is possible to tackle the causes
and effects of violence by partnering within the community to:

Raise Personal Expectations:

Increasing self-worth, enhancing relationships, and promoting trauma recovery

Promote Social Justice:

Teaching students to recognize and confront oppression

Empower Communication:
Training individuals to advocate for themselves/others

Improve Awareness:
Providing skills to recognize and avoid conflict and violence

Teach Physical Skills:

Teaching self-defense strategies to address boundary violation and prevent assault

S E M I N A R W O R K S H O P S
Personal Safety 101
Learning to Be Safe and Avoid Violence

This interactive seminar presents new ways of thinking about being safe. The instructor helps the group
deconstruct common misconceptions about safety and violence and answers questions so that the class has
the facts they need to be confident and effective.

The instructor first makes the seminar relevant to the class by addressing statistics and media portrayals of
violence. This normalizes the experience for those who are survivors of violence in the group, assuring them
it was not their fault and that they can learn more tools to feel safe again. We discuss ways in which people
modify their lives (not going out at night, never alone, etc.) to keep themselves safe and, in contrast, the
possibility of not having to limit what one does in order to stay safe.

We discuss socialization so that students recognize the ways in which their attitudes and beliefs can limit
their effectiveness in keeping safe. The instructor emphasizes the strategy of talking one’s way out of or
completely avoiding a potentially dangerous situation.

The seminar also addresses research about assailant behavior so that students can avoid being chosen as a
target. Students learn awareness skills and how to avoid problems and prevent violence in their lives. They
also learn and practice adjusting body language and yelling that can stop an attack. A four-minute video
shows the contrast between the passivity demonstrated by victims in the movies and the real ability of the
average person to stop an assault while staying safe legally. We have heard reports of people – after
attending a Safety Seminar – using assertive verbal skills, yelling, and confident body language to stop an
attack, simply because they learned that is possible to do so.

Class size: 10-60

Classroom requirements: Large room/auditorium with space for participants to stand and move

PO Box 8350 • Santa Fe, NM 87504-8350 • 505/992-8833 • [email protected] • www.IMPACTPersonalSafety.org

 IMPACT Personal Safety
S E M I N A R W O R K S H O P S
Seminar Workshops
Intuition Development
Recognizing manipulative and assailant behavior
Physical and sexual assaults are perpetrated most often through manipulation and coercion rather than
through physical force or physical force alone. In this seminar, students identify and analyze manipulative
behaviors. They discover why the manipulation techniques are effective and how to avoid being drawn in.
Intuition, the semi-conscious part of the brain that stores more information than the conscious part, often
sends signals when someone is manipulating us. In this seminar we explore how the intuition sends us
messages and how to deconstruct and use those messages most effectively.
Class size: 15-30
Appropriate for ages: 13 and up

Healthy Relationships
Promoting healthy relationships; preventing and understanding dating and family violence
This seminar examines the behaviors that constitute healthy and unhealthy, or abusive, relationships. We
begin with interactive activity to understand the progression along the increasingly controlling and abusive
spectrum of domestic violence. Students learn early signs and discuss personal boundaries and choices
they make with “lower level” domestic violence. We also discuss the implications of drugs and alcohol use
as it pertains to domestic violence. The discussion then turns to healthy relationships and helps the
students determine what healthy relationships might look like, and which aspects are particularly valuable
for each participant personally.
The focus of this class intimate partner violence, but addresses healthy and unhealthy behavior in all
relationships.
Class size: 15-30 students
Appropriate for ages: 13 and up
Classroom requirements: large room with floor space or wall

What Would Provoke Me?

Exploring Our Reactions to Provocation and Their Consequences
While asserting boundaries is important, many people may react to provocations in a way that gets them in
legal trouble, trouble at school, or puts them in physical danger. Others may not be aware that they have
a right to stand up for their boundaries. In this seminar, participants study situations that provoke violence
(deliberate rudeness, insults to self or loved ones, direct challenges) and consider how s/he has or would
react to those situations personally.
We discuss how anger, vengeance or a sense of justice can fuel reactions to these situations. We also talk
about potentially negative consequences: escalating a situation, getting hurt or into trouble at school or
legally because of an aggressive reaction, or social stigma for not standing up for yourself. We explore the
different ways to react and how it may make us feel, how it may affect the situation, and possible big
picture outcomes. We discuss how socialization can factor into the reactions we choose and how to make
the best choice personally.
Class size: 15-30
Appropriate for ages: 13 and up

Bias and Boxes

Exploring the connection between derogatory language, cultural expectations, and violence
People are assaulted differently based on the way that they are perceived. These perceptions are based on
cultural legacies around factors like gender, race, and class. These perceptions are perpetuated by images
in the media and the increasingly commonplace use of derogatory language. Participants in this seminar
identify how the use of this kind of language serves to socialize the behavior of the group or culture they
belong to and how this socialization limits personal expression and encourages the continuation of
institutional oppression. This seminar explores the link between casual use of derogatory language and
hate-crimes like gay-bashing or domestic violence.
Class size: 15-30
Appropriate for ages: 13 and up
Classroom: white/chalk board

PO Box 8350 • Santa Fe, NM 87504-8350 • 505/992-8833 • [email protected] • www.IMPACTPersonalSafety.org

 IMPACT Personal Safety
Technology and Safety For Teens: Bullying and Appropriate Intimacy
Applying “real world” morals and behavior to communication in new technologies
The current generation of teens and children has grown up with ubiquitous technology. Educators, however
tech-saavy, are generally not prepared to understand the central role technology plays in youths’ social
lives. Technology, such as texting and social networking sites, are therefore relatively un-regulated areas,
as adults often do not even know what to make rules about. This seminar, which includes interactive
activities, helps connect the “unreal” world of technology to the “real” world, where there are
consequences, dangers, and standards of conduct.
Class size: 15-30
Appropriate for ages: 13 and up
Class prerequisite/recommended: “Gender Boxes”
Classroom: white/chalk board, paper pads, pens

A Multi-Media Approach to Choices

Analyze popular portrayals of boundary-setting, personal safety, or self-defense and identify
them as choices
In this workshop, we analyze popular images (newsprint, TV, songs, movies, etc) that portray boundary-
setting, personal safety, or self-defense to understand the perspective and bias of the media and to better
understand the factors of the incidents themselves. We use the media as a tool to identify the choices we
have to make around interpersonal relationships.
This workshop explores the range of legitimate and/or effective decisions that people can make to take care
of themselves and others (i.e. avoiding a lifestyle that may be dangerous, leaving a bad situation and/or
finding the right time to leave, seeking others’ help, directly telling someone that things need to change,
deciding when something isn’t worth the physical danger or legal repercussions, and determining when
physical defense would be appropriate.)
Participants gain an expanded sense of how to deal with dangerous or complicated situations. They come
to see that by making smaller decisions early on, they can avoid increasingly uncomfortable or dangerous
situations later. Participants often feel safer by learning that the media usually portrays the most extreme
cases of violence, and that they already have skills to avoid the most common situations.
Class size: 15-30
Appropriate for ages: 13 and up

Redefining Consent on Campus

Shifting the idea of consent as the absence of the word “no” to the presence of the word “yes”
This workshop shifts the idea of consent from “not saying ‘no’” to saying “yes.” Instructors give examples
of this principle in real-life scenarios and teach phasing so that participants are empowered with skills to
ensure they have the fully consenting partner they want to have. As a result of the workshop, participants
have improved self-reflection and self-awareness so that they are better able to actively, verbally stop a
situation they do not want.
This workshop defines consent as follows: the act of willingly and verbally agreeing to engage in specific
sexual conduct. The instructor begins by defining sexual assault legally and discussing the experience of
assault. The instructor then addresses sexual activity that exists in the “grey area:” that feels
embarrassing, uncomfortable, violating, or shameful, though it may not be explicitly assault. To end this
kind of nonconsensual sex, both parties take responsibility for clear, conscious communication. Some of
the key concepts addressed are:
•If sexual contact is not mutually and simultaneously initiated, then the person who initiates sexual contact
is responsible for getting the verbal consent of the other individual involved.
•Obtaining consent is an on-going process in any sexual interaction. Verbal consent should be obtained
with each new level of sexual contact in any given interaction.
•The person with whom sexual contact is initiated is responsible to express verbally and/or physically
her/his willingness or lack of willingness.
•If someone has initially consented but then stops consenting during a sexual interaction, she/he should
communicate withdrawal of consent.
•If someone is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they are not able to give consent.
Class size: 20-50
Appropriate for ages: 16 and up

PO Box 8350 • Santa Fe, NM 87504-8350 • 505/992-8833 • [email protected] • www.IMPACTPersonalSafety.org

 IMPACT Personal Safety
Bystander Education by Gender
Exploring practical ways to help others in everyday situations
This seminar is usually taught by gender for teen boys and young men, and can also be customized for girls
and women. The curriculum is based on the research and work of Jackson Katz, an activist and educator
who identifies gender violence as a “men’s issue,” instead of a women’s issue, as it is often categorized.
Men are almost always either the perpetrators or individuals well positioned to intervene. The seminar
instructor creates a safe and accepting environment where boys and men can talk freely about their
challenges and biases in terms of gender relations. Some groups also focus on other factors for violence
such as race and class, as relevant.
After identifying what gender violence is, especially the manifestations that are often ignored or even
thought to be socially acceptable, the instructor leads the group through scenarios in which they identify
the various options for helping stop or mitigate the violence or the culture of violence as a bystander. The
goal is to create mentors in communities like high schools, who generate positive peer pressure for
discontinuing violence, intimidating or disrespectful behavior, and cultivating empathy for victims/survivors.
Class size: 15-30
Appropriate for ages: 13 and up

Technology and Safety For Adults Helping Teens: Bullying and Appropriate Intimacy
Applying “real world” morals and behavior to communication in new technologies
The current generation of teens and children has grown up with ubiquitous technology. Educators and
parents, however tech-saavy, are generally not prepared to understand the central role technology plays in
teen’s social lives. Technology, such as texting and social networking sites, are therefore relatively un-
regulated areas, as adults often do not even know what to make rules about. This seminar workshop
explains what youth are doing and discusses what is appropriate for youth behavior surrounding
technology. It addresses how to talk with kids about extending the same moral/ethical conduct in the
“unreal” world of technology that they already use in their “real” lives. We translate common acronyms
used in texting, give a how-to on controls for web browsers, teach how to navigate social networking sites,
and how to help kids use aspects of social networking sites that are designed to keep them more
anonymous and safe.
Class size: 15-30
Appropriate for ages: Adult – for Teachers and Parents
Classroom: white/chalk board, paper pads, pens

The Response to The Undetected Rapist

Deconstructing the myth of a typical rapist and discuss real occurrences
70% of rape victims know their rapist. The majority of rapes occur without any or with limited physical
coercion. This class’s purpose is to dispel the myth of rape being a stranger jumping out of the bushes and
brutally raping and to replace it with an educated awareness of what rape is, who commits it, and how it is
possible to avoid. The implications of drugs and alcohol use as it pertains to sexual assault are addressed
in this class.
Class size: 15-30
Appropriate for ages: 16 and up
Classroom: Television/Projector, DVD player

Defining Harassment
To identify and prevent harassment and sexual harassment
In this seminar, we address what the experience of being harassed is and what harassment is legally. We
look at the question, “What is the difference between flirting or teasing and harassment?” in order to create
a sensitivity to harassment and prevent hyper-sensitivity (where-in people feel forbidden to participate in
normal, playful socializing). The students learn to identify harassment for themselves and others, and how
to prevent it and advocate for themselves and others. This class emphasizes permission to stand up for
oneself and resources for help with harassment.
This course also covers the definitions of verbal, physical and sexual abuse, and verbal, physical and sexual
assault. The implications of drugs and alcohol use as it pertains to harassment, abuse and assault are
addressed in this class.
Class size: 15-30 students
Appropriate for ages: Teens, 13 and up, or Adults

PO Box 8350 • Santa Fe, NM 87504-8350 • 505/992-8833 • [email protected] • www.IMPACTPersonalSafety.org

 IMPACT Personal Safety
E X P E R I E N T I A L W O R K S H O P & C O U R S E D E S C R I P T I O N S
Experiential Workshops and Courses

In our experiential programs, students practice verbal boundary setting with people they know, verbal dissuasion
techniques and physical self-defense skills through dynamic, interactive scenarios in an emotionally supportive
environment. Trained instructors create simulations of stressful or threatening scenarios, enabling students to
respond quickly and appropriately while in the adrenaline state and to incorporate skills into muscle memory.

Many of our graduates report a “ripple effect” through their lives after IMPACT; they often report increased self-
esteem and self-confidence, improved leadership skills and greater calm and focus during stressful situations.

Experiential classes serve 1-16 students and can take place at IMPACT’s studio or another location more
convenient for your group. Classes can be single-gender or co-ed. Sometimes groups are formed based on
age-affinity like groups of teens or elders. IMPACT also serves groups of individuals of similar abilities such as
wheelchair users or those with developmental disabilities.

2-Hour Verbal-Only Workshop

Students in the 2-hour course learn and practice verbal boundary setting skills to deal with harassing and/or
threatening strangers in role-play scenarios. The workshop also includes verbal boundary setting skills with
people we know. Participants learn to set boundaries and stand up for themselves while maintaining their
personal or professional relationships. All skills are practiced in interactive scenarios enabling students to assess
a situation and respond appropriately while in the adrenaline state.

4-Hour Workshop
In the 4-hour workshop, participants learn street-smart behaviors and awareness and avoidance skills to help
them avoid being targeted for assault. They practice verbal and physical strategies in face-to-face scenarios with
strangers. These skills are practiced against fully padded “mock assailants” (instructors trained in recreating
common assault situations.) The curriculum also includes practicing verbal boundary setting skills with people we
know.

8-Hour Workshop
The curriculum of the 8-hour workshop includes awareness and avoidance skills, physical and verbal skills for
face-to-face scenarios, being grabbed from behind, and being grabbed from behind and going to the ground. The
major addition of the 8-hour workshop is skills for ground fighting. We also address verbal confrontation
techniques for people we know.

20-Hour Basics Course

The 20-hour course addresses everything the average person should need to know to stay safe. We address
awareness and avoidance skills, verbal boundary setting skills with strangers and with people we know, healthy
and unhealthy relationships, and physical defense skills for face-to-face confrontations, begin attacked from
behind, a fight that goes to the ground or starts off in a bed. The 20-hour course can conclude with an hour long
graduation and demonstration of the skills the graduates have learned.

Customized Workshops
IMPACT is able to customize our standard workshops to meet your particular group’s needs. Our courses can be
adapted to range in length from 2-20 hours for 1-16 students. Based on your input, we can tailor role-playing
scenarios to simulate participants’ actual experiences, allowing individuals to practice appropriate responses to
dangerous or stressful situations in a controlled environment. Contact our office for additional information on our
customized workshops.

Children’s 6-Hour Workshop

IMPACT’s Children’s Workshop serves boys and girls, ages 6-12. Children learn concepts of safety with strangers
by practicing and role-playing scenarios, and learn verbal and physical tools to end an assault and get to safety.
Students gain tools to stop unwanted touch from people they know and divert manipulation and threats as well as
how to tell a trusted adult. We also teach how to deal with bullying and peer pressure without engaging.

PO Box 8350 • Santa Fe, NM 87504-8350 • 505/992-8833 • [email protected] • www.IMPACTPersonalSafety.org

 IMPACT Personal Safety
W H A T P E O P L E S A Y A B O U T I M P A C T

I cannot say enough about what IMPACT did for my employees and company. My employees walk with
confidence, have easier conversations with clients, and are more conscious of their boundaries and
therefore have better friendships and working relationships with their coworkers after the course.
-Mike Loftin, Executive Director of Homewise, Santa Fe

I am a domestic violence survivor, and I didn’t realize how long I’d been carrying a sense of shame,
anger, and fear from what had happened to me in my home. IMPACT helped me begin to heal this.
Now I feel much more confidence – and differently about myself.
-Kim Schiffbauer, Basics Graduate

IMPACT has helped a lot with the anxiety problems I used to have. I was terrified to jog in my
neighborhood at night; I was terrified to leave my blinds open even an inch. I was terrified of the
world in general. Years of therapy fixed nothing. And ever since I started taking this class I’m not
really afraid of much at all. I know now that I have a plan of action. And that makes me feel so
much safer.
-Teen Basics Graduate

The Personal Safety 101 made being safe a real possibility. The presentation was easy to schedule,
nearly all my employees attended, and it had a lot of great safety suggestions -- instead of feeling
paranoid, they feel empowered.
-Fidel Gutierrez, Los Alamos National Bank, Santa Fe

This class was incredibly meaningful to me. Adrenaline management is the biggest thing I needed
to learn in the class, as well as how to speak up for myself and establish boundaries. And I feel like
I’ve gotten that. Thanks IMPACT!!
-Eric, Basics Graduate

Before IMPACT my impulse would have been to attack anybody, especially people who are close to
me and cross boundaries. Physically in extreme cases, verbal in more everyday cases. My
tendency now would be to breathe and be more diplomatic.
-Iza, Basics Graduate

I went through the traumatizing experience of being at Columbine High School during the now
infamous shooting. Since then I have been dealing with post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety
attacks. After classes with IMPACT, I find I have less anxiety about being in crowds, and I have the
confidence that my awareness and communication skills will help me in dangerous situations.

I only wish that IMPACT had been available to my peers and I while still in school. I believe the
communication strategies that are such a large part of the IMPACT curriculum are an incredible tool
for students to better deal with bullying and the very stressful social situations that occur in school.
With the skills learned in IMPACT, students learn how to diffuse situations by reacting in more
constructive ways. I can only hope that someday IMPACT will be required curriculum in every
school in the United States.
-KH, Defense Against the Armed Assailant Graduate

PO Box 8350 • Santa Fe, NM 87504-8350 • 505/992-8833 • [email protected] • www.IMPACTPersonalSafety.org

 IMPACT Personal Safety
P A R T I A L C L I E N T & C O L L A B O R A T O R L I S T
Clients and Collaborators

¡Adelante! Santa Fe Public School Program for homeless and low-income children
Agua Fria Family Resource Center at Agua Fria Elementary
Alameda Middle School
Academy of Trades and Technology, Albuquerque
Bosque School
El Dorado School
Independence High School, Albuquerque
Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)
Los Puentes Charter School
New Mexico School for the Deaf
Northern New Mexico College
Salazar Elementary School
San Ildefonso Day School
St. John’s College
St. Michael’s High School
Santa Fe Community College
Santa Fe Girls School
Santa Fe Preparatory School
Self-Awareness and School Support Program at Capshaw Middle School
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

New Mexico Association of Non-public Schools

Santa Fe Public Schools teachers
Santa Fe Public School Bus Drivers & Assistants

Los Alamos National Bank

McCune Charitable Foundation staff and family members
Santa Fe Fire Department
Santa Fe Rotary Club
Santa Fe County Clerk’s office
Taos Police Department

Children, Youth, and Families Department

Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women
Coordinated Community Response Council (CCRC), the Faith Summit of the CCRC
The Gay-Straight Alliance at Santa Fe Mountain Center
Holy Trinity Church
New Mexico AIDS Services: Women's Peer Advocates
Mpower, Albuquerque
PHAME
Planned Parenthood of New Mexico
Rio Arriba Senior Center
Santa Fe Youth Shelters
Santa Fe Rape Crisis & Trauma Treatment Center
Southwest Care
Tewa Women United

Believe in Girls NM conference

Girl Scouts
Girls Inc.
KidPower, Albuquerque
Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, Taos

PO Box 8350 • Santa Fe, NM 87504-8350 • 505/992-8833 • [email protected] • www.IMPACTPersonalSafety.org