Allender Center Story Groups Now Enrolling

by on December 18, 2025

Story Groups with the Allender Center are designed to invite you into deep reflection to grow awareness of how your life experiences impact you in your relationships, your spirituality, and your everyday life. In these interactive groups, you’ll gain insights into how your unique story impacts your current way of understanding and relating to yourself, others, and God.

Our Story Groups are expertly led by Student Facilitators who are undergoing rigorous training in Narrative Focused Trauma Care® Level III with the Allender Center. These dedicated Facilitators have completed Level I & Level II work under the direct supervision of the Allender Center Training Team. Story Groups are not group therapy; they are intended to be an in-depth complement to your ongoing personal and/or therapeutic work.

Here’s what you’ll experience when you join a Story Group:

  • Seven weekly 2-hour sessions with a small group of no more than 5 people.
  • Guided discussions and reflections to help you delve into your story.
  • Access to an exclusive version of the popular “To Be Told” self-paced online course from the Allender Center. This course offers video lessons that will enrich your learning throughout your 7-week Story Group journey.

Each of the Story Groups are listed below, and will begin in early 2026. Please reach out directly to the Story Group leader to ask about joining their group, and please be aware that some groups may be full. 

Questions about this offering? Please email our team at programs@theallendercenter.org.

Story Groups Now Accepting New Participants:

 

Bekki Buckley currently loves and serves her church family as the Administrative Assistant and Women’s Minister at Mars Hill Church. Here, she listens and leads with compassion, insight, and a deep commitment to spiritual growth. She has been married for 36 years, is the proud mother of two, and a joyful grandmother of five. As a former middle school science teacher, and Client Advocate in a Women’s Crisis Center, Bekki brings a unique blend of empathy, clarity, and teaching experience to her work. One thing she works hard to create is a safe, authentic space where everyone can grow in faith, find healing, and step confidently into their God-given purpose. Bekki thrives at the intersection of ministry leadership, relational care, and organizational strategy—always aiming to equip others to lead well and love deeply.

Group Description: 

  • Application: Bekki Buckley Story Group Application
  • Dates: January 27, 2026- March 17, 2026 
  • Time: 6-8 pm CST
  • Cost: $350/participant 
  • Location: Mars Hill Church 1087 Downtowner Blvd., Mobile, Al. 36609

Contact Info: bekki@pomh.org

Kaitlyn Kaye is currently working at a ministry that specializes in helping people recover from porn addiction and betrayal trauma. She gets to see day in and day out the hard work it takes for both men and women to heal from such deep wounding. She spent most of her growing up years in Chandler AZ before residing in her current home, Portland, OR. With a background that includes a variety of settings such as working in customer service, operations, and ministry, Kaitlyn is dedicated towards helping others live more into the fullness of their glorious humanity. She sees our propensity to want to be more than human in our desire to control and be “like God” and that we also believe we are less than human which is where shame enters the scene. Her heart is to see others flourish in getting to simply be how they were made, fully human.   

Kaitlyn has always been drawn towards stories and understanding more of how we’ve become the people we are today. She has found immense healing and freedom through her own work with the Allener Center and is passionate about offering that same goodness to others. She enjoys time at the coast or in the mountains, reading, podcasts, dancing, and time with those she loves finding intentional connection, humor, and play.

Group Description: “Living Fully Human” – Through the process of Storywork, together we will discover what brought you to the beliefs, “I can be more than human and I am less than human”. What is one story from your childhood that triggered your need to cope by not having needs, or led you to believe you’re not worthy, beloved, wanted, etc. Together we will shed light on those places of harm, where shame snuck in and the enemy of your soul took what was never his to take. We will first clearly name those deceptions and then replace them with truth and reality while listening to your good body. Through our work together you will step more into the fullness of your glorious humanity.

  • Application: Kaitlyn Kaye Story Group Application
  • Dates: Tuesdays, February 10th-March 24th 
  • Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm(PST)
  • Cost: $350/participant 
  • Location: *Meeting online weekly (7 sessions)

Contact Info: kaitlynkaye@gmail.com

Deanna Dong is an integrative story work facilitator that hopes to guide individuals into the uncharted territory of their lived experiences—experiences that have shaped who they are today – so they can discover new areas of healing and ways of being in the world.

Drawing on her background in healthcare, where she has worked alongside individuals navigating trauma, addiction, sexual violence, and complex health challenges, she brings a grounded understanding of presence, care, and what it means to be witnessed.

Having trained with the Allender Center at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology in their Narrative Focused Trauma Care program, she brings this perspective into her story engagement spaces, which emphasize reflection, attunement, and connection. 

If she’s not tending to work, she loves to find new mountains to explore, landscapes to sketch and paint, little plants to adopt and new ways to play. 

Group Description: Have you ever wondered why you show up the way you do? Are there stories within you that have never been spoken out loud? What did it mean to grow up between cultures—and in what ways has that shaped how you relate, lead, or love? This group is for individuals 18 and older whose lives have been shaped by Asian heritage—whether born in the U.S. or abroad, raised in an Asian family, connected to Asian culture, or formed by the complexities of culture and identity. Together, we will each bring a written story from our lives—especially experiences that have been challenging—to explore with care and curiosity. Join us in this good work of healing, as we step into and reflect on the stories that shape us.

  • Application: Deanna Dong Story Group Application
  • Dates: March 3 – April 14 (7 weeks)
  • Time: Tuesdays, 7-9 PM Eastern Time (4-6 pm PT | 6-8 pm CT) 
  • $350 for seven sessions  
  • *sliding scale available — please reach out if cost is a barrier
  • Location: Virtual (Zoom)

Contact Info: themeicollectivellc@gmail.com

Melony Materi is a story practitioner who lives in Saskatchewan, Canada.  She has two daughters and three grandsons.  She was a municipal administrator before leaving her position to become Executive Director of a pregnancy center, followed by serving as Executive Director of a counselling center.  She is passionate about helping people move through trauma and emotional pain.  She has been and continues to be intentional about recognizing how the stories of her life have molded and shaped her – one of which is being adopted.  

She loves spending time in her garden and flower beds in the summer, and snowshoeing in the winter.  Her golden retriever, Sydney, is never far from her side.  

Group Description: A Story Group for those who were adopted as babies or as a young child (currently age 25+). Are you someone who desires to better understand yourself and discover more fully who you were created to be? In a small online group setting, we will delve into the narratives of our lives, particularly our stories of harm, to begin to explore the profound ways in which our experiences have shaped us, and be invited to understand how these continue to impact our present day. I invite you to join us in this good work towards healing and hope in our stories.

  • Application: Melony Materi Story Group Application
  • Dates: February 3rd to March 17th 
  • Time: (Tuesdays) 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm CST
  • $100 Canadian Funds
  • Location: Online weekly for 7 sessions

Contact Info: melony.materi@gmail.com

Joy Tanimura Winquist is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Joy graduated from the University of Chicago’s Crown School of Social Work (formerly School of Social Services Administration) and is licensed in the states of Hawaii and Illinois. Joy specializes in working with individuals who want to find healing from childhood trauma and abuse, and works with teens and adults in her practice. Joy is born and raised in Hawaii and after spending over a decade in Chicago, moved home to raise her children and be closer to family. Joy is dedicated to providing holistic care addressing the psychological and spiritual, looking at life stories within the context of the larger family, environmental, and cultural contexts of their origins. As a mixed-race individual raised in the unique diversity and colonized context of Hawaii, Joy strives to hold space for the many layers of individual and generational trauma that is held in each individual’s body. Through engaging context and story, Joy seeks to help bring light to how we make meaning of our experiences and how these stories influence our beliefs about ourselves, God, and our relationships with others.

Joy has always enjoyed written stories and artful storytelling through theater, music, and mixed media. She enjoys a good cup of coffee, baking, good food, the ocean, valley living, and intentional connection with loved ones and her lab-mix, Koa.

Group Description: Mixed Story Group (open to mixed, multiracial, BIPOC individuals)

Contact Info: joy.winquist@gmail.com

Caroline Tiell is passionate about walking alongside individuals as they engage their stories, grieve experiences of harm, and move toward healing, restoration, and freedom. She has over fifteen years of experience supporting children, women, and families from hard places, offering care rooted in presence, connection, and hope.

She is currently the director of G.R.O.W. Women’s Community, a unique space of safety, connection, and healing for women of all ages and stages of life. In this role, she leads groups, mentors leaders, and creates intentional experiences. She also offers retreats, workshops and public speaking focused on emotional connection, healing, and caring for the whole person. She previously served as a youth pastor, which gives her insight into spiritual trauma and formative life experiences. Her work is informed by her own experiences with life’s challenges, deepening her empathy and understanding of unseen grief.

Caroline is also an adoptive mother and advocate for children in care and the families who love them. She enjoys creative expression, meaningful connection, and play with her family, including her twin sons and energetic daughter.

Group Description: “Stories That Shape Us” – A Story Group for Women (18+) – Are you a woman seeking to better understand yourself and engage more fully with your story? In this small online group, we will explore the narratives of our lives, particularly stories from our childhood, to understand how our experiences have shaped us and how they continue to influence our present. This group offers a safe, intentional space to step into your story with care, presence, and connection alongside others who are walking similar journeys.

Contact Info: RestoredHope.CT@gmail.com or Phone: 407-434-1833

Related Resources & Offerings:

Learn more about Narrative Focused Trauma Care® (NFTC) Training.

Download our free guide: How to Engage Your Story.