Collective Trauma & Communal Healing
Mass violence, systemic oppression, and other forms of collective trauma have created shared wounds in many of our clients. To treat these wounds effectively, we must look beyond individual treatment to address the social roots of suffering and mobilize community resilience. From processing school shootings and police shootings to rebuilding in the COVID-19 aftermath, healing collective trauma requires honoring cultural wisdom, fostering connection, and recognizing that recovery happens not just individually but together.
These articles explore mass tragedy response, decolonizing mental health, community-based healing, and more. Learn from Esther Perel, Bessel van der Kolk, and other leaders in the field.
Some years ago, Rwanda was the hellish scene of one of the most ferocious genocides in history. A therapist who traveled there reports on what it's like to... Read more
When disaster strikes close to home, the emotional shock waves make business as usual impossible for both therapists and clients. Read more
The tragic confrontation at Waco, Texas, in 1993 taught us much about what to do to help traumatized children, and perhaps even more about what not to do. Read more
A psychiatrist who's worked in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Israel leads a team of healthcare professionals into war-ravaged Gaza to see if Western healing methods can... Read more
From the May/June 1997 issue “Ordinary South Africans are determined that the past be known, the better to insure that it is not repeated... Read more
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