Marninwarntikura - discovering healing, understanding trauma

What is it that makes an individual, a family, a community, a society, a nation, and a global citizenry thrive? Could it be resilience? If this is the case, we should be working out how to maximise it against all the odds. Today, in our society, the odds do seem to be against us. I spent the last week in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. For two days, I attended the 7 th annual psychological trauma and Juvenile Justice Conference. It is part of the initiative of the Trauma Informed Care Project from Orchard Place. The aim of the project is to spread the word and change the way we work. Quite literally, the project is working to educate people in understanding the enormity of the evidence of trauma and what we can all to understand recognise and respond to the effects of trauma. http://www.traumainformedcareproject.org/about.php The conference was run by the renowned Dr Bruce Perry, a neuroscientist and child psychiatrist and Dr Stuart Ablon, a child psychiatrist....

Last week, I believe that everyone I met with took a few breaths before I arrived. This could have been a tactic to ready themselves for the possible barrage of questions, but I highly doubt it. I am inclined to believe their reasoning, which is, our breath is essential to the regulation of our mind and body, so when we breathe before we act, our actions are better. They are rational, considered and thoughtful. This is the foundation for good engagement and dialogue. This is one reason why trauma-informed organisations and schools are spending time teaching mindfulness – more to come in a subsequent blog post. The signs edging the parkland of Homewood Health  We can all change elements of our working practice to improve our engagement and relationships with who we work and interact with. As I’m coming to understand this should be our first consideration when becoming a trauma-informed organisation, or a trauma-informed individual. I felt like I was playing t...