What is trauma?
Trauma is a deeply distressing or disturbing experience that can’t be categorized or measured. For example, an individual who has been in an abusive relationship may have the same pain as a child whose best friend moves away. Trauma can’t be measured because it’s a personal experience. After you’ve gone through a traumatic moment, the days that follow are extremely important. Feelings of shock, confusion, guilt, irritability are all in control. And because life must go on, we attempt to carry out our everyday tasks, taking the kids to school, going to work, exercising, etc. But somewhere, tucked far away in the back of our minds is our traumatic experiences and just because they haven’t been discussed we think we’ve moved past them, they control our decision more than we want to believe.
What happens when we don’t heal properly?
Similar to a broken bone that hasn’t healed properly, we ache and environments or people may trigger the pain. So naturally, we start to avoid certain settings. Some believe their bad experiences have made them into a better person, the whole “I learned my lessons the hard way” type of thing. But in reality, we have given our trauma power over our lives. It tells us what to do, what not to do where to go and who to be.
How healing circles help?
A healing circle is a positive, safe, judgment-free environment that consists of people who are ready and committed to helping each other heal. Each session you attend is different, there may be a day where you journal, scrapbook, meditate, pray etc. One of the most popular activities is the venting session, there is usually a talking stick and the person who has the stick is the only one who can speak when they’re done the stick is passed to the left. The energy in these circles creates a sacred space, allowing you to open up and talk about your experiences. These circles have been used for decades amongst African tribes and other aboriginals and they have finally been introduced into primary care in the United States.
