Reading through online events listings, there appears to be an upsurge in trauma inspired work being done by academics, therapists, career counsellors, yoga teachers, and service providers. Some of these activities include invites to attend a conference, symposium, workshop, or be part of a list serve. Trauma Informed Practice or TIP, a term coined almost a decade ago, seem to be a buzzword once again. Developed mostly by governmental health and family authorities the basic approach to trauma practice and services center heavy on clinical diagnosis.
This approach has been problematic especially for those who are on the path of return to work and are on the margins as equity and inclusion-seeking populations (of BIPOC, LGBTQ, low income, women, single mothers, & homeless). Due to the complexity of their presenting circumstances, this population continue to struggle with finding a career. While the approach focuses (2013) on single incident trauma, it also touches on issues of inter-generational and collective historical trauma of indigenous people’s residential school experience as this population is over-represented as survivors. As it is, Canada’s colonial legacy continues to pervade within the policies in its public institutions including those from health agencies and social work. The discussion on trauma work has lately frothed once again in the foreground due to persistent social unrest and economic instability that have been encountered in the past years punctuated by the impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic. Decolonizing these institutions and practices becomes paramount then if the public is to receive relevant, appropriate, and holistic approaches to healing and onwards to employment counseling.
The lessons learned from Indigenous People’s experience of inter-generational trauma, especially in the wake of the discoveries of Indigenous children’s unmarked graves, is invaluable. We now know that to achieve meaningful healing, the full might of the community is needed to help support individual healing. Renee Linklater author of Decolonizing Trauma Work suggests that issues of mental health need to focus on restoring balance to the sense of self through relationships with others (family, friends, community) and the environment (other living beings, spirits, eco-system, land). It is not sufficient to treat these issues as a stand-alone health matter. Native Lakota social worker Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart outlines steps in engaging trauma work: 1) stimulate traumatic memories, historical, and generational past, 2) facilitate group sharing, identification and individual expressions, 3) memorialize & ritualize through (Lakota) cultural practices as therapeutical process, and 4) refer to community resources to obtain support and connection. It is imperative according to this approach that those who seek trauma support especially in indigenous communities and other equity-seeking populations are to be connected to their respective cultures.
Thomas Hubl author of the book Healing Collective Trauma suggests that trauma is no longer a personal challenge but more so as a collective journey as people find themselves grappling for healing as a nation, region, and planet. Dr. Gabor Mate leading trauma expert posits that we, as a society, “cannot move forward to healing unless there is a full acknowledgement of the violence that we’ve perpetrated against one another and that we have suffered these ourselves.”
Although western perspective in healing most times adhere to science and DSM, these strategies fall short in providing support to equity and inclusion seeking members such as PWDs, newcomers, youth, Indigenous, survivors, & BIPOC. It is within this framework that community programs such as EMPOW3R job readiness training, a program catering to survivors of trauma, centers on community healing. One of its main goal is to help program participants co-create a sense of belonging that is grounded in care, compassion, and empathy. These job seekers then learn to exercise their own agency to find the will to implement change towards meaningful employment. It is hoped that leveraging the positive impacts of the pursuit of sustainable careers support individual healing that contributes to collective wellness.
