Writing as a path towards healing is a core value at Narrative Healing and this month we’re exploring best practices to write about and with trauma. There’s no one way to do this. We each hold trauma in our own way. Trauma is held in our bodies and is a relative and subjective experience. We have different lived experiences, and we are informed by different cultural norms, pressures and definitions. In addition to our current lived experiences, we each may also carry generations of trauma that we are both aware of and unaware of.
Trauma can appear in our storytelling in many ways; on the page and in our bodies. While it’s widely researched that writing about trauma can be profoundingly healing, it can exasperate old wounds and trigger new ones if we aren’t careful. However, if you learn to offer yourself the care and support you need as you write, writing can be one of the most effective and accessible treatments for trauma and other challenging emotions both for yourself and people you may work with.
So, to honor our differences, we’re offering a few ways to approach this subject as we move through the month. My weekly Narrative Healing Labs classes will offer trauma informed approaches to writing prompts, and our featured speaker in NH Live, is our very own member Laura Khoudari, a trauma expert who will offer tactical guidance. I’m also hosting an AMA on this topic and you can submit any thoughts or questions HERE. More below! If you miss these, don’t worry, we’ll continue to archive them in our expanding library.
My hope is, we support our individual and collective needs as we go, with loving care and patient consideration.
In Love & Service,
Lisa
