Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience programme : experiential education towards resilience and trauma informed people and practice

Abstract

War, genocide, gender based violence, structural oppression and other forms of chronic violence and social upheaval can reveal and cultivate tremendous strength and resilience. They can also gravely harm people in body, mind and spirit, both individually and collectively. These harms can lead people to act in on self and act out against others, entrapping us in cycles of violence. Many strategies can assist in breaking free from cycles of violence and building resilience.

Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience is one educational programme that offers a gateway for participants to: a) understand and destigmatise potential impacts of traumagenic events and b) develop life giving responses that meet human needs rather than escalate violence. This Field report details the programme's origins, practical and theoretical foundations, pedagogical approach and the components of a typical training, as well as selected results, challenges and questions for further research.