A global poem for healing
Trauma is a deep source of human suffering. One faith-based nonprofit developed a method that was proven to help people heal. But how could they talk about trauma all over the world, across faiths and cultures?
For twenty years, Trauma Healing Institute has been helping people all over the world heal from the pain of trauma. They’ve done this by doing something extraordinary: their curriculum fuses the spiritual wisdom of the Christian scriptures with the proven methods of clinical mental health. THI’s purpose, crucially, isn’t to help people heal in order to turn people into Christians. THI believes helping people heal is Christianity — no matter whether the people who need healing are Christian or not.
My friend Erin Rufledt at Luminary Lab worked with me and the brilliant illustrator Cicely Combs to distill the method into a simple, beautiful and truthful series of words and pictures, designed to make sense anywhere in the world people are suffering.
Here’s how Drew Hood, the American Bible Society’s vice president for global ministry, described our work at the 2019 gathering of the Trauma Healing Institute’s global community of practice.
Trauma Healing Institute Global Community of Practice, March 12, 2019, in Philadelphia.
Some experiences in life are so painful, they cause deep and lasting suffering. That suffering is what we call “trauma.”
Trauma is a deep wound of the heart and mind that takes a long time to heal. It hurts every part of us: our relationships, our bodies, our thoughts, and our faith.
But God is with everyone who suffers. God feels our pain with us, and God helps us heal. The light of love is stronger than the darkness of trauma. This is why we have hope.
Trauma Healing Institute provides a way for suffering people all over the world to find healing in the midst of their pain. With the strength and support of others, they experience God’s nearness and love.
Our method is simple. It brings a group of people together in a safe place, where they can help each other heal.
