Last week, the Stop Intergenerational Trauma (SiT) workgroup, part of Benchmarks’ Partnering for Excellence, hosted a free screening of the documentary Broken Places open to everyone in the community.
Broken Places revisits three different families that were filmed 15-30 years ago to see how the toxic stress and trauma that they experienced has affected them over the years. It turns out that some people are really damaged by toxic stress and trauma, while others are able to thrive, and the film explores this phenomenon. The documentary discusses how we can effectively prevent and treat toxic stress, and break the cycle of adversity and disease.
Following the film, a group of four panelists with various areas of expertise were available to answer questions. The panelists included: the Executive Director and Forensic Interviewer of Prevent Child Abuse Rowan/Terrie Hess House, the Parenting Program Facilitator with Prevent Child Abuse Rowan/Terrie Hess House, the Lead School Nurse for Rowan-Salisbury schools (and also a Community Resiliency Model (CRM) trainer), and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with Nazareth Child and Family Connection.
Audience members were very receptive to the film and asked the panelists engaging questions, including how we can ‘break the cycle’ of intergenerational trauma. The panelists pointed to having stable support systems and empowering people to ‘break the cycle’ as key ingredients to building resiliency.
A few people in the audience challenged their fellow community members who want to make a difference to “meet people where they are” because “people open up in their comfort zones.” They stressed the importance of human-to-human interactions in making real change, instead of programs that may not always reach the people who would benefit from them the most. One panelist was able to share specifics about a program—Triple P Positive Parenting Program—that already exists in the community and meets people where they are.
The participants left the screening and panel discussion hopeful for the change they believe needs to happen. “If we can help one family at a time, then eventually we’re going to get a whole community,” said one audience member. Rowan County community members are eager to take on this challenge.
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