This past Thursday, the NW Children's Foundation sponsored a forum titled, "Community Trauma and Child Well-Being: Trauma-Informed Care and the Future of Healing." The forum featured Dr. Shawn Ginwright, an invaluable voice in the conversation about collective childhood trauma, one CRI is excited to support.
Dr. Ginwright is Associate Professor of Education, and African American Studies at San Francisco State University and the author of Hope and Healing in Urban Education: How Activists are Reclaiming Matters of the Heart. Having written extensively about trauma, Dr. G focuses on the collective nature of trauma.
In one of his papers, Dr. G states that:
"Trauma informed care requires that we treat trauma in people but provides very little insight into how we might address the root causes of trauma in neighborhoods, families, and schools. If trauma is collectively experienced, this means that we also have to consider the environmental context that caused the harm in the first place. By only treating the individual we only address half of the equation leaving the toxic systems, policies and practices neatly intact." Read the entire publication here.
He then further explains the way simple symptom treatment can lead to a limited focus on solely the disease rather than the holistic well being. Thus he promotes the term "healing centered" to broaden our understanding and treatment of trauma.
Ultimately, CRI is grateful for the voices expanding the conversation about the role of community in trauma-informed approaches to care. Go to http://nwcf.org/ for more events, and please visit Shawn's website- http://www.shawnginwright.com - to read more from this insightful expert.
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