Here in Camden, NJ, we are preparing a two day conference to be aimed at "those who know know trauma." What we mean by this is that it seems that many in our community say things like "The Violence is overwhelming" or "I know that people are impacted by abuse." However, what seems difficult is to move from an understanding of the individual to a systemic understanding of our community. What we want to do in this two day workshop is present an analysis of our community using the ACES and underlying Attachment Theory to "retell" the story of who we are today. We will be presenting ACES and Attachment Theory and then describing how much of our communal behavior can be seen as coping mechanisms to complex trauma. We want to "represent" many of our social worries using a framework undergirded by ACES and Attachment Theory (TIC).
Our goal is to take an audience who often looks at the individual and to put into play the systemic. I know it might sound self-evident, but we are finding here that openness to TIC often remains at the level of the individual. It is our premise that moving to the communal is essential for creating and sustaining healthy communities. Organizations that are working in situations of overwhelming neglect, endemic poverty and structural injustice often are experiencing vicarious trauma and don't have tools to name it or work with it. It is our belief here that our community structures--albeit parents, teachers, police, government officials, etc. are often managing from places of vicarious trauma. Without a systemic understanding of what is happening to us, it is difficult to change. The hope of our conference is to first define the systemic impact of trauma in the community and then to offer possible next steps to work with it.
To do this, we are inviting some programs who are working creatively with TIC---specifically Sanctuary and the SELF model. Previous to this, we had a day long trauma summit here and showed some video clips of folks like a warden, a principal, a doctor--who were talking about TIC and the application that they were making in their work. It is our hope to find specifically address:
Parenting
Eduction
Job Development
Hunger
Drugs
Government Incompetence/Neglect
Drugs
Early Childhood care
using TIC framework with special emphasis on vicarious trauma.
We are looking for suggestions--especially videos/video clips of people who tell stories about working from these areas using TIC. Any help, resources or ideas you might have would be most welcome!
Thanks,
Jeff Putthoff, SJ
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