THE GUIDE

"Remembering and telling the truth about terrible events are prerequisites both for the restoration of the social order and for the healing of individual victims."

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- Judith Herman, Trauma & Recovery.

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The sanest among us can be driven mad in a world gone crazy ...

Imagine such a world as a family household. Some members of the family maintain control or dominance over the others to assert their status and authority; some create chaos while others work hard to compensate for day-to-day order; some are blamed or punished as the black sheep or scapegoats of the family, while others are ignored or locked up in the basement, their screams met with silence and denial.

Few members of this family clearly acknowledge the core imbalances and speak out against the dysfunctional patterns of abuse that they experience or witness every day - as single individuals, they are easily silenced by a collective voice that tells them that they are too sensitive, imagining things, or are outright crazy. Without the support of a larger whole, these few individuals may eventually be pressured or brainwashed into believing that perhaps they are wrong or even insane.

When we are attuned to reality, we may at times perceive and experience things that we don't like. We may feel pain and suffer trauma. Denying the situation, suppressing our discomfort, or ignoring our wounds (or those of others) does not eliminate the reality.

It is in acknowledging, exposing, and expressing what needs to be healed (individually and collectively) that we can purge the shrapnel of our pain, clean out the wounds, and return to a state of health & well-being.

Ideally, healing starts with a safe space and the support of others. The process of recovery can be effective when a community bears witness to the suffering and provides a safe container for the person, group or culture to express and integrate their wounds without blame, shame or judgment.

In itself, the very experience of being seen and heard by someone who cares can be powerful and healing, especially for those whose very autonomy or sense of self has been repeatedly suppressed or silenced.

When a core part of our being or identity is cut off or denied natural expression (physically, emotionally, mentally, through language, ceremony, connection, etc.) pain can erupt from the imbalance. It can show itself through psycho-emotional instability, illness, addiction or dysfunctional interpersonal patterns that can spread like a social plague.