1. Healing the Wounds of Trauma
Convening Session
(location)
(date)
(Customize these PowerPoint slides as needed for your Convening Session)
We’d like to orient you to the TH program today by giving you an overview of its history and structure, letting you experience a portion of the program, and giving you an opportunity to evaluate the trauma healing needs in your community.

2. “What can we do? Our people are acting strangely since the attacks!”
The beginning…
“What can we do? Our people are acting strangely since the attacks!”
2001, pastors in war zones
First, the history. As the 1990s drew to a close, more and more countries in Africa were experiencing war and civil unrest. Pastors came to us saying, “Our people are acting strangely since the attacks: we don’t know what to do!” So a small group of Wycliffe missionaries, mental health professionals and pastors from war zones met in Nairobi and worked on a response. What does the Bible offer people in times of prolonged, unjust suffering?

3. Global reach…and growing
100 countries, 4400 facilitators, 194 languages
This map shows how the program has now spread worldwide, either in healing groups or trainings.
The book we use has been translated—in whole or in part—into 194 languages

4.
A short video showing how one of American Bible Society’s board members has been impacted by the TH program. She has become a TH facilitator. (2:20 minutes)

5. “Trauma may be the biggest mission field in the world today.”
Dr. Diane Langberg
Clinical psychologist
American Assoc. of Christian Counselors Board Chair
Trauma Healing Institute Advisory Council Co-Chair
Why is the Bible Society backing this work?
Diane Langberg, co-chair of TH advisory council, explains. (read quote)
Dr. Langberg also writes, “A pastor may have the experience of speaking the truths of Scripture to a survivor, truths desperately needed, and yet finding that they seem to have no impact. They don’t go in.” (Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores)

6. What is trauma?
When we are overwhelmed with intense fear, helplessness, or horror in the face of death, serious injury, or any forced sexual activity.
Let’s define trauma (read definition)
Diagram shows that all trauma involves grief (mourning the loss of many things), but we can experience grief without trauma (as when a grandparent passes after being sick for a long time).
Trauma destroys relationship, voice, power, safety. It’s the felt experience of God’s absence.
Healing has to restore those things.

7. When someone experiences trauma, they may:
Relive the event
Avoid anything that reminds them of the event
Be on alert all the time
Trauma creates a barrier to:
God and Bible
Community
Self

8. The scale of trauma in U.S.
Someone is sexually assaulted every 107 sec. (RAINN)
Nearly 20 people/minute are physically abused by an intimate partner (Ntl Intimate Partner & Sexual Violence Survey, 2010)
1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18 (CDC)
Suicide is the leading cause of death in the U.S. (Am. Fdn. for Suicide Prevention)
The more marginalized, the more vulnerable to trauma
International statistics:
Women risk rape and domestic violence more than cancer, car accidents, war and malaria. (World Bank)
Every 4 seconds someone is forced to flee (UNHCR Mar 2015)
300,000 child soldiers (Council on Foreign Relations)
Every second, 1 person is displaced by disaster (IDMC)

9. Trauma knows no boundaries
All creation is groaning (Romans 8:18ff)
Trauma affects everyone, regardless of geography, social class, race, age, or gender

10. In this context, what is the Gospel?
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted… (Luke 4:18-19)
Greek word Sodzo (to save, to heal) is frequently used to express healing by Jesus or by God, so is very much a part of the good news of the gospel. 

11. Fusion of biblical & mental health principles
322 Bible passages
This trauma healing program fuses fundamental concepts from mental health and from the Word of God. Both are crucial in healing.

12. Testimony
(have someone who has participated in a TH healing group or training give a testimony)

13. Participatory session
(See handbook, and select appropriate sections for your time constraints)

14. Method: participatory, experiential
This diagram illustrates the process of healing in this program. (Explain steps of experience arc; see p. 7 in Handbook)
The method of instruction in this program is participatory and experiential. We use the insights of adult learning theory that people must participate in order to learn.
So, we use stories, exercises, reflection, role play, practice, application.

15. Healing the Wounds of Trauma
If God loves us, why do we suffer?
How can the wounds of our hearts be healed?
What happens when someone is grieving?
How can we help children who have experienced bad things?
How can we help someone who has been raped?
6A. Domestic abuse
6B. Suicide
6C. Addictions
7. Caring for the caregiver
8. Taking your pain to the cross
9. How can we forgive others?
10. How can we live as Christians in the midst of conflict?
Preparing for trouble
11A. Helping people immediately after a disaster
Table of Contents from our book.
You’ll notice that there are 5 chapters in bold font; these are the core lessons, that are always taught in every initial equipping and every healing group (lessons 1,2,3,8,9). Other chapters are covered according to the time available.

16. Classic TH
Story-based TH
Children’s TH
Audio TH
4 programs…

17. Accessible to all… Simple yet profound in content and vocabulary
Not graduate level trauma counseling training
Not to replace individual therapy
TH facilitators
Mental health professionals
We’ve created this program to be accessible to all people. It’s aimed at early middle school reading level – we want all to be able to participate, none to be shamed/embarrassed by not understanding. Simple vocabulary does not mean we’re dealing with simple issues. These are the deepest issues that all humans deal with.
Professional counselors in this room: how many people in your community can you serve? Too much need, so we’re trying to multiply the number of people who can help at a lay level.
Not grad level things about trauma; rather, how to train lay and ministry people in a new way (participatory) about faith and trauma; new ways of thinking about how to engage a larger dialogue that has benefits that individual therapy might not have.

18. Trauma Healing Alliance
Global partners that are embracing TH as an integral part of their ministry.

19. Training in three steps
Initial Equipping
Practicum
(lead 2 healing groups)
Advanced Equipping
Three steps of training
1. Initial: Experience the healing of our own wounds, be trained to help others with their wounds
2. Practicum: put in practice what you’ve learned, by leading 2 healing groups through the same lessons you’ve studied
3. Advanced: return to debrief your experience leading the healing groups and get trained at a deeper level

20. Four-step program model
CONVENING
EQUIPPING
HEALING
COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
Convening/ Awareness: give top leaders a bit of TH materials, like appetizer, then overview of program model, then time to map out trauma in their area/country, decide if they would like to integrate TH into their ministry. If yes, they can designate people to be trained and provide a good environment for them to carry out TH ministry.
Equipping: training people who want to become TH facilitators who can then go to lead healing groups where they help others. Or train other facilitators. The training is experiential and many find they themselves are carrying pain that needs healing.
Healing: Groups of 6-12 who meet to go through the lessons and find healing. (Some may then want to become facilitators and follow the equipping process.)
Community of Practice: an ongoing network of facilitators, mental health professionals and leaders/administrators to continue to share challenges & successes, find ways to better respond to the trauma in the area, complement one another’s ministries, find encouragement, and increase their skills in Trauma Healing.

21. Break

22. Assessing the need Map activity: mark your church, then list:
Type of trauma (i.e., violence, sexual abuse, disasters, suicide, etc.)
Who is most affected (i.e., men, women, children, elderly, everyone)
Organizations/ministries already responding
Is there a need for a trauma healing program?
(group the participants by geography and provide a map and markers to each group; and have them work through the questions). When finished, get large group feedback and question/answer)

23. Organizational response
(group participants according to their organization/church, distribute Organizational response form, and allow time to discuss and complete)

24. Upcoming Initial Equippings
Jan. 5-8, Dallas Feb. 1-3, Grand Rapids Apr. 3-7, Charlotte May, Philadelphia (dates TBD)
(customize according to upcoming trainings)

25. Who should attend? Fluent in English.
Able to attend all of the sessions.
At least 18 years old.
Committed to help trauma survivors and able to dedicate ~2 weeks per year to trauma healing.
Able to teach others, manage own wellbeing, work on a team, learn to lead groups in a participatory way
Ideally, teams of two, of both genders, from an organization.        

26. Question and Answer
Google search: “mission trauma healing” (ministry.americanbible.org/mission-trauma-healing)