On Thursday, May 19, 2011 at the Congregation Rodeph Shalom, over 100 clergy, leaders, laypersons, community leaders, and human services professionals from a myriad of faiths, religions, and denominations gathered at a place of Sanctuary to better understand and transform trauma.
Zones of Peace, the grassroots initiative of Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia, hosted its first trauma-informed workshop with the renown trauma expert, Dr. Sandra Bloom, and Dr. Ted Corbin to help Philadelphia’s faith-based leaders and community grasp how trauma affects humanity from a biological and public health standpoint.
The purpose of the training was to help the attendees to help others constructively address unresolved issues to prevent acts of physical, moral, social, and psychological violence. The visionary for this gathering Rabbi Nancy Epstein, Associate Professor at Drexel’s School of Public Health, wanted religious leaders to lead to transform. Rabbi Nancy admonished the attendees to embrace the realism that
"Our work in the community is love."
Dr. Corbin, Director of Healing Hurt People: A Violence Intervention, enlightened the attendees to view violence as a public health emergency. Dr. Bloom followed after him with shedding light on how the effects of childhood trauma cross the lifespan.
Attendees practiced the Jewish hevruta or the study sacred texts, expanded their understanding of trauma and violence, learned how trauma impacts brain development, was introduced to the Sanctuary model for their churches and organizations, networked with other religious leaders, and pledged to stop violence, among many other things.
Cara Curtis, a practicing Quaker has seen the effects of violence and trauma through her work as an advocate to help low-income single mothers to advocate for themselves. Cara stated that the women she works with are experiencing
"a crisis of confidence; in specific moments, they lack the confidence needed to appropriately respond to community leaders and legislators to advocate for changes that directly affect them."
As one attendee reflected on his overall take of the workshop, Stanley A. Mansfield, Th. M, youth ministry leader from the Blue Bell Korean Presbyterian Church, stated he was:
"Appreciating God for creating each of us and to find a point in relaxed contact to allow others to see the habitual sins in our lives and how it hurts others and how we can have hope and sanctification in God.”
Interestingly enough, Dr. Bloom challenged the attendees to think about what they are seeing in their families, workplaces, congregations, and neighborhoods and to think about the possibility of adversity as the underlying problem.
Dr. Bloom gave the attendees practical ways to transform trauma. She stated to:
- Reexamine basic assumptions and values
- Break down the barriers that isolate people
- Rebuild the process that involves conscious learning
- Reduce threat
- Increase safety and
- Recognize and honor personal limitations and vulnerabilities
"People need to heal and they can’t do it by themselves. We should not make the situation worse by being trauma-[uninformed]." --Dr. Sandra Bloom (Author's words in the brackets)
For more information about the Interfaith work in Philadelphia, contact Reverend Nicole Diroff, Director of Outreach and Innovations, at ndd@interfaithcenterpa.org.
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