Blog Post #10 Healing Centered Engagement Argument

The ways Healing Centered Engagement helps to overcome trauma.

In Shawn Grinwright’s Healing Centered Engagement, the argument is presented that Trauma-Informed Care (a form of trauma recovery that “encourages support and treatment to the whole person, rather than focusing on only treating individual symptoms or specific behaviors.”) is, despite its popularity in the modern day, a far more harmful method of trauma recovery than it is often credited for. 

Ginwright argues that Trauma-Informed Care fails to address the root of trauma, instead opting to focus on the aftermath of it, which leaves the opportunity for additional trauma or relapses from trauma wide open. Furthermore, Trauma-Informed Care can lead trauma survivors to victimize themselves and define themselves by their trauma, rather than grow from it. This is demonstrated in Ginwright’s recollection of a healing circle he led, wherein he attempted to lead participants through the steps of Trauma-Informed Care. During his explanation, he was stopped by a participant who told him that he was “more than what happened to him”.

Ginwright’s response to the weakness and failings of Trauma-Informed Care is Healing Centered Engagement, a new form of trauma recovery that “...views trauma not simply as an individual isolated experience, but rather highlights the ways in which trauma and healing are experienced collectively.” In other words, Healing Centered Engagement opts to focus on trauma survivor’s agency in the healing process, rather than how living with trauma will define them, and puts an emphasis on community, culture and self-identity as a means of developing your identity separate and overcoming of your trauma.

I find this approach to be very interesting, and would very much like to continue a discussion on it in class. I think the various benefits of Healing Centered Engagement are really cool, and I’d like to know if anyone who is comfortable sharing has any experience practicing it and how effective the method has been for them. I’ve been intrigued by what I’ve read about it, and intend to try practicing it in my own life.

Attached here is a hyperlink to an article on how to walk students through the steps of Healing Centered Engagement, and how to help them practice it in their daily lives.