Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 11, 1 November 2013 — Transforming trauma to restore the heahh of our community [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Transforming trauma to restore the heahh of our community

j LEO 'ELELE ^ > TRUSTEE MESSSAGES /

Trustee 's note: Mahalo nui to Dr. Wendy Wood of The Karuna Projectfor her eontribution to this eolumn. OnOct. 6, Iattended a trauma literacy workshop in Hilo by The Karuna Project and was totally hlown away. As a former probation officer, I have never been able to get a full and complete explanation

Rūbert K. Lindsey, Jr. Trustee, Hawai'i

trauma literacy and trau-ma-informed practices among those who work with affected populations. They provide essential research-based education for the recognition and management of existing signs of trauma and provide awareness and tools for applied best and promising practices, as well as culturally relevant practices, of self-

as to why, as a people, we are off the charts on negative vital statistics. For the first time ever, I got the answer, and those of us who attended that session were told it is not all "gloom and doom"; that there is hope and that healing is possible. Thus in the midst of all the seismic changes that have impacted our archipelago, I am dedicating my next four columns to The Kamna Project to bring us nū 'oh, goodnews. Catastrophic events have always been a part of the human experience. Whether they are natural, man-made or both, whether distinct events or pervasive and persistent, they overwhehn our ability to protect ourselves and stay safe. Trauma is what happens when our normal responses to abnormal experience create lasting changes in our lives and in how we function. Trauma affects individuals, conununities and systems directly and indirectly, generating obstacles and sometunes resulting in systems that hann instead of help both the providers and those they serve. Increasingly, we are learning to recognize and understand the ways in whieh trauma affects conununities and is carried through generations. The Karuna Project is a cohaboration of mental heahh professionals, facilitators, mind-body practitioners, mediators, leaders and scholars who feel passionate about the need to develop awareness of the effects of trauma within conununities and systems. They also recognize the impact trauma has on global peaee, reconciliation efforts, social and occupational justice. The Karuna Project's multidisciplinary team of specialists is responding to the urgent need for

care regarding vicarious or secondary trauma among workers. For affectedpopulations, they assist in the development of individualized, culturally appropriate modalities through a collaborative approach to trauma education, facilitation and healing. Their holistic and integrated approach to capacity building, systems change and relational healing includes understanding the neurobiology of trauma; mind-body and somatic practices; trauma-informed conflict resolution and mediation; and integration of effective trauma-infonned strategies. They have guided critical initiatives to bring about change. This group of dedicated and highly experienced individuals has worked both locally and internationally to address sources of suffering that may appear insurmountable, always guided by the principle of "Do No Hann." The Karuna Project has family roots in Hawai'i and for many years has asked some of the same questions we have been asking ourselves. How do we make meaning of our experiences in light of our history? How do we make meaning of the fact that we are "No. 1" in so many areas that eoneein us? How ean we understand and transform our trauma, restore our innate resilience and ensure our children ean thrive and participate in the future they deserve? We have the opportunity to transfonn our eollective trauma, restore the heahh of our conununity, find some eommon ground and heeome a model for what the Karuna team calls "mindful engagement," while remembering "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." ■