Trauma Informed Care Trainings in Nepal

One of the foundational beliefs of our work is that healing is a practice that brings about a ripple effect - from the individual, to the interpersonal, to the collective, to the systemic, to the world. While we understand that this isn’t a process that happens in a linear way, and that healing alone won’t bring about systemic change, we get to see in our work every day the ways this ripple moves through the communities we work with and are a part of. When we heal ourselves, we heal each other. We use the salves that have tended to our wounds to tend to the wounds of others.

Our team in Nepal over the last several months has had the opportunity to observe first hand the ripple effect that healing can create in action. After receiving a call from the Diktel Municipality in Khotang, they set out on a mission to bring trauma awareness and healing to support the community in preventing suicides.

What began as one workshop for community health volunteers in the spring, became a summer series that included workshops for those female community health volunteers, as well as workshops for school principals and municipality leaders. Among the workshop participants was the mayor of the municipality, whose support of the workshops encouraged many others to join. These workshops supported more than 90 people to understand and heal their trauma and become community advocates for healing. We hope the knowledge and skills shared will strengthen participants' ability to identify trauma, respond with understanding and compassion, support those affected, and contribute to building environments that promote safety, resilience, and healing.