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Launching a New Peer Support Group

I'm feeling excited if not a little trepidatious. I'm launching a peer support group this month in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for adult identifying women who are interested in working together to recover from the lies we learned about ourselves and others as a result of childhood trauma.

Talking about trauma in my community usually receives a trauma response of resistance. And yet I interpret that as validation of the need for what I want to do:  to increase awareness and action towards addressing the pervasiveness of trauma in our society. 

I've spent the last 16 years recovering from the first 42. The bulk of my recovery involved learning about trauma and how it affected me. I started with Judith Herman's book Trauma and Recovery. That was my workbook. When my world first crumbled, no one in my community had any idea what I was dealing with. Fortunately I connected with people elsewhere who had experienced similar circumstances, and they referred me to Herman's work. Even though I used a psychiatrist and psychologist to help stabilize me during the early years, they still didn't have a clue what my real issues were. Fortunately I had Herman and my peers to give me guidance, validation and hope. 

I didn't even hear about ACEs until 2014, and they were absolutely the missing piece in my recovery. Since then I've been trying to muster up equivalent interest from others, to little avail. 

I've recently taken flight off the mountain and engaged deeply here at ACEs Connection. The validation and encouragement I have received have verified what I've long known, that I may be a lone voice in my immediate community, but I'm not alone in my vision. 

So I'm stepping forward again to invite others to join me on this journey towards reclaiming our individual and collective lives from the impairing childhoods we have perpetrated through our colonizing mindset. 

I'm hopeful that people will join me on this journey. Thank you for your moral support. I'll keep you posted how things go. 

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Thanks Summer, Karen, Leslie and Hilary for your encouragement.

Summer and Leslie, I wish you could join us.

Karen I will provide updates. 

Hilary thanks for the referral to your resources. I wasn't aware of your work so I will definitely check it out. 

Just to clarify a possible confusion, Judith Herman's book was the map I used to recover. I also devoured the teachings of as many others as I could access, to give myself my best chance for full recovery, and to make sure I left no internalized messaging unreviewed. 

As I share more about my experiences through this forum, I will share those additional resources. 

Thanks everyone for your support and interest. 

Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth. Your group sounds amazing and it inspired me to write to you. I hope what I am about to share is not too presumptuous, as my goal is to only be helpful and in no way should you feel any pressure to follow up. Here goes: I am an NYC-based trauma psychotherapist who specializes in a type of emotion-centered psychotherapy called AEDP. AEDP is grounded in attachment theory, trauma theory, emotion theory and the latest neuroscience of how people heal and transform. None of us get any education on emotions in our formal schooling and this truly is a crime.  It has become my passion to share what I learned in my AEDP trauma training with the general public because I know that education in emotions, learning to work with them and tend to emotions as they are felt in the body helps people feel better and recover from childhood trauma and adversity. After writing a blog on emotions for many years, in February, much to my delight, Random House published my book that introduces a tool to the public called The Change Triangle. There are all sorts of free resources on my website including an explanation of the Change Triangle. Because connecting with others is such a key part of trauma work, I believe peer groups like you are starting, can use the book as a guide and can "work the Change Triangle" together to move from symptoms and defensive ways of living in more calm, authentic and connected states. Between the clinical stories, exercises, and no jargon explanations, the book called "It's Not Always Depression: Working the Change Triangle to LIsten to the Body, Discover Core Emotions, and Connect to the Authentic Self" can be used as a workbook to move towards wellness after trauma. If I can be of any help or answer any questions, I'd be happy to talk. In the meantime, feel free to poke around on my website: https://www.hilaryjacobshendel.com to see if this might be a good addition to Judith Hermann's excellent book (which is also in the reference section of It's Not Always Depression.) 

If I have spoken out of turn, please forgive me. And best of luck in your peer group. I believe peer groups are the way of the future!

Warmly,

Hilary Jacobs Hendel, LCSW

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