Healing Trauma

Posted by on May 23, 2023 in Blog | 0 comments

Healing trauma is a complicated venture. A holistic approach is the most hopeful way to have a deep and sustained healing.

Years ago, I worked in a community veterans center primarily with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, but also with some Vietnam and even won Korean veterans. I was one of the very few women. Working with these men, and a few women, I was one of the very few people, not a veteran. It’s hard to say how much of their trauma was due to the ugliness of war, the horror of discovering what humans can do to other humans, or their sense of being betrayed. Many of them joined the military and hoped to be true patriots, doing something noble for a cause. For most, they did not fulfill the dream of becoming a shared warrior and fell into the abyss of meaninglessness.

Meaninglessness hurts and drains the soul.

Healing trauma requires the return of meaning. Some people with deep trauma, including veterans, have found powerful connections with animals, wolves, dogs, and horses. In the presence of these creature-allys, they found acceptance, camaraderie, and comfort. Animals read people well sometimes better than humans. We can learn from them. Animals don’t care about people’s history.  They care about you are in this moment. And, of course, animals and we are part of nature. A deep connection to nature is powerfully healing because nature is truly our home.

And working with veterans, I also learned how badly we are in dire need of more of the feminine in the world. These men and some women were immersed such a hyper-masculine universe, and they longed for tenderness, kindness, sensitivity, and vulnerability. And when they could not find these qualities in themselves, they sought those qualities in the feminine.

Of course, the Earth is aligned with the feminine. She is demeaned and exploited as are women. But inevitably, the Earth is our great sustainer and provider. Empowerment and respect for the feminine, nature,  and women is necessary to global and personal healing. We all need the nurturance, generosity, and comfort of the feminine in our lives, all of us, men, women, and every gender.