social justice

My hope is to create a series on Trauma Informed Care (TIC) in Action. Rather than wasting everyone’s time with a multitude of awareness campaigns that only serve to cater to those already aware of the issues. When I was in graduate school, TIC became a hot button issue/training opportunity. Hopefully this was sparked by the new wave of combat veterans and research on adverse childhood experiences. The hope of this series is to highlight people and projects contributing to real changes in trauma-informed care not necessarily where federal, state, and local money flow.

I didn’t fully confront my own medical trauma until graduate school, when out from the end of first semester I wrote a dark and honest performance piece called, “Gods and Monsters.” A piece that opens with, “As a child my teddy bear wasn’t allowed to have eyes.” Memorized, engraved somewhere in the lizard part of my brain. 

My talents in social services are my abilities to write, my high attention to detail/excellent memory, and my desire to advocate for others. As a writer, I write professionally/clinically as well as creatively. I write performance pieces or poems meant to be performed and I have been fortunate to be published by other change agents. Cathy Plourde formed Add Verb Productions (The Thin Line, Major Medical Breakthrough, You the Man, Out & Allied Project Volume I & II) and later Animal Mineral Press (Making Out Like a Virgin). Both ventures have focused on sharing the experiences of others in subjects meant to educate and respond to social justice issues most professionals will not or do not know how to approach. I prime example of taking action rather than wasting time and money on another awareness campaign. A feel-good project accessorized with brightly colored bracelets. Never mind the stigmas that victims and survivors carry with them and others are walking around with look-at-me bracelets.

Mistakenly, I thought social workers were a profession of trauma survivors, a field of flowers that was once a minefield, showing others how to plant the seeds of change. We aren’t even fully aware of the trauma we continue to inflict on others. I went to a TIC training hosted by Brown County by Disability Rights Wisconsin. It changed how I interacted with clients, especially those who are not able to verbalize their needs. Environmental psychology taught me that children who have experienced trauma have a larger personal space bubble. My bubble requires much more space than others I interact with on a daily basis. I am not a hugger, not even with family. “To hug me is to hold a collection of bones mummified for self-preservation.” Give people their space. Take some action and start planting the seeds of change rather than advertising the seed package.

Links associated with this post:

Addverbproductions.org
Animalmineralpress.com
Disabilityrightswi.org