Wars and violent conflict occur in many places throughout the world. Also, torture occurs more often and in more places than ordinary people might assume. Experiencing any of these can traumatize a person, so a great many persons around the world have been traumatized by torture, war, or violent conflicts.
What do traumatized persons need in order to recover?
How can we support practitioners who are providing treatment for this trauma?
The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s February 2013 TV program explores these concerns. Our two guests have worked extensively in this field:
• John Van Eenwyk is an Episcopal priest and a Ph.D. clinical psychologist. He founded the International Trauma Treatment Program (ITTP), which is based in Olympia WA, and has long served as ITTP’s Clinical Director.
• Ayman Nijim is a mental health practitioner from Gaza, Palestine, where he focuses especially on helping children who have been traumatized by the extreme and persistent violence that Palestinians have been suffering for many years. He visited the U.S. for the first time in 2012 to take two months of further training with ITTP in Olympia.
Our interview discusses the extent and dynamics of wars and other violent conflicts that cause trauma, how traumatized people suffer, and what they need for recovery.
We appreciate the work of the International Trauma Treatment Program, which is based in Olympia and does amazingly high quality work here and on other parts of the world. Please visit www.ittp.org and support their work.
We also provide an overview of the realities in Gaza, the trauma suffered by Gaza’s traumatized children, and ways to help traumatized children recover.
