Hosted by: New Zealand Psychological Association
Title: The Long Shadows of Historical Trauma: Unraveling the Intergenerational Impacts of Forced Displacement and Colonialism
Date & Time: Tuesday 10th June, 9am-12pm New Zealand time => Monday 9th June, 5pm-8pm US EDT
Duration: 3 hours
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Description:
The historical trauma of colonialism and forced displacement has intergenerational and transgenerational impact.
In her 3 hour workshop, Linda Thai will first ground us in a deeply humanistic and keenly clinical understanding of the intersection of trauma and grief. From there she will weave together stories and research to bring to light the intergenerational impact of forced migration, by bringing together the research around Adult Children of Holocaust Survivors, Adult Children of Alcoholics, Adult Children of Veterans with PTSD, and Historical Collective Trauma of Indigenous Americans.
Forty to fifty per cent of displaced populations are children.
The decontextualization of historical trauma over the course of time can lead to challenges in adulthood that are often easily overlooked - or even pathologized - by many mental health professionals.
This larger landscape of traumatic grief, traumatic loss, traumatic homesickness and the ambiguity of these unnameable, unmetabolized experiences has a transgenerational impact that needs to be named in order to be healed.
Completing the circle of grief for survivors (and the descendants of survivors) of displacement requires support in as they seek to learn, reclaim and mend disrupted storylines and songlines.
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Objectives:
· Lateralize the conceptualization of refugees beyond the UNHCR definition to encompass multiple trajectories of displacement.
· Differentiate between refugees and immigrants.
· Identify the main stages of a refugee journey.
· Explain intergenerational trauma to encompass the impact of forced migration, combined with acculturation and enculturation pressures, upon the next generation.
· Identify expressions of ambiguous grief, traumatic grief and traumatic homesickness.
· Identify how the decontextualization of historical trauma can result in the pathologizing and stereotyping of cultures, families and individuals.
· Identify the various expressions - emotionally, psychologically, and behaviorally - of unmetabolized grief, at the individual, family, cultural and societal levels.
· Identify ways to support someone who is seeking to learn the historical context of their family and peoples
· Identify the key features of Narrative Exposure Therapy that can be used for individuals who are seeking to interview family members and community members in order to archive their potentially traumatic stories and lived experiences
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