Lesson Four: Breaking free from trauma and moral injury
Objective:
To learn more about the
challenges and strategies for finding resilience after experiencing trauma or
moral injury in war.
Opening
exercise: Bring to
class an obviously wilted plant. Invite class members to describe what is wrong
and what it is that the plant needs. Water the plant and watch it throughout
the rest of the class to see if it begins to perk up and thrive. Note that in
the case of this plant, the water deprivation that it suffered had caused it
trauma … but it still had the capacity to recover.
Beside this plant, set a second
plant that is clearly dead. Invite people to comment on what this plant needs.
Water the plant and watch it throughout the class. Note that the trauma this
plant experienced destroyed its capacity to recover.
No analogies are perfect … but
we have a human tendency to “blame the victims” of trauma for their own trauma,
rather than focusing on the conditions that have created the trauma.
