THE BUZZ
Discovering Your Own Unique Self Can Storytelling Heal the World?
are being separated from their families, racial inequities continue to be ignored, the LGBTQ community is targeted, and places of worship are threatened. It is vitally important we have local and national conversations to repair, restore, and heal, so we can honor the dignity of ALL humanity and address the critical issues of our climate and Earth.
W
Whether one works in schools, communities, hospitals, hospice, social services, law enforcement, environmental activism, or the arts; learning how to mediate these commu- nity concerns, create connection, heal deep wounds, and find a path to forgiveness is done through the process of narrative healing. This is the heart of my work with storytelling, writing, journaling and dialogue.
Narrative healing provides a safe space for those suffering, silenced, shamed, or afraid, to find a way to free the story within them, to understand the root of their pain, to awaken others to what they’ve experienced, and to discover ways of addressing their trauma, isolation, fear, and pain so they can then move toward healing, care, connection, and compassion.
If you examine the narrative design of great classics, as well as
contemporary award-winning novels, memoirs, and narrative non- fiction writing, you realize most of the stories are about the journey from brokenness to wholeness. This story process often begins by uncovering what’s hidden, then writing toward the wound, and finally discovering the way toward restoration and individual and collective transformation. To lead students and community mem- bers to this place of deep story sharing and personal and communal revelation is the objective of my narrative healing work. It is also a skill that students in the WOT program acquire both as storytellers and writers. I believe storytelling can help heal the world.
Lisa Worth Huber, Ph.D., is the Academic Director of the Writing and Oral Traditions program at The Graduate Institute in Bethany, CT. She is a specialist in community peace-building and conflict transformation and has worked in diverse settings as a consultant, facilitator, peace and social justice educator. She is also a teach- ing artist with a passion for storytelling, fiction writing, poetry and spoken word.
www.learn.edu. See ad on page 22.
e are at a time in our fractured country where com- munities are suffering, women are coming forward bravely telling their stories of sexual abuse, children
t was like an earthquake,” remembers Donna Berman of the Hartford Family Institute’s Human Relations Program (HRP). “Many long-held things I thought about myself got shaken to the ground. I felt liberated.” Berman, who spent just over 20 years as a student and is now the Program’s Director, acknowledges that it changed her life. “HRP is a complement to individual therapy,” she explains. “The program enables people and gives them the tools to get in touch with and take responsibility for their whole selves, the light and the shadow, and to experience what it feels like to have acceptance for all of who we are.”
I HRP uses the somatic wisdom of body-centered Gestalt
therapy, to help people understand and have compassion for themselves and, as a result, others. “The program is about teaching techniques to go inside, to make room for our feelings. Ultimately this is the only way to find true peace,” Berman says.
The HRP format begins with a kick-off weekend, which will be held September 26 and 27 this year. Classes meet, from then on, every Wednesday for 27 weeks, starting at 5:30 pm with a lecture from one of Hartford Family Institute’s partners. After the lecture, there is a 30-minute break and then people meet in their small group of 8 to 10 people for 90 minutes of discussion, thera- py and mindfulness exercises. Both an entirely virtual and hybrid in person/virtual format are available. “HRP is a rare opportunity to enrich your life, make deep connections with yourself and with others, to flourish and to blossom into the fullness of your own unique self,” Berman added.
To learn more about the Human Relations Training Program and to register for a free introductory session on September 9 at 7 PM, visit
www.hartfordfamilyinstitute.com/hrp. See ad on page 3.
www.NaturalNutmeg.com
7
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
