When addressing a girl’s trauma, it is important we consider who she is in her entirety. I remember hoping that therapy would “fix” my daughter. I longed for her to return to that adolescent girl with typical adolescent girl problems. She met with a therapist and attended programs that required her to retell her story over and over again. One day, she was over it. She expressed, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” She wasn’t engaged or invested in her own healing process. It was evident that we needed to try a different approach. We recognized that trauma-informed care wasn’t enough; we needed a more holistic approach.
During our healing journey, I found some hope in an article entitled “The Future of Healing: Shifting From Trauma Informed Care to Healing Centered Engagement. ” As an Associate Professor of Education and African American Studies at San Francisco State University, author Dr. Shawn Ginwright shares the differences between a “trauma-informed” approach and a “healing-centered engagement.” In his book, Hope and Healing in Urban Education: How Activists are Reclaiming Matters of the Heart, Ginwright explains:
“A healing-centered approach to addressing trauma requires a different question that moves beyond ‘what happened to you’ to ‘what’s right with you’ and views those exposed to trauma as agents in the creation of their own well-being rather than victims of traumatic events. Additionally, healing centered engagement offers an asset driven approach aimed at the holistic restoration of young peoples’ well-being.”
The article immediately resonated with me. I heard my daughter’s voice while I was reading it. She was basically saying, “There’s so much more to me than the abuse. The rest of me needs nurturing too”.
The Kerengende model reflects the teachings of Ginwright through this healing-centered engagement philosophy. Sexual abuse often isolates the abused and doesn’t consider the influence of community. We strive to incorporate a collective effort to heal and prevent sexual abuse for young girls. While this is prioritized, we do not negate the need of trauma support for the families. The family’s wellness is imperative to ensure that they have the capacity to support the survivor while acknowledging their own healing needs. At the Kerengende Foundation, we have extensive resources for families who want to take control of their lives and secure treatment to thrive.