I think the major difference between a social justice and white/colonial lens on trauma is the assumption that trauma recovery is the reclamation of safety – that safety is a resource that is simply ‘out there’ for the taking and all we need to do is work hard enough at therapy […] Colonial psychology and psychiatry reveal their allegiance to the status quo in their approach to trauma: That resourcing must come from within oneself rather than from the collective. That trauma recovery is feeling safe in society, when in fact society is the source of trauma […] But the bodies of the oppressed are rightly interpreting danger […] We are not, in the end, preparing the body to ‘return’ to the general safety of society (this would be gaslighting). We are preparing the body, essentially for struggle – training for better survival & the ability to experience joy in the midst of great danger. In the cauldron of social justice healing praxis, we must aim for relationality that has the potential to generate social change, to generate insurrection. We must be prepared to challenge norms. Acknowledge danger. Embrace struggle.
Take risks.