The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing, and Social Justice by Staci Haines
Staci Haines . Unknown Year . English
An essential tool for healers, therapists, activists, and trauma survivors who are interested in a justice-centered approach to somatic transformation The Politics of Trauma offers somatics with a social analysis. This book is for therapists and social activists who understand that trauma healing is not just for individuals—and that social change is not just for movement builders. Just as health practitioners need to consider the societal factors underlying trauma, so too must activists understand the physical and mental impacts of trauma on their own lives and the lives of the communities with whom they organize. Trauma healing and social change are, at their best, interdependent. Somatics has proven to be particularly effective in addressing trauma, but in practice it typically focuses solely on the individual, failing to integrate the social conditions that create trauma in the first place. Staci K. Haines, somatic innovator and cofounder of generative somatics, invites readers to look beyond individual experiences of body and mind to examine the social, political, and economic roots of trauma—including racism, environmental degradation, sexism, and poverty. Haines helps readers identify, understand, and address these sources of trauma to help us bridge individual healing with social transformation.
Categories: Politics & Society
About the Author
Staci K. Haines is a national leader in the field of Somatics, specializing in healing individual and systemic trauma and bringing somatics to social justice movements. She is a senior teacher at Strozzi Institute and a Master Somatic Coach. She is a co-founder of generation FIVE, a national organization whose mission is to end the sexual abuse of children within 5 generations, transitioning from Director to the board in 2007. She has been organizing and educating in the area of child sexual abuse since 1985 and has long term involvement in the sexual assault, racial justice, and environmental sustainability movements and the work to intersect these agendas. She is the author of the book Healing Sex (Cleis 1999, 2007), and the DVD Healing Sex (SIR Productions 2005) both offering a mind/body approach to healing from sexual trauma and developing vital intimate relationships. She recently co-authored chapters in The Courage to Heal 20th year anniversary edition (Harper Collins 2008). She is the originator of Somatics and Trauma and leads courses teaching community activists, social justice leaders, and healing practitioners to mend the impact of individual and systemic trauma. In 2009, Staci and a core group of movement leaders launched the Somatics and Social Justice Collaborative, a year long process to develop a change model integrating personal and social transformation, and informed by somatics. Staci is committed to the intersection of personal healing and social justice work, and sees that both have to be addressed to bring the change and justice we desire in the world.
