Until we look back and learn from our history, we can't help repeating the same mistakes.
Transformational changes come from understanding the root of who you are and where you came from.
Rarely any of us have lived a trauma-free life. Yet only a few people learned how to handle trauma consciously. Without acknowledging the existence of the trauma and bringing awareness to it, it remains dominant in our lives.
I have witnessed and experienced that trauma always tries to repeat itself until we look at it and examine it closely.
Until we shine the light into the darkness, the darkness continues to haunt us and drag us for attention.
To heal the society is to heal the Collective Trauma and Trans-generational Trauma.
Above are a few of my thoughts from observing the cause and effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in the perspective of trauma, history, and psychotherapy.
What is your experience with trauma's impact on our lives? Leave a comment below.
Recommended Reading:
1. The research paper, Collective Trauma and the Social Construction of Meaning, "systematically delineates the process that begins with collective trauma, transforms into collective memory, and culminates in a system of meaning that allows groups to redefine who they are and where they are going." It gives insights on how perpetrators and victims deriving meaning from trauma and moving forward with the new meaning and identity.
2. Drawing on research on the transgenerational transmission of collective trauma and leader values, the research paper, Collective Traumas and the Development of Leader Values: A Currently Omitted, but Increasingly Urgent, Research Area, shows "how collective trauma resides in (1) cultural rituals and artifacts, (2) community events and commemorations, and (3) family narratives is transmitted to leader descendants through at least three channels: social learning, social identity, and psychodynamics. We also offer propositions that recommend ways in which the transmission of these repositories can shape certain leader values that guide leader behaviors."
