June 30, 2023
Renowned peacebuilders like Barry Hart, John Paul Lederach, and Louise Diamond sounded the call for raising trauma-awareness and trauma-informed peacebuilding in the 1990s. In his book Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies (1997) John Paul Lederach wrote:
Trauma and violence represent a critical impediment to the building of sustainable peace. For if we do not attend to the wounds of the past, if we do not acknowledge the pain and suffering that have been experienced, then the seeds of future violence will remain firmly planted in the soil of the present.
Numerous neurobiological research study results have bolstered the notion that trauma affects the brain in detrimental ways, hindering individuals and entire communities from peaceful co-existence. In a nutshell, trauma-informed peacebuilding underscores the importance of awareness of trauma, its causes, indicators, impacts, and the skills to provide safety, support healing, restore social connection, and ultimately reduce chances of future violence. For a clear and thorough overview of history of trauma studies, causes and symptoms of trauma, and evolution of trauma-informed peacebuilding, read Craig Zelizer’s article “Trauma-Sensitive Peacebuilding: Lessons for Theory and Practice” (2009). Nowadays, many peacebuilders are not just familiar with, but adept at, applying tools related to the concept of trauma-informed peacebuilding to their work.
From its beginnings as a peacebuilding organization in 2007, Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI) has accentuated the value of awareness regarding the neurobiology of conflict and impact of trauma on participants and practitioners. Trauma awareness and trauma-informed approaches have been woven into the design and implementation of projects MBBI has conducted in countries such as Liberia, Kenya, and Colombia. A full Trauma-Informed Peacebuilding (TIP) curriculum has been developed that includes training and coaching practitioners on being trauma-informed in their work. The TIP program has been conducted for development organizations as well as peacebuilders. All of MBBI’s International Peace Training Institute (IPTI) programs, which aim to develop cohorts around the globe whose members are knowledgeable and skilled at actively addressing conflict transformation on the local, national, and international levels, include sessions on trauma-informed peacebuilding.
In its first project in Liberia, MBBI worked with rural women to increase skills for responding to conflict and rebuilding trust within their communities. This project included a series of training sessions to improve the understanding of trauma, its effects on conflict, and techniques and strategies for offering nurturing and supportive responses.
In Kenya, MBBI’s team partnered with numerous ethnic groups to transform a protracted resource-based and ethnic-oriented conflict among pastoralist communities. A participatory action research project was designed to gain a more complete and accurate understanding of the conflict dynamics as well as discover factors critical to mission success. MBBI assisted researchers to compose trauma-informed interview questions.
MBBI was invited by a group in South Sudan to help support healing in their communities after violent conflict that had erupted shortly after its independence. Working with local partners, MBBI created a TIP program to address and begin mending psychological wounds afflicting the nascent nation.
At its Baltimore Congress in 2012, MBBI for the first time presented on conflict and trauma. The topic resonated strongly with the audience, many of whom had been largely unaware of the way the brain responds in conflict situations and the long- term effects of conflict on the brain. Presentations on the topic multiplied at subsequent Congresses. A half-day training session focused on Trauma-Informed Peacebuilding is in the works for the upcoming November 2023 Congress in Nairobi, Kenya. Currently, there are a dozen MBBI members who are experts in leading trauma-informed peacebuilding workshops and longer programs, and as more former participants polish their knowledge and skills, the organization’s capacity to design and deliver TIP programs is becoming more robust.
MBBI also realized the great need to further peacebuilding efforts and trauma awareness and therefore extended its reach by designing and adding the online “Trauma-Informed Peacebuilding” course to its Global Peacebuilding Training Institute. This course is available to anyone wishing to learn about the topic.
The most recent Trauma-Informed Peacebuilding program took place in partnership with the National Association of Mediators of Ukraine (NAMU) in the fall of 2022. The audience comprised 30 Ukrainian mediators and facilitators, 23 of whom were living in Ukraine. Two expert trainer facilitators from the US joined with three Ukrainian counterparts to customize MBBI’s program on trauma-informed peacebuilding. The aim was to provide the pilot group of Ukrainian ADR professionals with knowledge to recognize effects of trauma in affected parties and skills to safely navigate the impacts during mediation and facilitation. The program included three training sessions with discussions and exercises based on weekly videos and reflection questions. The training component was followed by three coaching sessions which included case study analysis and discussion, peer support, and opportunities to talk through questions and challenges participants came up against as they integrated the new knowledge into their mediation and facilitation work.
Unlike past TIP programs that had been conducted in-person or via hybrid methods, this TIP training was presented fully online, which posed particular challenges. Conducting training on sensitive topics requires careful design and planning. Delivering such training online adds certain complexities, from tech issues that impeded some participants’ ability to connect or to have timely access to the learning materials, to trainer facilitators’ impaired ability to “read the room” as faces moved from one zoom screen to another, cameras were turned off, and body language was nearly invisible.
Since many of the participants were not English speakers, simultaneous translation was provided (by USAID). This was time-efficient and enabled smoother and uninterrupted communication. But the system at times broke down and translators could not be heard or could not hear individuals speaking. Further, and as is often the case when formulating ideas expressed in one language into another language, particularly regarding feelings and emotions, there were times that ideas were “lost in translation.”
Never before had MBBI administered a training/coaching program amidst a live war; a formidable challenge, indeed. Though attendance at the first three training sessions averaged 23 (out of 30 possible), a marked downturn occurred at the first coaching session and the lower numbers persisted through the end of the program. A renewed and widespread Russian offensive began between the training and coaching portion of the program. The increased aggression was accompanied by daily rolling electricity blackouts which disrupted internet connectivity. In the weeks following, these challenges took a serious toll on participants. As one of the Ukrainian trainer facilitators later explained, ”(The decline in attendance) was a cumulative effect of bombing/tiredness to wait/look for electricity in time of blackouts. Another reason for the couple of people was that other important activities have appeared in their life unexpectedly (like moving back to Ukraine) that didn't allow them to continue the program.” It is important to note that, despite the hardships, 13 participants were able to join the last session.
Aggressions, rolling electricity blackouts, displacement, and myriad other disruptions taking place during the program meant that the participants were themselves experiencing ongoing trauma. The principle of doing no harm was continually salient to those involved in running the program. With regard to instruction and exercises, attention to effects of trauma and self-reflection on participants’ own experiences, feelings, and behaviors had to be handled with utmost care. MBBI’s and NAMU’s trainer facilitators found themselves re-evaluating the amount of material presented and using all their expertise to sensitively, cautiously guide learning.
Reflection and debriefing after live zoom sessions for the facilitator trainers and support staff became an important part of the program as secondary trauma began to take its toll. Moments of being rendered speechless by an individual’s story and blindsided by grief and anger needed to be acknowledged and processed. Just as trainer facilitators made safe space for participants to express and feel what needed to be said and felt, so the team members did their best to help one another through experiences of secondary trauma after the training sessions.
At the end of nearly a 13-week journey which covered topics such as basics about trauma and its signs and impacts, self-care, understanding causes behind one’s own and others’ response(s) to trauma, intergenerational trauma, and learning about ways to break cycles of violence, 21 out of the 30 initially accepted participants successfully completed the program.
An end-of-program evaluation captured some of the changes participants observed in themselves and their work as mediators and facilitators over the span of the 13 weeks. Although some had entered the program already familiar with the concept of trauma, the majority reported some to a lot of increase in knowledge of various related topics. Regarding a question about the level of integration between the knowledge gained from the training and their work, it was heartening to see that a majority of respondents felt that at least some integration had taken place. Among the comments received were:
- “I have a better understanding of how trauma affects people’s behavior.”
- “I realize the need to work through my own trauma to be effective in dialogue with others.”
- “It was important for me to get basic knowledge and skills in working with trauma and I got not just knowledge, but also practice of using tools.”
- “I have used in work during this course - grounding, breathing exercises, paid attention to manifestations of trauma (for example, cyclicity), used some tools, for example, focusing on meeting goals.”
The joint MBBI-NAMU team took away a host of lessons from this intense program. One pertains to the post-session debriefs for the team – in future iterations of the program, these debriefing sessions should be considered during the initial design phase, incorporating them into the schedule and into the budget. Another lesson relates to working with multiple languages – particularly when working with sensitive topics, such as trauma, the challenge of operating in multiple languages increases. Even participants who were fluent English speakers hesitated in expressing their deeper thoughts and feelings in a second language. Thus, recognizing and minimizing the stress resulting from moving between languages is critical. A third lesson has to do with balancing time spent on concepts and practice. The training sessions revolved around understanding of concepts and engaging in self-reflection which, from the point of view of the trainer-facilitators, is foundational to TIP. A number of participants were eager to move quickly to the practical, commenting that not enough time was spent demonstrating tools they could use. One approach could be placing more emphasis on the connection between tools they already had and their growing awareness of trauma. Another could be being more explicit about the “tools” and techniques practitioners may apply in their work.
In April 2023, four months after the program finished, three of the five facilitator trainers met together to reflect on the program. The link below the article (and here) will take you to a 28-minute video that captures their frank and thoughtful conversation and offers a window into what it was like to organize and deliver the training. Hear them talk about their expectations vs the realities of the program; the balancing that was necessary for instance, between being supportive, sensitive, and patient while aiming to deliver a robust curriculum. They discuss unique challenges of running sessions during a live war and for experienced professionals who themselves share trauma with those they serve. They also touch on some of the strengths and weaknesses of the program structure, dilemmas faced, and lessons learned.
Approaches and tools related to trauma-informed peacebuilding will continue to evolve and will no doubt remain in demand as conflicts around the world expose long-standing divisions within societies. MBBI plans to continue learning, developing its TIP program, and providing the expertise of its members wherever needed. This dedication extends beyond partnering with mediators and facilitators, as we actively seek engagement around trauma-informed peacebuilding with a diverse range of peacebuilding professionals, including humanitarian workers, first responders, police personnel, youth, and others, wherever opportunities to contribute arise.
Click HERE to go to the “TIP Conversation”
The three trainer facilitators in the conversation:
(MBBI) Mary Jo Harwood, LSW, DNCCM has spent over 30 years addressing the impacts of unrecognized and unresolved trauma on communities and individuals experiencing prolonged violence. Her experience with incidents of mass casualty and sexual assault survivors provides the expertise necessary to remove trauma as a barrier to sustainable peace and social cohesion. A member of MBBI since 2007, Mary Jo was instrumental in creating MBBI’s Trauma-Informed Peacebuilding Program.
(Ukraine) Iryna Eihelson, PhD in Psychology, researcher, trainer, dialogue facilitator has over 20 years of experience in prevention, reconciliation, and transformation of identity-based conflicts. Since 2015 she has been facilitating dialogues with the support of OSCE Project Coordinator on the issues of decentralization, amalgamated communities, conflicts in media community, language issues in education with the representatives of national minorities, memory conflicts, migration and integration of internally displaced people, and Russian-Ukrainian relations.
(MBBI) Martin Scott, MS in Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding, practiced landscape architecture for 20 years before becoming a professional mediator and international trainer – using his design skills to co-create systems to connect humanity through social entrepreneurship, sustainability, and peacebuilding. Martin is a former Director at the National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM), a Rotary International Peace Fellow, and an Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) Global Ambassador.
