Christina كريستينا (Taylor's Version)’s Reviews > Aftershock: Confronting Trauma in a Violent World: A Guide for Activists and Their Allies > Status Update

“We all have to be at least as willing to change as we hope others will be.”

“Virtually all our human systems are organised around trauma.” - Sandra Bloom and Michael Reichert, Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsibility

“The healing power of any psychotherapeutic method depends on the dosage of its break with the dominant culture.” - Salvatore Maddi

[Section on sexual and domestic violence within activist organisations]

“It’s time to consider the possibility that the people who feel endangered are right. It may be your sense of safety that is illusory... what we all need to do is learn to live within danger without being overwhelmed by it; but we also must not tune it out so much that we fail to protect ourselves & each other. Only in this way will we be able to piece back together a world in which people & places are truly safe.”

“How can we create safe spaces in a world where none of us is truly safe? The best we can do is to establish places of refuge, sanctuaries where those who are endangered or damaged can let down their guards. That’s why I talk about sanctuary rather than safety, which is what most experts on the treatment of trauma say that survivors need.”

“We don’t get to choose whether or not traumatic events will damage our psychic infrastructure... Injured psyches may not be stable or safe and certainly can’t be trusted to get us where we need to go. Aftershocked activists who are loath to look after their own feelings for fear of selfishness may needs to be helped to see self-maintenance as a necessary chore rather than an act of self-indulgence.”

“Aftershock is real. If you’ve undergone a trauma that has altered your biochemistry or endured a series of traumatic events that have cumulatively altered the structure of your brain, ignoring the resulting distress won’t make the problem go away.”

“We cannot wish sway the effects of witnessing. Knowing things changes you. When you take in the reality of horror you previously only imagined or perhaps never even contemplated, you become a new person. No matter how hard you try to forget, you will never again be a person who doesn’t know those things.”

“Feelings are our friends because they help us survive. That means they shouldn’t be pushed away. When they get stuck or broken, we need to fix them rather than ignore them.”