The essence of trauma is that it is overwhelming, unbelievable, and unbearable. Trauma disrupts the ever-evolving construction of identity, resulting in the perpetual return of an event that refuses to be experienced as past; a ‘double wound,’ both the event and its enduring symptom. It is about loss of connection—to ourselves, to our bodies, to others, and to the world around us.

In transforming and releasing ourselves from trauma, we are confronted with our own fragility, but also our extraordinary resilience. Resilience is the product of agency: knowing that what we do can make a difference. Our capacity to destroy one another is matched by our capacity to heal one another. Language gives us the power to communicate our experiences, helping us to define what we know and find a common sense of meaning.