From Collective Trauma to Transformation

This final session in the series “From Collective Trauma to Transformation”, co-hosted by Giffords, guides participants in steps towards action. It features a conversation between gang violence interrupter Paul Carrillo and psychotherapist Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, author of Wounds Into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma. Each will share their own narratives to demonstrate how trauma residue passes from generation to generation and how it can be transformed through acts of service, advocacy, and activism. Small breakout room sessions guided by the following prompts:

Can you share any insights about yourself resulting from the collective grief or trauma you're experiencing? Can you name at least one new opportunity or see one new pathway that has cleared?

What can you do to regulate these difficult emotions? What are some examples of mindfulness practices?

What acts of service, advocacy, or activism might help you move through collective trauma?

Paul Carrillo

Paul Carrillo is the vice president of Giffords Center for Violence Intervention. He was raised in Southeast Los Angeles in an environment with gangs, drugs, and gun violence. In 2001, he began his career as a volunteer for a hospital-based violence intervention program, and in 2005 he co-founded Southern California Crossroads, a nonprofit organization that provides violence prevention and intervention services throughout the greater Los Angeles region.

In 2012, Paul co-founded the national Gang Violence Prevention and Intervention Conference, which brought over 800 practitioners in the field of community violence together to share best practice approaches to violence. In addition, Paul has also worked as a consultant on community violence in a number of places around the world, including Guatemala, London, the Dominican Republic, Ireland, Tunisia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and El Salvador.

Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, Ph.D.

Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, PhD, is an author, Jungian psychotherapist, and spiritual leader in the international Jewish Renewal Movement, and a renowned Jewish scholar and teacher. She was ordained by Reb Zalman in 1992 and is widely known for her groundbreaking work on Kabbalah, depth psychology, intergenerational trauma healing, and the re-integration of the feminine wisdom tradition within Judaism. Rabbi Tirzah lectures and teaches nationally about spiritual and ancient wisdom practices that are honed to assist us at this critical time in world history. Her latest work, Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma (Monkfish, 2019) is the recipient of the 2020 Nautilus Book Award Gold in Psychology and the Jewish Women's Caucus of the Association for Women in Psychology 2020 book award. www.tirzahfirestone.com | @tirzahfire

About Reimagine and “From Collective Trauma to Transformation” Series

Reimagine is a nonprofit organization catalyzing a uniquely powerful community–people of different backgrounds, ages, races, and faiths (and no faith) coming together in the hopes of healing ourselves and the world. We specifically support each other in facing adversity, loss, and mortality and–at our own pace– actively channeling life's biggest challenges into meaningful action and growth. www.letsreimagine.org

Through a relentless 24/7 news cycle, we are inundated and often left overwhelmed by harrowing collective traumas taking place across the globe: mass shootings, the pandemic, environmental injustice, racism, war, natural disasters, and so on. And all too often, many of us experience these traumas directly. What’s more, these events can also stir up transgenerational or ancestral pain stemming from historical events such as U.S. slavery, the Trail of Tears, the Holocaust, and 9/11. There is simply so much suffering in the world. So how do we cope with it all and resist emotional numbing? And perhaps more provocatively, how might we integrate these experiences into our lives in healthy ways? What can they teach us about ourselves and each other so that we might create a better present and future? In this three-part series, we’ll understand what seemingly disparate collective traumas have in common. And through the stories of mental health professionals, activists, and survivors, we’ll explore how creative expression, acts of service, and various forms of spirituality can help us navigate a pathway forward.

About Giffords

Giffords is an organization dedicated to saving lives from gun violence. Led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, we inspire the courage of people from all walks of life to make America safer. https://giffords.org/ @giffordscourage

What happens to our bodies and minds when we absorb anguishing events of the world that occur on a daily basis? And how might we take steps to process both as individuals and as a collective? Join Dr. Albert Wong, the Director of the Trauma Certificate Program at Somatopia, for an educational and practice-based workshop that outlines the mechanism of trauma and illustrates how we can move from fragmentation to an integrated self and community. Trauma therapy from an embodied perspective invites us to reconnect with the oft-forgotten “felt sense” of the body and use its wisdom to guide ourselves towards wholeness. Using an embodiment lens, this workshop will share some of the underlying principles of trauma therapy and provide an opportunity to experience tools that restore ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.

Albert Wong, Ph.D.

Dr. Albert Wong is the Director of the Trauma Certificate Program at Somatopia and a leading educator and clinician in the field of somatics. He was residential staff at the Esalen Institute for five years and served as the Director of Somatic Psychology at John F. Kennedy University. A Marshall Scholar, he has been featured on PBS, in Time Magazine, and in the book The American Soul Rush. He was educated at Princeton, Oxford, and the University of Tennessee and is the recipient of numerous national awards (Westinghouse Science Talent Scholarship, Goldwater Scholarship). He maintains a private counseling and consulting practice centered around somatic psychotherapy and is the founder of the online somatic education platform, Somatopia: www.somatopia.com.

About Reimagine and “From Collective Trauma to Transformation” Series

Reimagine is a nonprofit organization catalyzing a uniquely powerful community–people of different backgrounds, ages, races, and faiths (and no faith) coming together in the hopes of healing ourselves and the world. We specifically support each other in facing adversity, loss, and mortality and–at our own pace– actively channeling life's biggest challenges into meaningful action and growth. www.letsreimagine.org

For those reading the news or feeding on social media, articles and videos depict harrowing events that traumatize local communities and larger societies across the globe: mass shootings, the pandemic, environmental injustice, racism, war, natural disaster, and more. And all too often, many of us experience these shared adversities directly. These current events can stir up transgenerational or ancestral trauma such as U.S. slavery, the Trail of Tears, the Holocaust, and 9/11. Communities are suffering; but at the same, groups are experiencing growth and learning. In this three-part series, we’ll understand aspects of collective trauma that are common across painful events. And through the stories of mental health professionals, activists, and trauma survivors, we’ll explore how creative expression, acts of service, and spirituality can help us navigate a pathway forward.

Explore collective trauma and transformation in this extraordinary panel discussion. Meet climate influencer Isaias Hernandez. Hear from Nancy Rosado, a social worker and retired NYPD sergeant who provided care at 9/11, supported families and friends during the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub massacre, and assisted with transitioning Puerto Rican refugees after Hurricane Maria. Gain knowledge from Manuel Zamarripa, co-founder of the Institute of Chicanx Psychology and president of the National Latinx Psychology Association. These guest speakers will draw on their professional expertise in mental health and from their personal experiences of grief and shared adversity. The session will include an introduction to studies of collective trauma, ways to manage it, and opportunities for creative and spiritual growth.

Isaias Hernandez

Isaias Hernandez is an environmental justice educator + activist from Los Angeles, CA. He’s passionate about making environmental education accessible and advocating for social justice in the environmental movement. Growing up, he lived in a community that faced environmental injustice, and it shaped the way he saw the world.

His experiences led him to create the Queer Brown Vegan platform, an environmental education page that focuses on social justice and intersectional topics not traditionally covered in environmental spaces.

He has a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and spent his college years working on a variety of diversity inclusion work in environmental spaces, academic research, and creative work. After graduating, he helped start the digital publication Alluvia Mag before becoming a full-time educator and creator. @queerbrownvegan

Nancy Rosado

Nancy Rosado, a retired NYPD sergeant and Clinical Social Worker, serves as the Outreach Consultant for UCF Restores, the University of Central Florida’s psychological trauma clinic. Ms. Rosado has an extensive history in law enforcement, including being among the first police officers to respond to the attack on 9/11. While Nancy was born and raised in The Bronx, NY, she has been living in Orlando for the past 10 years. Since her time in Orlando, Ms. Rosado has served as an advocate for many underrepresented populations, including the Latino, LGBTQ+, and first responder communities. Some of her focuses have been on providing culturally competent training for local officials following the Pulse shooting and assisting with the transitioning of Puerto Rican refugees after Hurricane Maria. She is on the front lines finding out community needs and how to most effectively deliver the required services.

Manuel X. Zamarripa

Manuel X. Zamarripa is the co-director and co-founder of the Institute of Chicana/o/x Psychology based in Austin, TX, where he conducts community workshop platicas as well as professional development training for educators and mental health professionals on issues related to Chicana/o/x wellness, cultural identity, and mental health from a Chicana/o/x framework. Dr. Zamarripa is a trained psychologist, clinician, college dean, and danzante. He has been a student and teacher of Chciana/o/x Psychology for 30 years. A previous academic program director and associate professor, he was awarded the University of Texas System Chancellor’s “Innovations in Education Award” (2007). Manuel has been featured on NPR and in the L.A. Times. He is also currently the president of the National Latinx Psychological Association. Manuel’s publications and presentations in psychology and education focus on Chicana/o/x well-being, racial responsiveness, cultural revitalization, social justice, and leadership.

Chicano Psychologist, Dr. Zamarripa, is a licensed professional counselor and supervisor (Texas) and received his doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his master’s in Counseling Psychology from Our Lady of the Lake University, and his bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Notre Dame. @xicanpsych

About Reimagine and “From Collective Trauma to Transformation” Series

Reimagine is a nonprofit organization catalyzing a uniquely powerful community–people of different backgrounds, ages, races, and faiths (and no faith) coming together in the hopes of healing ourselves and the world. We specifically support each other in facing adversity, loss, and mortality and–at our own pace– actively channeling life's biggest challenges into meaningful action and growth. www.letsreimagine.org

Through a relentless 24/7 news cycle, we are inundated and often left overwhelmed by harrowing collective traumas taking place across the globe: mass shootings, the pandemic, environmental injustice, racism, war, natural disasters, and so on. And all too often, many of us experience these traumas directly. What’s more, these events can also stir up transgenerational or ancestral pain stemming from historical events such as U.S. slavery, the Trail of Tears, the Holocaust, and 9/11. There is simply so much suffering in the world. So how do we cope with it all and resist emotional numbing? And perhaps more provocatively, how might we integrate these experiences into our lives in healthy ways? What can they teach us about ourselves and each other so that we might create a better present and future? In this three-part series, we’ll understand what seemingly disparate collective traumas have in common. And through the stories of mental health professionals, activists, and survivors, we’ll explore how creative expression, acts of service, and various forms of spirituality can help us navigate a pathway forward.

About Table Talk

We recognize that marginalized communities and cultures -- Black, Indigenous, Latino/a/x, Asian American, Disabled, LGBTQ+, etc. -- have their own unique perspectives and shared truths. All of these groups face tremendous challenges in dealing with serious illness, dying, grief, and discrimination. And there is a shared need for platforms to talk about these issues freely in order to connect, learn, heal, remember, and take action.

While individual Table Talks are developed by and for specific communities, we recognize that often these groupings are permeable. Many of us describe more than one group as “home,” and many of us have experienced oppression based on multiple aspects of our intersecting identities: race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and more.

Reimagine invites people of all backgrounds to join us to witness, listen and learn at Table Talk. Ultimately we are creating space rooted in the principles of Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in order for everyone to thrive.