Trauma, Oppression and the Body

Over the years, a considerable body of evidence has been built around differing understandings of how human beings respond to and are affected by trauma – and increasingly, the social contexts of relational trauma have been examined to comprehend the underlying factors of this persistent source of suffering. However, despite such extensive research, very few trauma specialists have made explicit conceptual associations between trauma and oppression. Moreover – the fact that trauma and oppression invariably involve a power equation is not front and centre in our therapeutic approaches to Trauma.