Trauma: Why We Can’t Just Get Over It

Trauma comes into our churches in many forms. The impacts of direct or indirect trauma are long-lasting and severe, and the root cause is often easily overlooked. Trauma-informed care is critical for all caring professions and settings. This workshop is an introduction to the causes of trauma, the impacts on individuals and groups, and how to support those who have been affected.

Learn how trauma impacts an individual’s, family’s, and community’s health and well-being. See the ripple effects of long-ago and recent trauma through your own or others’ everyday life. Learn about the Adverse Childhood Experiences inventory to better recognize the effects of trauma in yourself and others. And learn how to find and nurture resiliency.

Jim and Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz will bring ample examples and stories from their many years of involvement with conflict transformation, restorative justice, trauma healing, and abuse in the church. Lorraine worked for 30 years at Mennonite Central Committee with Restorative Justice initiatives; she currently works in foster care with COBYS. Jim has served in pastoral and church-related ministries and teaches Bible at Lancaster Mennonite High School. They recently celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary.