I am writing this as I head back home to Chicago after a week of training in Trauma Healing. It was both good and hard! We learned how to recognize a wound of the heart (it looks different in children and adults), how to help someone who is grieving, the importance of forgiveness, the healing that is offered at the cross of Jesus, and about self-care for caregivers. I'm now certified by the American Bible Society to facilitate healing groups, which would help people walk through their grief, but I do not replace a clinical psychologist. This will be very valuable in my practice as an occupational therapist because people with physical wounds or disabilities are often, if not always, also dealing with emotional wounds, and I now feel better equipped to lead them on the path to healing.
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| Part of our conflict resolution lesson |
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| With a new friend, Karen |
What a comprehensive training! And all in 4.5 days!! With such heavy topics, I took time each evening to do something for myself-- see a movie, watch "The Voice" on TV, read, work out, talk to a friend, get French fries, walk around a local nature preserve... and to top it all off, on Friday afternoon I went to the US National Whitewater Center!
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| Look at this place!! |
It's this amazing public adventure park and training center for the US Olympic team, featuring rock climbing, kayaking, rafting, mountain biking, high ropes courses, and zip lining. I had never been zip lining before, so I did the novice course through the forest, over a small gorge. It was thrilling! Something to check off of the bucket list. Then I kayaked on the Catawba River, which was beautiful. I couldn't take any action shots because they tell you to leave belongings in a locker, but trust me, it was a perfect afternoon! I saw a lot of wildlife on the river, including heron, a hawk, and tons of turtles--I counted 15 turtles crammed onto one log! I appreciated every aspect of God's creation as I allowed Him to continue the work of healing that He was (and is) doing in me.
