Both Greg and Mary are survivors of trauma and much of Mary’s work has been with trauma survivors. Research shows physical and mental illness, such as depression, eating disorders, anger, addiction or autoimmune diseases is rooted in trauma. Trauma contributes significantly to diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke and suicide (van der Kolk 2014). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) the gravest and most costly public health concern in the US (2019). Trauma also occurs later in life through military deployments, accidents, terrorizing experiences and abusive relationships.

Bessel van der Kolk, a psychiatrist/researcher, who’s life’s work as been with trauma survivors, states in his book, The Body Keeps the Score, that “child abuse and neglect is the single most preventable cause of mental illness, the single most common cause of drug and alcohol abuse, and a significant contributor to leading causes of death such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke, and suicide.” Child abuse is more pervasive than we might think. “Trauma happens to us, our friends, our families, and our neighbors. Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that one in five Americans was sexually molested as a child; one in four was beaten by a parent to the point of a mark being left on their body; and one in three couples engages in physical violence. A quarter of us grew up with alcoholic relatives, and one out of eight witnessed their mother being beaten or hit.” Recent research into the way trauma affects the brain and body reveals that trauma impacts multiple emotional and biological systems,

Because trauma is so pervasive, Tikkun integrates trauma-informed care experiences into the range of programs we offer. Working in creation, tending to animals, and practicing yoga help regulate brains and bodies disrupted by trauma. Creative arts like theatre, collage, painting, writing, pottery and drumming provide opportunities to express emotion and tell our stories. As we become authors of our stories, instead of characters in them, like victims, heroes or villains, we create new, healing endings.