Hosted by Kosha Joubert. Produced by J'aime Rothbard

How to bring collective healing practices to people affected by gun violence, poverty and systemic injustice? And how to build structures to support the leaders doing this work to thrive?

These burning questions have animated Karen Simms, founder and director of the Trauma & Resilience Initiative, a nonprofit organisation in Champaign, Illinois, throughout her 20 years of working with marginalised groups.

In this episode, Karen traces her early influences — from childhood summers in Maryland spent memorising the speeches of Dr Martin Luther King while her cousins performed migrant farm labour, to a "tropical soup" of Afro-Caribbean and Christian spiritual lineages.

From her past work with women affected by HIV/AIDS, to her subsequent service in neighbourhoods struggling with many forms of inequity, exclusion and harm, Karen has always placed a "love ethic" at the heart of her approach.

A regular contributor to Pocket Project trainings and summits, Karen explains that she is now working to help "democratise" the collective healing work pioneered by Thomas Hübl and other practitioners to make it more accessible. Karen also describes the importance of creating circles of resilience to "help heal the healers."

This powerful episode opens a window into the transformational impact that collective healing practices can have in vulnerable communities — and the work that needs to be done to ensure this potential can be fully realised.

Further Resources:

Trauma & Resilience Initiative

Pocket Project

About Karen Simms:

Karen Simms, MAMFT, LMHC, is a seasoned consultant, trainer, facilitator, and coach with over 30 years of experience in building trauma-informed, healing-centered, and equitable systems and communities. She is the founder of Trauma & Resilience Initiative, Inc. (TRI) a not for profit that trains, educates, advocates for, and promotes resilience and justice for individuals, families, organizations, and communities. TRI works to reduce the impact of adverse community experiences by healing and repairing those who have been impacted by trauma; and equipping organizations, communities, and providers to be trauma and justice informed.