Trauma is not just something one experiences during a war or conflict, but can occur in a job, relationship or everyday interaction, says 2015 participant Shiphrah Mutungi, who is pursuing a at 草莓社区’s (CJP).
Even though 鈥渆veryday鈥� traumas are a normal part of life, if left undealt with, they can hinder one鈥檚 growth as much or more than the 鈥渂ig鈥� life struggles, she says. Mutungi would know. Her conviction is rooted in personal experience that has defined her professional counseling career, both in Uganda and around the world.
She was born in a western Ugandan cattle-keeping community. When she was seven, her father died suddenly on an operating room table. He left her mother with eight young children. Life was difficult, but her mother, though uneducated herself, committed to sending all eight of her children to school, even the six girls. Mutungi says her mother鈥檚 resolve was remarkable in a culture that wasn鈥檛 supportive of girls鈥� education.
By the time Mutungi was in secondary school, stories of atrocities committed by the terrorist group the Lord鈥檚 Resistance Army began to filter south. Mutungi, in school in southwestern Uganda, says she was never personally in danger because the LRA stayed mostly in northern Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but she did witness the aftermath of the violence.
By the mid-1990s, Mutungi had graduated with a degree in social sciences from Makerere University and was working for the National Council for Children. 鈥淚 had to visit areas that had been affected by the violence,鈥� she says. 鈥淧eople were living in internally displaced camps and sometimes were missing parts of their bodies from torture or landmines.鈥� The people she met struggled to cope with the aftermath of violence, displacement and a concurrent growing AIDS epidemic.
Driven by her desire to help people heal from trauma, Mutungi returned to Makerere University to earn one of the program鈥檚 first master鈥檚 degrees in counseling psychology. In Uganda, as in many other countries, counseling is an unusual profession (Mutungi says those who seek counseling are stigmatized as 鈥渃razy people鈥�). So instead of working as a clinical psychologist, she worked as a health program manager of Peace Corps Uganda volunteers, many of whom were working with HIV/AIDS patients and in post- conflict communities in northern Uganda.
She saw that the need for helping people work through their struggles went beyond the work she was doing for the Peace Corps, though. Even people without devastating diseases or living in peaceful regions can struggle to manage whatever it is they are dealing with, she says.
Guiding from negativity to ‘positivity’
In light of this, Mutungi realized that healing must begin with the self before it can filter to larger society. Everyone experiences trauma, she says, but the key is learning how to respond.
In 2012, Mutungi left her Peace Corps job and founded , an organization that seeks to foster resilience in individuals and groups through a combination of workshops, trainings and individualized 鈥渓earning journeys,鈥� a 6-week program in which participants produce a reflective portfolio on a subject of their choice.
Reflective Learning Uganda utilizes a “strengths-based” approach developed by psychologist Tony Ghaye called, also known as PAAR. (Ghaye is a founder of and related organizations in the United Kingdom, Italy and Nigeria; he is a chairman of Mutungi鈥檚 organization.). PAAR uses personal reflection and questioning to change negative thoughts into positive ones, a process that helps participants feel more empowered and resilient, Mutungi says.
鈥淧ositivity workshops鈥� are particularly helpful in schools, Mutungi says, offering the example of, a headmaster of a rural secondary school who was worried his students lacked the hope necessary to continue their education and pursue 鈥減rofessional鈥� jobs as lawyers, teachers or doctors.
鈥淭he headmaster wanted me to talk to the students about the responsibility they have to shape their own destiny,鈥� she says. So she began a series of workshops to help students reflect on their past and ask questions about what they needed to do to change their attitude.
鈥淭he students became excited,鈥� she says. 鈥淪ome of them said they had never thought of themselves as having strength, just problems. The students ended up forming a group called the Positive Energy Group and planting trees as symbols of growth. The trees don鈥檛 grow fast, but if you water them, they will eventually grow into big things.鈥�
STAR tools used in workshops
Another tool she uses in her workshops is (STAR) training. Since 2010, Mutungi completed STAR I and II and the first of the two practicums required to become a certified STAR trainer. In her first practicum, Mutungi helped facilitate a STAR training in South Sudan under the guidance of CJP professor . When she finishes her second practicum (at a yet undecided location), she will be qualified to teach STAR I to others.
鈥淪TAR is very important because it is a training that raises awareness about trauma at the very deepest personal level,鈥� she said during a 2013 video interview. 鈥淲hile I had done training as a counseling psychologist and counselor at master鈥檚 level, I had not had an opportunity to have such an awareness about trauma resilience and how to get over such an experience before.鈥�
Learning experiences such as those offered by the Summer Peacebuilding Institute, STAR and Reflective Learning, says Mutungi, provide a safe space to share stories people never felt able to share before. Participants learn they don鈥檛 have to carry their burdens alone and how to turn their struggles into strength.