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<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen understanding changes a relationship<\/strong><\/p>\n The potential for change is illustrated by the experience of one caregiver who participated in ReStory\u2019s parenting interventions.<\/p>\n Through the process, she began to recognise that the harsh and authoritative parenting style she had adopted was rooted in the way she herself had been raised. She came to understand how her own history was influencing the way she parented her teenage daughter and how, despite her intentions, this was damaging their relationship and contributed to her daughter leaving home.<\/p>\n The mother made a courageous choice to reach out to her daughter, apologise and tell her that she wanted to rebuild their relationship and become a safe space for her. They reconnected, rebuilt trust and began to genuinely enjoy each other\u2019s company again.<\/p>\n Not long afterwards, the daughter tragically died following a short illness. For her mother, the loss was devastating, but alongside the pain was a profound sense of gratitude that they were no longer estranged and had found their way back to each other while there was still time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is stories such as this that remind us of the importance of addressing trauma,\u201d says Mlawu. \u201cSometimes the work is not only about changing what happens today, but about changing what becomes possible tomorrow: in a family, in a relationship and potentially across generations.\u201d<\/p>\n Understanding what is happening beneath the surface<\/strong><\/p>\n ReStory\u2019s work focuses not simply on identifying trauma, but on helping individuals and families understand and process its impact. The organisation uses approaches that include creativity, meditative and grounding exercises, together with other mechanisms that help people process difficult experiences in ways that are accessible and appropriate to them.<\/p>\n The objective is not to define people by their trauma, but to help them recognise that what has happened to them does not necessarily have to determine what happens next.<\/p>\n A broader conversation about trauma<\/strong><\/p>\n This World Trauma Day, ReStory is encouraging a broader conversation about what trauma looks like and how it is recognised.<\/p>\n Preventing physical injuries and ensuring access to emergency care remain critically important, but addressing the less visible forms of trauma that can become embedded within individuals, families and communities also needs to form part of the broader conversation.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we want children and young people to thrive, we cannot only ask whether they are attending school,\u201d says Mlawu. \u201cWe also need to ask whether they feel safe enough to learn, whether they have the emotional capacity to engage, and whether the adults around them understand what they are carrying.\u201d<\/p>\n For ReStory, this is ultimately about creating the conditions in which people can move beyond survival towards healing, connection and growth.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes the behaviour is the symptom, sometimes the silence is the symptom, and sometimes there is no visible sign at all. But the absence of a visible wound does not mean there is no trauma. We need to look beyond what we can see, because sometimes the trauma that needs attention most is the trauma that nobody can see,\u201d concludes Naude.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With World Trauma Day taking place on 17 October, the ReStory Foundation is calling attention to the forms of trauma that cannot always be seen, but which can profoundly shape the lives of children, families and communities. World Trauma Day traditionally focuses on traumatic injuries, their prevention, and the importance of timely emergency care. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":50455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[11348,13276],"class_list":["post-50452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sponsored","tag-restory-foundation","tag-world-trauma-day"],"yoast_head":"\n