Leadership and Resilience Among Survivors of Violence and Torture
Description:
Very often both survivors of torture and torture treatment programs may benefit from survivors having a greater voice in the work that torture treatment programs do. So what does it mean to truly hear the survivor’s voice in providing services to survivors of torture? What are some of the ways that programs can engage survivors?
Our presenters will describe their experiences in creating and developing programs that were started and led by survivors. They will discuss how integrating survivors into the program’s work can support survivors as experts in their own experiences and support them in their post traumatic growth. We will look at how programs might integrate the survivor’s voice to think more creatively about providing mental health services to survivors.
Session 1: In this session our presenters will describe their experiences in creating and developing programs that were started and led by survivors and discuss how their own past experiences and resilience informs the work they do. They will discuss how integrating survivors into the program’s work can support survivors as experts in their own experiences and support them in their post traumatic growth. We will look at how programs might integrate the survivor’s voice to think more creatively about providing mental health services to survivors.
Session 2: In this session a panel of survivors will bring their own perspectives to a discussion on integrating the survivor’s voice into the work that programs do with survivors or torture. Attendees will have the opportunity to pose questions and participate in the discussion.
Objectives:
Staff of all disciplines are encouraged to attend. After the MIW, you will be able to:
- Articulate a deeper understanding of the role colleagues who are survivors of torture play in the torture treatment field.
- Understand the importance and benefits of integrating survivors of torture into your organization’s planning, governance, outreach, and development.
- Learn how to integrate survivors of torture into your organization’s planning, governance, outreach, and development.
- Understand how the resilience, past experiences, and non-clinical sharing of survivors’ stories can benefit both programs and survivors themselves.