Led by Faith Barnes
We learn to adapt to our worlds. We learn to respond to the environment that surrounds us in a way that helps us survive. For many of us, our lives have provided a good balance of strengths and challenges. But, what happens when we experience a traumatic event that throws this good balance out of balance? This traumatic event may be something individual, such as a change in family structure due to divorce or death, or a collective traumatic event, such as 9/11. We still respond in ways that help us to survive, but the response we develop at two years of age may not serve us when we are 14 years old. The age at which we first experience a traumatic event informs how we process subsequent traumatic events — our thoughts, emotions, and somatic symptoms. Our response to the traumatic events in our lives requires us to delve into who we are and develop a response that helps us survive.
Faith Barnes is a retired social worker who worked primarily in schools with children experiencing trauma. When she opened her private practice, she expanded her client base to include bereaved adults and teens who were dealing with the anxiety brought on by COVID. Faith served on the board of Hardy Girls Healthy Women for six years. Hardy Girls, a Maine-based organization, creates safe spaces for girls and nonbinary youth to take action in their communities by encouraging them to be curious, think critically, build coalitions, and challenge the status quo. She started her career in finance and marketing.
Music by Will Bristol