{"id":227994,"date":"2019-02-08T19:57:22","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T09:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=227994"},"modified":"2020-07-24T14:05:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T04:05:13","slug":"call-to-break-cycle-of-trauma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/02\/08\/call-to-break-cycle-of-trauma\/","title":{"rendered":"Call To Break ‘Cycle’ Of Trauma"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Healing Foundation’s CEO Richard Weston (Photo: The Healing Foundation)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

February 8, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Healing Foundation has called for existing suicide reduction research to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities break the cycle of intergenerational trauma.<\/p>\n

The call follows a report from West Australian Coroner Ros Fogliani this week that drew a direct link between youth suicide and intergenerational trauma during an investigation into a cluster of child suicides in the Kimberley.<\/p>\n

The Healing Foundation CEO Richard Weston said the findings were confronting but should not come as a surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people don\u2019t have an opportunity to heal from trauma, it continues to impact on the way they think and behave, leading to a vicious cycle of poor health, violence, substance abuse and social and economic disadvantage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut more importantly, without safe supportive spaces where trauma can be understood and managed, many children grow into adults who struggle with self-destructive, pain-based behaviours including aggression and violence, substance misuse, criminal acts, suicide and inactive lifestyles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have evidence that clearly demonstrates how healing can take place within and through trauma and grief when cultural knowledge and cultural frameworks are used alongside self-determination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Healing Foundation has produced a community-led suicide reduction framework which it says provides local solutions to local problems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It says the framework is supported by recent research<\/a><\/strong> published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.<\/p>\n

This research links the forced removal of tens of thousands of children from their families and the real-life experiences of intergenerational trauma across families and communities.<\/p>\n

The Healing Foundation says Stolen Generations and their descendants experience higher levels of adversity in relation to most of the 38 key health and welfare outcomes in the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is suggested that widespread community dysfunction preceded the rapid increase in suicide rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people born into a state of \u2018normative instability\u2019 \u2013 where alcohol and dysfunction are layered on to trauma and distress,\u201d Mr Weston said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis occurs in a broader context of deep poverty and social, economic and political exclusion as well as the loss of cultural traditions, roles and identities.\u201d<\/p>\n