Prof. Yvonne Sliep, PhD School of Psychology

University Kwa-Zulu Natal

South Africa

Collective Healing of

traumatised communities

through Narrative Theatre

sliepy@ukzn.ac.za

Bringing the war home – a case

of secondary trauma

In post-war situations contexts where communities have been

exposed to extreme stress for a long period of time there is a

break down of social fabric. Traumatic events call into question

basic human relationships. They shatter the self that is formed

and sustained in relation to others. Normal crisis management

fails and psycho-social problems escalate.

Examples of these include physical, psychological and sexual

abuse of family members; increased sub-stance abuse

including alcohol and risk taking behaviour; increased anger

and violent outbursts; relationship problems; increased suicide

In addition there is a high level of mistrust and often a deep

experience of betrayal. These are issues that need to be

responded to collectively as it is relational based.

Development of

NARRATIVE THEATRE

Narrative theatre was coined in Uganda in 1995 and is derived from Narrative Therapy and Forum

Theatre also known as Theatre for the Oppressed

(Augusta Boal). Narrative therapy is a respectful,

non-blaming approach to counselling and community

work that centres people as the experts in their own

lives. It views problems as separate from people and

assumes people have many skills, competencies,

beliefs, values, commitments and abilities that will

assist them to reduce the influence of problems in

their lives. The embodied nature of theatre and story

telling fits well with cultures of oral tradition and

helps to reach realistic outcomes.

THE SETTING

Community Members and facilitators Project Psycho-Social workers Community members

Elslam Camp (ABUJA) – North Darfur - El Fasher

From individuals to

communities

Interventions usually focus on either individual or

structural approaches in post-war or post-disaster

contexts.

Grappling with processes that operate recursively

amongst individuals, households, communities and

society are complex. We are slowly developing strategies

to make this possibble.

If there is to be a shift away from external agencies

towards more independence then strategies need to be

strength based focusing on local solutions for local

problems by developing strong partnerships.

FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Increasing understanding of the problem and especially

the contextual and inter-personal relational influences

on the problem.

Promoting creative problem solving

Building agency, efficacy and capacity

Ability to transfer understanding and skills to different

contexts

Building self- and collective confidence and esteem

Fostering mutually supportive relationships

Creating more equitable relationships

Working with narratives in

a community context

Narratives helps us make sense of the world not

only for and about ourselves but also about and

for the other

As a facilitator I don’t have to pretend I am the

expert of someone else’s life

We decide collectively what stories we want to

work with in which order of priority.

It is also important to deconstruct silences.

Marginalised voices are put in the center to ensure

that all voices are heard

Not either/or but rather

both/and

Map context

General concerns relational challenges for

individual

Explore and understand the roles, dynamics,

challenges and resources of households

Small group discussions of :

– Young Women

– Older Women

– Young Men

– Older Men

– Children

Mapping context continued

Describe relevant norms, values, dominant beliefs

and ideologies; bodies of knowledge; material and

human resources; customs; lifestyles and

psychosocial risks on society level e.g.

punishment

Track and document socio-historical events and

transitions relevant to this individual; household;

group and community

Raising awareness of issues

– How are the problems described named that effect

the most vulnerable in the community?

– Are signs and symptoms of stress and anxiety

recognised (in particular behaviours) and how can

this be responded to

– What are the local wisdoms and resources that can

be revived to stimulate local solutions to local

problems.

– Stimulating a sense of collective esteem and collective

efficacy

Narrative Theatre –

how does it work?

It makes use of micro scenes from people’s lives

through narratives and drama techniques.

puts a spotlight on what the community find

problematic.

It explores, discovers and affirms local

knowledge, strengths and abilities to increase

self-efficacy

transformation as a process is fostered through

which social action becomes possible.

helps to:

Create distal space

Work collectively

Use local knowledge

Create experiential

space (embodiment)

Create experimental

space

Important concepts

Narrative and Strength Based

Non-judgemental

Person affected is the expert

Externalisation

Management of intentionality

Supported in context over time

Stay with the story: a few

examples

People may not come with solutions that you would support but it could work in that context in that time e.g. woman the leaving kids with aggressive man or woman taking the drunk man with her after being thrown out

Experiencing the role changes the intervention

You can ask questions like is domestic violence a public or a private matter? Are we talking about agrssion or punishment.

Exploring why women felt shame not anger at having been raped and thrown out of their homes.

Not only a question of numan rights but also of human dignity

STAGES IN THE PROCESS

Tell a story

Act out the story

Create a dialogue

with audience

Discuss result

What would they have done

Try out suggestions

Establish a community Create a safe space Create an opportunity Decide on a theme

Each of these steps requires careful

planning and skilled facilitation

Reflexive space

- Deconstruct operations of

power;

- - Explore meaning and effect

of practices like punishment

- Negotiate responsibility and

accountability

- Provide modelling of preferred

behaviour which includes

walking the talk

What is your long term vision? Example

from Burundi

Creating healing rituals

Ntahokaja speaks of uruvyino singing

as "mass singing", practised among

most of the population. The singing

rises spontaneously from among those

present. People become aroused, lively

and cheerful. The imvyino style is that of

verse and refrain. A (male or female)

soloist sings the verses, which are

improvisational and have colourful,

charming words. The audience, singing

in chorus, takes up the refrain - a short,

highly rhythmic phrase which is always

the same within one song. This song is

often accompanied by hand-clapping

and possibly also dancing.

Establish community entry

How do you know what the problems are?

- current psycho-social services

- rapid assessment (community based

assessment and household interviews)

` - discussions with key informants like local

leaders and groups

- negotiating community entry

- negotiating space and support for a community

forum

Allow a complete telling of

the story

Enact the story that was told

with volunteers from the

community

Externalise

problems in

context

appropriate ways

Mapping the effects of the

problem

Light on strength based stories

RECONSTRUCTING THE

PREFERRED STORY

Unique outcomes despite the problem

Explore history of emerging strengths and abilities

Other stories and witnesses of these characteristics

Facilitate many re-tellings

Allow a complete re-telling of the story

Follow-up discussion after

playing out of drama

MOVING FORWARD

COLLECTIVELY

Towards taking united stand against problem

Ensuring everyone’s voice is heard

Collectively deciding on the best way forward.

NARRATIVE THEATRE TO

STRENGHTEN SOCIAL ACTION

Greater community served by all

Unrolling activities over time

Central to the role of the

committee

Follow through collective plans that resulted from

the Narrative Theatre

Working along side formal and informal leadership

Applying first aid mental health care where

necessary like with anxiety attacks

Acting as referral person for more severe problems

Contributing to conflict resolution & peace-building

Advocacy and lobbying for vulnerable and

marginalised groups

committees

local leadership

business sector

active NGOs

active CBOs

local service providers

landlords

small farmers

associations

Challenges

This approach like with any other healing approach can

not be seen as an event but has to be seen as a

process that will develop over time.

The funding community needs to develop capacity

building over time. If this does not happen the narrative

theatre can easily be seen as a welcome distraction with

no fundamental change.

Training needs to be developed over time as the

strategy is unrolled to have the cumulative effect that is

necessary in these contexts.

We all need each other

CONCLUSION

Trauma healing on this level needs inclusion of all existing resources

both formal and informal as well as the continues creation of ways

that revive hope and help people move forward collectively. From

Individual to Collective and back again