05/03/2020
In my last blog posting, I wrote about ‘Bringing them home’, the report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. This report tells the stories of many of the so-called Stolen Generations. I also provided a link to […]
06/02/2020
The documentary Bringing them home: separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, found on the Australian Human Rights Commission YouTube channel, ‘was produced in 1997 and forms part of the Bringing them home education resource for use in Australian classrooms. This resource is based on […]
21/01/2020
In a previous blog entitled Community Building, I introduced Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) as a way of facilitating healing in communities. I pointed out that the most common approach to ‘helping’ communities (and individuals) has involved focusing on the community’s needs, deficiencies and problems. This approach leads to […]
13/11/2019
Some time ago, I found a great biography on encore.org of a very special Native American, Don Coyhis. I first uploaded this biography onto my Recovery Stories website back in April 2014, but it’s time this biography is on our website as a celebration of Don’s amazing healing work […]
07/11/2019
In past blogs, I have described the enormous impact that Judy Atkinson and her book Trauma Trails: Recreating Song Lines – The Transgenerational Effects of Trauma in Indigenous Australia had on my personal beliefs and on the work I do. The book inspired me to develop the educational […]
30/10/2019
In his interesting book Healing the Mind Though the Power of Story: The Promise of Narrative Psychiatry, Dr Lewis Mehl-Madrona, who I hold in very high regard, emphasises the importance of story. In this blog, I’m going to describe some of his reflections about story (pp. 2 – […]
24/10/2019
When I came to live in Australia in December 2008, I knew little about the past government policy of removing Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. This policy was introduced by Federal and State government acts in order to assimilate Aboriginal and Torres Strait […]
18/10/2019
It’s hard to believe that it is over six years ago since I launched Sharing Culture, an educational initiative to facilitate the healing of intergenerational, or historical trauma, trauma. It is also six years ago since Michael Liu and I went out with Professor Marion Kickett to her […]
10/10/2019
Suicide amongst Aboriginal peoples in Australia was almost non-existent a few generations ago. ‘When the first suicide occurred we didn’t have a word for it. In the Arnhem they had to find a new word for it.’ Elder David Cole. However, today it is at one of the […]
03/10/2019
Back in July 2018, I saw a beautiful posting about geese on Facebook from Judy Atkinson. I couldn’t resist asking Judy if I could use her posting as my Sharing Culture blog that day. Here is Judy’s post again, with modified paragraphing for added impact. ‘Fact one: As each […]
13/09/2019
I was looking through one of my other websites, Recovery Stories, yesterday. I came across a blog I posted in 2014 about an article on recovery from mental health problems by Mark Ragins. That blog is as pertinent today, so here it is: Mark is a leading recovery figure […]
05/09/2019
Last month, I blogged about the exciting Native American storytelling project by Native Hope: We believe in the power of storytelling to dismantle barriers, bring healing, and inspire hope for Native people. Here is a section from one of their articles, The Science Behind the Healing Power of […]
03/09/2019
I often wonder about the consequences of the government policy of taking Aboriginal children away from their families, the impact on the children and the parents. Children taken away in this way were not only losing the essential care of their parents, but also disconnecting the child from […]
20/08/2019
Dr. Chris Sarra is the Director-General of the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships. He is an internationally recognised Indigenous education specialist and is the founder and Chairman of the Stronger Smarter Institute. Nearly four years ago, I posted a blog on my Sharing Culture website which […]
13/08/2019
Last week, I came across the fascinating Native Hope website. What an awesome project! Please check it out. I’ve included some excerpts from the website, to give you an idea of what’s in store for you if you visit the website. ‘Why We Work. We believe in the […]