Story-Healing Circles
Ancient Methods for Modern Times
Story-healing circles are a form of storytelling rooted in the healing circles widely used among Native Americans, First Nations people of Canada, and indigenous peoples. And, they are a powerful tool for addressing and healing occupational traumas through storytelling.
Story-healing circles don’t require much preparation, allow us to share our lived experiences (personal and professional), and support perspective taking. They also provide us with opportunities to practice empathy, cultural humility, listening, courage, vulnerability, and healing.
We offer facilitated story-healing circles to organizations that are designed to create deeper, more meaningful connection on teams and across organizations. We work with you to create brave spaces where people can show up fully to heal and flourish in community.
A story-healing circle is a small group of individuals coming together, in person or virtually, to share stories focused on a common theme. Regardless of the theme or topic, the act of each person sharing their story allows for a rich and complex shared experience to emerge, creating a feeling of common humanity, and allowing people to see similarities and differences in their experiences.
What I’ve learned from almost two decades of humanitarian service is that there is power in sharing our stories and speaking our truths. There is healing in the collective and a feeling of common humanity when we share our stories with others.”
—Dimple Dhabalia,
RITC Founder + Humanitarian
Regardless of whether you’re experiencing stress, trauma, occupational challenges or something else, leaving these issues unaddressed can negatively impact our mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, and relational health and can often lead to:
Emotional isolation
Feeling disconnected from purpose
Lingering feelings of anger, rage and sadness related to your work
Experiencing bystander guilt, shame, feelings of self-doubt
Being preoccupied with thoughts of work even when you’re not working
Violence towards yourself or others
Loss of hope, pessimism, cynicism
Distancing, numbing, detachment
An inability to effectively do your job
Looking for a more on-going, personalized support?
Consider joining our private, online community, Dear Humanitarian, dedicated to helping humanitarians thrive and flourish. Here you can access, tools, resources, and reflections while finding community with humanitarians from around the world.