Bleeding All Over Each Other: The Risk and Contamination of Unhealed Trauma

The English word trauma comes from the Greek word, traumatikos, meaning wound. Understanding the phenomenon of human wounding rests at the heart of better conceptualizing trauma and how we can help people to heal from its impact. In this presentation, clinical trauma specialist, educator, and holistic practitioner Dr. Jamie Marich explores the wound metaphor. By unpacking what we know about physical wounds--how they are treated, how they heal, and how the risk of untreated wounding can cause significant cross-contamination--we obtain right insight into how we can better address emotional, spiritual, and psychological trauma. Marich, drawing on what we’ve collectively learned from 2020 about risk factors and contamination, makes a case for how trauma at a societal and systemic level is the manifestation of unhealed people bleeding all over each other. This presentation offers a critical discussion for those seeking answers on how healing at the individual level and at the societal level coincide.