Dr Harriet Hill, a Former Director, Trauma Healing Institute, says suffering or pain is a gift from God and must be stewarded by bearing witness and lamenting about it to God.
She said suffering was a calling and a time to know God in ways that one did not.
“In times of suffering, we can find out thoughts about God, figure out what is important in life, develop into better people, and help other people who are suffering.
“We will not want to have suffering or pain but sometimes God gives us the gift of suffering which is a high calling he knows we can handle.”
Dr Hill said this at the opening of the second trauma healing community of practice conference organised by the Bible Society of Ghana on the theme: “Recognising and responding to societal abuse”, on Monday, in Accra.
She said the conference was among other things aimed at bringing together people involved in trauma healing for encouragement, prayer, sharing of new ideas, and problem solving.
Dr Hill said it was important not to burry sufferings because that could diminish the human life.
“This might change the way we think about God and life, but we need to figure out, examine, use and harvest the truth of sufferings.”
She said, “We all experience suffering in one way or the other that completely stops our lives and leads to either severe or mild trauma, but the same healing principles apply to all to find a balance to heal the pain. So, trauma healing is helping people, no matter what the cause of the trauma is. It is about knowing how to care for yourself and helping others to become well again after a painful experience.”
She noted that the progression of trauma healing started with the individual, and run through the family, local church, community or society and the nation, and that it was important to translate the Bible into a language that would be understood by the traumatised person.
“The principles of trauma healing programmes include fusing the Bible and mental health, contextualizing, texting and revising, training trainers locally, group-based participation, and engaging local churches.. ,” she added.
Mrs Matilda Amissah Arthur, a Former Second Lady, said the conference was meant for not just pastors, but individual and institutions like the prisons, police, teachers, counsellors, church leaders and entrepreneurs.
“So, eventually we are spreading to the whole country. These are the people who would then do the training in the districts and the regions. The Bible Society already has a strategy so anyone who is trained goes out and uses that strategy to help others. We do individual training as well as organisational.”
Mrs Amissah Arthur advised traumatised people to reach out to people or the Bible Society for help, and not suffer alone, saying, “If you do not do that, you might get into depression, which may even be suicidal. There is help even though people think there is no help, so reach out because there is a lot of help”.
Source: newsghana.com.gh