“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”—Scripture, Matthew 11:28
We all have days when it feels like we are barely surviving the wounds of collective trauma. But psychology and Indigenous healers have found multiple medicines to heal the collective wounds we struggle with:
- The first medicine is truth. We must face the reality of our wounds to heal. Denial will not save us.
- The second medicine for collective liberation is to free your heart. We must reject the socialization that taught us to disconnect from ourselves, that taught us that our communities are not worthy of our tears, that we are not justified in our outrage, that we cannot afford the luxury of depression even as we carry the heavy weight of despair.
- The third medicine is community care. The truth is, we heal together. Oppression and colonization teach competition, close-mindedness, distrust, individualism, and the goal of obtaining power over others. Rewrite that script. Recite the love language of your ancestors.
- The fourth medicine is self-care. Oppression teaches us our measures of worthiness are in our labor, our busyness, and our erasing of ourselves to build up corporations, institutions, plantations, and governments. Break the generational chain. Go lie down. Laugh loudly. Dream. Journal. Imagine. You’re enough.
- The fifth medicine is creativity. We transform in the process of making art. Tap the mental health benefits of artistry. Reduce your stress. Reconnect with your soul. Dance. Write. Speak. Design.
- The sixth medicine is resistance. Liberation psychology is not just about coping with stress and oppression but also about serving as an agent of change. We shift the tide by organizing, protesting, marching, leading, making policy, advocating, running for office, parenting with purpose, allyship, being a coconspirator, moving forward, dismantling, rebuilding, innovating, laughing, loving, shifting, overcoming. We liberate ourselves as we resist insecurity, intimidation, and internalized oppression.
- The final medicine is our culture. Oppression tries to erase culture, language, tradition, strength, source, and roots. To liberate ourselves we must reclaim our cultural wisdom. Culture is wealth. Take back your spirituality and cultural wisdom. Stretch into seeing your beauty and ease into the reflection of your ancestors’ dreams.
Healing and liberation do not reach their fullness in isolation. Together we are a radiant masterpiece. I’m so glad we’re still here and awakening to the truth that our liberation is interwoven and interconnected. Let’s “break every chain.”
