OUR PROGRAMS

We help heal traumas large and small

The Institute for the Healing of Memories-North America assists people on their journeys to healing and wholeness by conducting workshops, training facilitators, and building capacity for organizations seeking to utilize our methodology.

Workshops

The power of the workshops lies in their experiential nature. There are no observers; everyone participates fully, including the facilitators.

Partnerships

We extend our impact through our partnerships with other committed organizations.

Training

We train facilitators and build capacity for partner organizations seeking to utilize our methods

Healing of Memories Workshops

What are Healing of Memories Workshops?

By exploring and acknowledging the emotional and spiritual wounds carried by individuals, communities and nations, Healing of Memories workshops help to break the destructive cycle of suffering, anger and violence that can disfigure societies. The workshops enable people from different ethnic groups, races, and faith traditions reach a better understanding of themselves and each other.

Healing of Memories workshops are held in safe, secure venues and led by trained facilitators. We create a safe and sacred space in which participants can share painful experiences in a spiritual, yet non-sectarian atmosphere of deep listening and mutual respect. We seek to be fully inclusive and respectful of diversity.

When telling their stories, participants are encouraged to describe their situations in the context of the history of their countries and their families and ancestors. Connecting with others in relation to their distress, often for the first time, allows participants to move forward feeling unburdened, lighter, and empowered to find solutions to their problems.

IHOM-NA’s workshops are a respectful, safe space. We pose questions for personal reflection that catalyze participants’ ability to get in touch with their feelings and ideas of identity, agency, justice, peace, healing and reconciliation. The storytelling exercises and discussions raise consciousness of diverse experiences and challenges. We believe that when personal stories are heard and acknowledged, individuals feel healed and empowered. Through deep listening and meaningful sharing, human relationships can be transformed and restored.

“In our Healing of Memories work we have created a powerful method that honors people for their sacrifices and yet encourages them in the fullness of time to lay down their burdens and integrate pain into a new life. In this way none of us need remain imprisoned by the past, but we can become agents of the future, helping to shape and create a better world.” – Father Michael Lapsley

Partnerships

We partner with like-minded organizations working to create a more peaceful and just world. Partners and Funders over the years.

  • All Saints Church Pasadena, CA
  • American Friends Service Committee
  • ARC Retreat Center, Stanchfield, MN
  • Barrier Free Living, Bronx NY
  • Coming Home Collaborative, MN
  • Christ Church Oyster Bay
  • Crossroads United Church of Christ, Honolulu, HI
  • Coyote Foundation, San Jose, CA
  • Disabled Veterans National Foindation
  • Every Church a Peace Church, MN
  • Franciscan Renewal Center, AZ
  • Holman United Methodist Church, Los Angeles, CA
  • Humanity United
  • Lehman College, Bronx, NY
  • Loyola Spirituality Center, MN
  • Mary Alphonse Bradley Fund,
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute for Nonviolence
  • May Hoch Center for Reconciliation, George Mason University School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
  • Minnehaha Communion Lutheran Church
  • Middle Project of Middle Collegiate Church
  • Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans
  • Mount Olive Lutheran Church
  • New York University Center for Global Affairs
  • Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers, NYC
  • Riverside Church, NYC
  • Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship, Augsburg University
  • Spirit of Hope Catholic Community
  • Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center
  • St Jude’s Episcopal Church
  • Warrior to Citizens Campaign in Minneapolis/St. Paul
  • Wright Institute, Berkeley CA

Training And Capacity Building

We train former workshop participants to become facilitators and build capacity for organizations to utilize our methodology

Facilitator Training

IHOM-NA’s workshop methodology utilizes large and small group interaction and uses art, music, and drama to evoke feelings about the past. Workshops culminate in a communal celebration or ritual devised by the participants themselves that encourages people to look towards the future with hope. The process is informed by the belief that healing trauma has a spiritual dimension, while at the same time the experience is non-sectarian. People of all religious convictions or none are welcome.

Capacity Building for Organizations

We train your staff to become Healing of Memories (HOM) facilitators to utilize our methodology to run HOM workshops with the constituents you serve, as well as utilize skills acquired through our training in every aspect of your work. Skills include, non-judgment, deep listening; ability to work effectively with diverse groups; managing disclosure and vulnerability within a group; creative and collaborative problem-solving; emotional awareness and self-confidence; adaptability and resilience; empathy and understanding of self and others; and emotional intelligence skills.

Healing of Memories Training Centers

Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center, Carefree, Arizona
Institute for Healing of Memories, Cape Town, South Africa