A duty to take action: Palestine in practice

Photo credit: Bambi Photo Journalism.

Throughout November 2023 I spent time talking to my private one-to-one clients about me posting about what was happening in Palestine.

And two years later Gaza is being starved to death, people are being killed attempting to get the little food there is - close to 900 now with 5400 injured. People are being silenced for speaking up. So speaking up AND taking action in numbers is imperative.

I wrote about this experience at the time, as it was the most unusual situation I have ever found myself in as a practitioner. A set of conversations based around where activism met wellness, or as I see it now, is wellness. Although some other practitioners at the time were taking action, there wasn’t and still isn’t enough. I didn’t see anyone being open about how to navigate this as a practitioner, when most of our profession teaches us through the colonised perspective of ‘no self disclosure’ or on the other end of the scale, wellness has come synonymous with individual success and leaves little room for collective care.

After initially writing this piece I decided to shelve it. I simply did not want to de-centre the needs of the Palestinian people and their stories. I really regret that decision, not to publish at the time as early as 2 years later. I know there are some practitioners who wish to speak up, but feel uneasy about this and as a movement, we are simply not seeing the numbers we need to make our governments listen. I have seen very few of my fellow practitioners at local or national events.

So, I have resurrected this piece of writing for these people with the intention of more conscious action and voice centred towards the Palestinian people.

It is not up for debate with anyone who disagrees with this. If this is not for you - walk on.

At the time I, like many, were heartbroken. Now nearly 2 years later we have a clear word for this heartbreak - genocide. This needs to be used as do apartheid and occupation.

I see very few of my wellness peers at actions or involved.

There will be some in this industry for whom this piece is not for.

But this is a call in - not a call out for those that want to and are maybe, like I was, concerned about not recreating a place of harm or oppression within a therapeutic setting by my actions (this does matter - anyone who says it doesn’t simply doesn’t understand being a trauma practitioner well enough).

What follows in italics is the original piece (with a few amends - given this was nearly 2 years ago).

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Background

I am aware nothing I write here can take away from (and I don’t intend to try) any grief anyone is feeling right now. It is entirely appropriate to have a mix of feelings present right now.

Nor do I intend for this to be a ‘how to’ in any way. This is a way of being in relationship as a space holder and a human in these times.

Bayo Akomolafe question - "How do we process the grief? How do we pray, do we act, do we think, in ways that do not reproduce the conditions that nourish the dominant tendencies that have produced this war?" This was written by Bayo around October 2023 and has been a lighthouse for me (although since he wrote this I would use the word Genocide).

The intention of this reflection is to simply share this as an offer of solidarity, food for thought (or the soul), to help others in a helping profession who want to speak out and take action but feel confused by how to do this whilst being a practitioner - and maybe discourse around this subject with those who I am more intimately connected to professionally.

I also hope not to be ‘that woman’ de-centering away from the key issue.

The key issue being Palestinian people are being eradicated through some of the most horrific war crimes many of us have ever witnessed and whilst there is no justice for those whose land is occupied there will be no peace.

Taking the decision to speak to clients in this way was uncomfortable and flawed in some ways. I feel most things that we do as individuals right now will always be either misunderstood or disagreed with.

But what I do know is that, any voice that can be heard is a privilege and privileges can and should be used wisely.

Personal background and influences

Despite one of my formative memories being sat on my father’s shoulders at a protest and picket line at the time of the miners strike, I am by my own admission late to the activism game. I have always felt I was more an activist of the heart. Bypassing perhaps. Collective cognitive dissonance is more likely. I have been aware of the conditions in Palestine since around 2017, but have until now not spoken out or even done more than take a cursory look until October.

The tension and similarities between activism of the heart and political activism I feel, is something many of us in the healing realms are grasping more and more over the last few years.

I have also been curious and studying for some time whether much of our wellness has been impacted by colonialism and consumerism. Maybe that’s one for another piece of writing.

I also wish to point out here that anything I write in this piece is not in any way affiliated with any of the organisations or communities I belong to. Having said that none of my lineage has ever shied away from the tough calls of standing in the fire of our humanity.

What influenced my decision to speak to my private practice clients about speaking out

Many of you know me through my work, as a teacher and mentor of other therapists and coaches as well as a group programme facilitator (because quite frankly that’s what I advertise a lot on my platforms). And whilst they are trauma informed, I am also trauma trained and this is the work I do in a busy private practice. And this last bit I think has some significance and perhaps differential to my core values and the values of some of my colleagues reading this. Let me explain…

My private practice is more deep work on an individual level with trauma. In this instance, there is a greater potential for a power imbalance and it is important to create a ‘power with’ dynamic for the conditions of healing. In doing so, we create the opposite of when the trauma occurred.

This leads me back to Bayo’s question: "How do we process the grief? How do we pray, do we act, do we think, in ways that do not reproduce the conditions that nourish the dominant tendencies that have produced this war?"

I began to question if, by me speaking out on social media, had I indeed recreated some dominant tendencies or impacted the therapeutic alliance with those I work with one-to-one if they had seen this?

What if they saw a picture of me at a protest and it felt like a dominant force or image that impacted their process and our alliance?

This is a little nuanced for some maybe but I think this is a more important consideration for those trauma trained, as opposed to group trauma informed spaces (I could be wrong here but this is what my gut started to call me in on).

I do not in one way regret speaking out and attending marches since that time. ButI hold remorse for not considering this aspect of the therapeutic alliance until a month had passed.

And at the same time, I considered that perhaps this could actually be an opportunity to enter into a space where if there had been a rupture it could consciously be repaired.

We are taught so much about ruptures but very infrequently do we have repair models. This is something many of us, especially those of us with childhood developmental trauma, did not get to experience and therefore could in fact be healing.

The approach I took

To ask those I work with for extra time in a session we had for me to present me speaking out. In doing so, I was open to whatever outcome this meant that felt best for the individual. That might have included not working together if they felt this was best for them.

My approach was to state why I had spoken out, amongst them, and key:

• Given the work I do, how, in all consciousness, could I not speak out about some of the worst generational trauma we were seeing unfold?

• In Somatic Experiencing we talk about mobilisation as defence against oppressive forces being key for a coherent nervous system. How could I not be an embodiment of this for others in the spaces that I cocreate with those I work with?

• What impact would it have with those I work with who have experienced oppression in one form or another - when embodied response is not just to be a passive figure in peace but an active and embodied figure in justice?

• Given the work I support others to do is to come into a deeper sense of knowing - how could I ignore my own deeper sense of knowing that this was fundamentally wrong at the same time?

This is the important bit from a therapeutic alliance

I stated that whilst I was happy to stand in my own personal authority and stand by my call for peace and justice AND that our relationship is a relationship of two. As such there is space for their opinions, feelings and emotions and it is my priority to listen - if they wish to discuss this. It’s important to me to hear how this might have shaped the therapeutic alliance and relationship from their perspective. And importantly, I see and value their personal authority. This was the opportunity to repair.

In all instances I listened to their responses.

In some instances we sat in an embodied, somatic process together to notice what was coming up between us as we entered into this unusual terrain. It was a process of not recfreating harm and being human - in this best way we could in this situation. By listening to our bodies and emotions.

What happened as a result of the conversations

I won’t disclose what happened in the conversations other than to say three things:

1. As ever, I learnt a lot from the folk I work with and indeed humanity a whole.

2. In almost all cases, individuals thanked me for considering this and showing my own humanness. Most were practitioners themselves and said it role modelled a lot to them, giving them things to think about. What I felt was a strengthening of the ‘power with’ dynamic.

3. One dear one said “But I see your work is about liberation Jo, so to me it makes sense that you would be concerned with the liberation of all people.” I’d never used this term to describe what happens in the space created between my clients and I but it does in actual fact feel like a North Star.

   
   

If I could try to summarise some thoughts on this

I have followed my humanity and balanced this with the integrity of my values of someone who works in therapeutic realms. As well as the level of consciousness available to me at this moment in time. You may agree or not. That’s none of my concern.

What it has taught me though is the therapeutic alliance can be stronger if we are willing to take risks. If we are willing to take an opportunity to name things usually seen as taboo. In fact it was a relief for many, leading to a much deeper healing environment for many too.

As for others speaking out, I also do see a lot of shaming for people not speaking out on social media. Some may have very valid reasons for not.

There most likely will be some bypassing in parts of the well-being world. I feel that. And part of the way I am organised does have some compassion for that as well as some sadness. Perhaps part of this is also indicative of a wider industry and even cultural issue, that through social media, has promoted youth and popularity over maturity and elder-hood.

It is possible to hold compassion for those affected by 7th October and at the same time call for an end to mass killing of civilians. This should not be a controversial statement nor should it be ignored.

But we know that this did not start then and there will be no peace without justice and the end to the occupation - history has shown us this much.

Ultimately, there will be many different types of casualties of where we are as a wider collective right now - casualties of ego, kinship, beliefs, family connections and many more. I do have compassion for all of this. Much of this we can recover and repair from. But deaths cannot be recovered from. Limbs of children cannot be repaired.

I hope this piece has helped others who may feel stuck in their actions and voice - with the deep intention of a free Palestine.

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Epilogue: What has happened since writing this original piece in November 2023

The situation has gotten worse and we cannot say we did not know.

Today as I write this, 85% of Gaza's population is now at stage 5 malnutrition. The most critical and dangerous phase, which is often irreversible even if food becomes available.

On Sunday, I attended a Zoom meeting with Doctors against Genocide and the stories of the sounds of babies and children crying from hunger at night were horrifying.

None of us expected to have to be the ones to speak up and take action but for nearly 2 years our governments have not and have been actively complicit in this genocide, so we must.

International law is failing and being ignored, if it is ignored for Palestinians it will be ignored for all of us. For all of our children.

Today I would stand stronger in my conviction of liberation not just being a word used in wellness marketing and have become more deeply influenced in de-colonising therapeutic spaces through the work of Dr. Jennifer Mullan and other scholars in this area.

And I am more strongly adding a call in…

Questions we can ask ourselves: If, as wellness practitioners, we:

Talk about freedom and liberation, what in your consciousness needs to shift to make that freedom for all?

Promote feminism - what needs to happen in your system to allow you to extend that to Palestinian women and children?

Provide care for mothers - what in your heart needs to open to speak up for mothers in Palestine who cannot produce breastmilk due to starvation right now?

Have studied nervous system health - what in your nervous system needs to expand to be able to act to stop this genocide unfolding?

You get the drift….

With love

Jo

**I have permission to share this.