I think the major difference between a social justice and a white/colonial lens on trauma is the assumption that trauma recovery is the reclamation of safety - that safety is a resource that is simply "out there" for the taking and all we need to do is work hard enough at therapy

I was once at a training seminar in Toronto led by a famous (among therapists) & beloved somatic psychologist. She spoke brilliantly. I asked her how healing from trauma was possible for ppl for whom violence & danger are part of everyday life. She said it was not.

Colonial psychology & psychiatry reveal their allegiance to the status quo in their approach to trauma: That resourcing must come from within oneself rather than from the collective. That trauma recovery is feeling safe in society, when in fact society is the source of trauma

Colonial somatics & psychotherapies teach that the body must relearn to perceive safety. But the bodies of the oppressed are rightly interpreting danger. Our triggers & explosive rage, our dissociation & perfect submission are in fact skills that have kept us alive

the somatics of social justice cannot (i believe) be a somatics rooted in the colonial frameworks of psychology, psychiatry, or other models linked to the dominance of the nation-state (psychology was not always this way, but has become increasingly so over time)

the somatics of social justice cannot be aimed at restoring the body to a state of homeostasis/neutrality. we must be careful of popular languaging such as the "regulation" of nervous system & emotion, which implies the control and domination of mind over emotion & sensation

bc we are not, in the end, preparing the body to "return" to the general safety of society (this would be gaslighting). we are preparing the body, essentially for struggle - training for better survival & the ability to experience joy in the midst of great danger

in the cauldron of social justice healing praxis, we must aim for relationality that has the potential to generate social change, to generate insurrection. we must be prepared to challenge norms. acknowledge danger. embrace struggle. take risks.

& above all, we must not overemphasize the importance of individual work (which is important indeed) to the detriment of a somatics that also prepares us, essentially, for war. somatics that allow us to organize together. fight together. live together. love each other.

i see many somatics "gurus" (oft attracted to somatics bc it allows for a quick bypass of the academic requirements for more traditional psychotherapy) who want to build brands & followings. they treat somatics as a product to sell, with proprietary ideas & miracle solutions

somatics under capitalism becomes just another psychotherapy trend. it becomes absorbed into the body of colonial healing praxis & loses its revolutionary power.

but cultural somatics is not about winning the game or becoming the next big name (much as we love Levine, Van der Kolk, Fisher, Ogden, etc). cultural somatics is about rewilding our bodies. rebuilding our wolf pack & lion's pride. rediscovering the collective body.

the ultimate question of social justice somatics is not "how can we cure the traumatized body so it can return to productive society?" - the question of dominant psychology. our question is: "how can heal our traumatized bodies so that we may love each other & fight together?"