McCormick’s Trauma Healing Initiative is dedicated to fostering a compassionate, trauma-informed culture in theological education. With a heart for community, it strives to strengthen connections with faith groups and partners, equipping them with valuable resources to effectively address and heal from institutional, historical, collective, and personal trauma.

Together, we can create a supportive environment for all. Together, we can be well.

The initiative focuses on education about what trauma is, where it comes from, how and when it reveals itself, and offering programming dedicated to equipping pastoral leaders to help communities heal when traumatic events occur or recur. Healing-centered engagement with trauma recognizes that church and community leaders are not usually clinically-trained therapists or counselors, but, in their roles, they often find themselves attending to those struggling to cope with trauma. Pastors and other leaders can draw on cultural and spiritual resources to ground and center the community. A unique characteristic of healing-centered engagement is its close attention to caregivers' well-being. Leaders come to recognize that their health and well-being are tied to the health and well-being of the communities they lead and serve. THI will contribute to the broad-based formation of pastoral leaders to respond to trauma by focusing on trauma-informed pedagogy and public-facing education about best practices for trauma-informed ministry.

The Trauma Healing Initiative is funded through a grant from the Lilly Endowment’s Pathways to Tomorrow Initiative.

WEBINAR SERIES:
TRAUMA-INFORMED TEACHING: LEARNING AS CARE AND JUSTICE
Come join the conversation on teaching as an act of care and justice.
Developed for educators, ministry leaders, and anyone committed to building trauma-informed, healing-centered learning spaces

Each month, the Trauma Healing Initiative hosts a 60-minute webinar featuring Dr. Stephanie M. Crumpton, THI Director, in conversation with leading voices in theological education. Together, they explore real practices and fresh perspectives that help educators and ministry leaders create trauma-informed, healing-centered classrooms.

WHAT TO EXPECT:
Each gathering is an opportunity to…

• Hear from a featured guest expert sharing insights from their scholarship and practice

• Participate in an interactive community discussion on classroom application

• Receive a practical, 1-page teaching tactic that you can use in your own settings