Change Em Ways addresses Inter-generational trauma

A lot of men coming through the Change Em Ways program say they are violent because their fathers were, according to the program’s cultural guidance worker Nelson Bieundurry. The Change Em Ways program is delivered by Men’s Outreach Services Aboriginal Corporation (MOSAC) in Broome, offers myriad intensive workshop sessions followed by outreach support to break patterns of family and domestic violence and foster healthy family units. Mr Bieundurry acknowledges that while many factors contribute to family and domestic violence and this varies with each case, intergenerational trauma often plays a significant role. The term inter-generational historical trauma was founded by Native American mental health expert Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart in 1980 during her research into psychological suffering of Indigenous Americans. She described the psychological condition as “the collective and compounding emotional and psychological injury over the lifespan that is multigeneration and resulting from a history of genocide”. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration elaborated on the definition saying the mental predicament triggered “unresolved grief and anger often accompany this trauma which contributes to physical and behavioural health disorders”. Mr Bieundurry said a lot of the issues men come to Change Em Ways for were rooted in the residual impacts of colonisation on Indigenous Australians. “There are a lot of our clients who have seen and experienced things that they want to forget, so they drink alcohol, and that can lead to violence,” Mr Bieundurry said. While acknowledging the severe inter-generational trauma Indigenous Australians have experienced, he stresses it is never an excuse for violence. “We make sure our clients take responsibility for their actions, there is never any excuse for violence,” Mr Bieundurry said. “Our program helps tackle the anger and behavioural issues, so our clients are no longer violent,” he said. Men’s Outreach services manager Debbie Medhurst said one of the first sessions in the program tackled colonisation and inter-generational trauma. “We want to give men an understanding of how colonisation and inter-generational trauma may have impacted their lives,” she said. “Then give our clients the subsequent tools and techniques to better their lives by changing their behaviour.” While each client’s experience is unique, there have been many success stories; men who are no longer violent as a result of completing a Change Em Ways workshop. “We have many reports of men who haven’t had issues since undertaking the program,” Mr Bieundurry said. The next Change Em Ways workshop in Broome starts on October 1. For more information contact Nic Glauser on 0429 484 859, or visit mensoutreach.org.au.