Trauma work is part of resistance

Most of these participants, plus some new people afterwards, formed the Activist Trauma Support for the G8 in Scotland. As far as we know it was the first time active trauma support has been taken on board for a big mobilisation. It was new ground to step on since no experience could be called upon from previous times and we spent a lot of time in advance trying to figure out what would be needed and useful.

In the end the group which was offering emotional first aid was split between the campsite in Stirling, where a big recovery dome was set up, and Edinburgh in the Forest Café, on the ground floor of the Indymedia Centre, where the missing persons helpline and prisoner/friends support were also organised from. Both groups ran a 24hr phone helpline. The recovery dome saw a steady flow of people coming to find somebody to talk about what they where going through, to get a massage (which also often ended up fulfilling the same purpose), to find a quiet place to cry, to retreat or to just calm down with a cup of tea and a blanket. Some people came once, some several times. It seemed that our presence in itself was known by quite a lot of the people there and it gave them some level of comfort even if they did not use the facilities – rather like the assurance when you know there is a medical first aid tent. Situated in a quiet corner of the eco-village, the recovery dome made up part of a healing area that contributed a bit of space and calm on the edge of some very frenetic activity.

At the office in Edinburgh, phone support and personal support took place, but turned out to be much less needed than at the campsite. So we started focussing on avoidance of trauma - doing prisoner support (sending cards, money, organising visits) and helping their friends out (making phones available to call families, lawyers, police stations, embassies…). This was not originally intended to be part of our work but turned out to be very useful. We also think it proved effective in blurring the distinction between “trauma support” (which sounds quite dramatic and off-putting), prisoner support and “general welfare”. We want to normalise and destigmatise trauma, but we recognise there is a long way to go. We also realised that the first thing people need after distressing experiences is to see their friends, and a lot of the times in such situations it can be hard to find them, which can be very upsetting in itself. That is why we had also set up a missing persons helpline, which was run in close connection to the legal team. This also served to deblock their phoneline from people calling to find out about their mates. Furthermore we organised a secret “safe space” some miles away from any action for people who really needed to get out of the area. It fortunately proved not to be necessary this time (at least we hope this is true). In terms of education we had set up www.activist-trauma.net, printed and distributed flyers about what we offered and what to do after instances of brutality, as well as a 6-page briefing about PTS”D”. Fliers also gave information and advice to friends and family of people in distress, on ways to offer support, and help prevent PTS”D” from developing. We also did a few workshops, but should have done more and advertised them better.

The long-term support on phone, email and in person after the G8 was less than expected, (not sure if it was not needed or if people felt reluctant to use it or if we did not do sufficient outreach), but the hits on our webpage after the G8 were really high. We have started setting up a public contact base for support, accessible through the webpage, where people who need help can find people who offer to help in different ways.