CCUSA launches parish-based trauma-awareness resource

November 6, 2022

Alexandria, Va. — Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) has launched Whole Hearted, a parish-based trauma-awareness resource that integrates spirituality and religious practices with behavioral health. On the heels of a global pandemic, Whole Hearted can be a powerful resource for communities recovering from trauma.

While not intended to be used in place of clinical or professional therapy, Whole Hearted informs participants of trauma’s impact and how one might begin to move forward from it both mentally and spiritually.

As noted in the resource: “For Catholics, the parish is the center of our celebration of faith and its staff and members of the clergy are often the ones who may recognize when we need help, even if we are not asking for it directly.”

It continues: “Trauma Aware Parishes can demonstrate sensitivity to trauma’s impact on its members and their loved ones; help parishioners recognize their experience of, and responses to, trauma; and provide restorative spiritual and professional resources in a variety of ways.”

The participant and facilitator guides are now available in English; Spanish editions are forthcoming soon.