Trauma Trails: Recreating Song Lines by Judy Atkinson

Providing a startling answer to the questions of how to solve the problems of generational trauma, Trauma Trails moves beyond the rhetoric of victimhood, and provides inspiration for anyone concerned about Indigenous and Non-Indigenous communities today. Beginning with issues of colonial dispossession, Judy Atkinson also sensitively deals with trauma caused by abuse, alcoholism, and drug dependency. Sharing their stories, contributors also demonstrate the Aboriginal gift to the nation - Dadirri: listening to one another, and the way in which it provides a way forward. By inviting Non-Indigenous people to sit with them in the circle, sharing stories, listening to and learning from each other, song lines emerge of a courageous journey, pointing us in the direction of change and healing.

Bio - from TedX:

Emeritus Professor Judy Atkinson retired from formal academic work at the end of 2010. She researched and co-authored the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Task Force on Violence Report for the Queensland government.  Her book,  Trauma Trails – Recreating Songlines The transgenerational effects of Trauma in Indigenous Australia, was shortlisted for an Australian Human Rights Award.

In 2006 she won the Carrick Neville Bonner Award for her curriculum development and innovative teaching practice. In 2011 she received the Fritz Redlich Award for Human Rights and Mental Health, from the Harvard University Global Mental Health Trauma and Recovery program, of which she is a graduate. 

She is presently Patron of the We Al-li Trust, as she continues to work across Australia and in Papua New Guinea on community based violence – trauma specific recovery programs. She worked with the University of Wollongong in the development of specialized postgraduate programs such as the Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Trauma Care and Recovery Practice designed specifically to build an Indigenous trauma skilled workforce.