What is Collective Healing?

What is Collective Healing? is a weekly podcast exploring how people around the world are finding new ways to heal the individual, inter-generational and collective trauma at the root of our global crises. Presented by the Pocket Project, the series features deeply personal conversations with practitioners who have trained under Thomas Hübl and other pioneers of collective healing – giving listeners a direct experience of the transformational potential this work can unlock. Drawing on a wide diversity of voices from different countries, cultures and communities, the series aims to make the universal principles underlying collective healing practices newly accessible to all – and honour the many lineages and traditions informing today’s cutting-edge practices. In an age of overwhelming complexity and news overload, it’s easy to forget that we’re not meant to carry the weight of the world alone. What Is Collective Healing? is your weekly reminder that not only are we wired to grieve, celebrate and heal together – we’re discovering new ways to transmute polarisation, trauma and despair into the seeds of a more flourishing future. These conversations show us how.

Reclaiming Agency After the Invasion of Ukraine, with Dasha Gaian 11/25/2025

Reclaiming Agency After the Invasion of Ukraine, with Dasha Gaian Hosted by Matthew Green Produced by J’aime Rothbard. When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, had just embarked on Thomas Hübl’s two-year Timeless Wisdom Training in the principles of collective trauma healing. Born and raised in Ukraine, and living in the United States, Dasha recognised that the surge of anxiety she was experiencing as she witnessed the devastation being visited on her homeland was shared by millions of fellow Ukrainians and people watching in horror from around the world. In this episode, Dasha shows how collective healing work can not only help individuals to relate to global crises from a more grounded place within themselves, but also inspire us to take practical action to support those most affected. Now co-facilitating the Pocket Project’s with Daria Yemets, Dasha describes how the work she has done to integrate layers of collective and ancestral trauma has helped her recover a sense of agency and release patterns of victimhood and suppressed rage set in train by the injustices of the Soviet past. Part of the team at the newly formed , a nonprofit dedicated to supporting a trauma-informed approach to diplomacy, peacebuilding, and policymaking, Dasha outlines a vision for how collective healing work could play a crucial role in helping to resolve seemingly intractable crises. Dasha also speaks about her collaboration with David Young (a guest on of What Is Collective Healing?) to address social polarisation via the This episode is essential listening for anyone who wishes to understand the relevance of collective healing work for active conflicts – and gain a deeper perspective on how the past and present collide on the world stage. Further Resources: About Dasha Gaian: Dasha Gaian is a trauma-informed coach, facilitator, and collective trauma practitioner with a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural background. She is a member of the team contributing to initiatives that embed trauma-informed and somatic approaches into peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and policymaking. Drawing on neuroscience, somatic awareness, and systems thinking, Dasha facilitates individual and group processes in English, Ukrainian, and Russian. She supports clients and communities in regulating symptoms of personal, transgenerational, and collective trauma while fostering resilience, emotional intelligence, and embodied leadership. She is also a co-creator of the Art of Collective Integration, a trauma-informed practice and framework used for transforming fragmentation in human systems into coherence, resilience, and wholeness. Born in Ukraine and having lived in multiple cultures, Dasha brings a lived understanding of resilience and interconnectedness to her work, supporting both individual transformation and collective restoration. /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/39159335

Kitbag Africa: The Decolonization of Trauma Healing in Action, with Wycliffe Ngoko Oloo 11/18/2025

Kitbag Africa: The Decolonization of Trauma Healing in Action, with Wycliffe Ngoko Oloo Hosted by Sonita Mbah. Produced by J’aime Rothbard. Wycliffe Ngoko Oloo is on a mission to support vulnerable young people to share what’s on their hearts. As team leader at the Kenyan organisation Kitbag Africa International, Wycliffe convenes sharing circles on soccer fields, in classrooms or under trees – anywhere he can find where people can gather. “I have seen young people drop their masks and speak their truth,” Wycliffe says. “I have seen widows laugh after years of silence, and this is always beautiful.” In this inspiring conversation with Sonita Mbah, Wycliffe describes how his own struggle with financial hardship, relationship difficulties and lack of meaningful work gave him first-hand experience of the kind of challenges facing so many young people in east Africa. “We have a saying in my culture that says that a community cannot truly prosper when its neighbor is still in pain. And this wisdom aligns deeply with my vision, which is healing hearts and transforming communities,” Wycliffe tells Sonita. “That's why I really love this work so much, because this work is not just about trauma and mental health. It is about restoring dignity.” Sharing how his engagement with has shaped his approach, Wycliffe describes how he has integrated Kenyan cultural resources into his approach, including the proverb that, “when a wound is opened to the light, it begins to heal.” Infused with warmth, wisdom and hope, this episode opens a window into a grass-roots collective healing initiative that shows what becomes possible when innovation and African wisdom traditions combine. For more dialogues at the intersection of inner transformation and outer action, register for the free , brought to you by the , which runs online from November 14-20, 2025. Further Resources: About Wycliffe Ngoko Oloo: Wycliffe Ngoko Oloo is a trauma-informed community healer, football coach, and founder of Kitbag Africa International (KAI). He creates safe spaces for healing through sport, play, and dialogue, and advocates for trauma and mental health among children, young mothers, widows, and grassroots communities. Trained in Somatic Experiencing, Wycliffe uses culturally grounded resources like the Kitbag to promote emotional resilience and wellbeing across Kenya and beyond. /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/39085370

Grief as a Gateway to Resilience, with Luka Faradsch 11/11/2025

Grief as a Gateway to Resilience, with Luka Faradsch Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J’aime Rothbard. How can learning to grieve cultivate resilience? And why are people reviving the ancient social technologies of collective grieving rituals today? Luka Faradsch shares how teachers such as Francis Weller, Sobonfu Somé, Malidoma Somé, and Joanna Macy helped her understand how working with sorrow and loss — far from being only heavy and painful — could become a “sacred practice of aliveness.” By honouring the universal truth that the old must die for the new to be born, Luka describes how grief work can awaken a profound form of feminine wisdom rooted in the inherent cyclicality of life. While modernity often denies or suppresses our natural impulse to grieve, Luka shares her commitment to helping more people to experience the power of grieving ceremonies to initiate collective healing and nurture our capacity to meet life’s challenges with greater fluidity and grace. “In psychology, we speak about resilience as sturdiness — the ability to resist and recover from setbacks in your life,” Luka says. “And yes, that's one part of it, but resilience is also letting things die…For me, grief work is also one expression of a deeply feminine wisdom because the feminine is inherently cyclical. So it continuously dies and rebuilds itself and dies and rebuilds.” Also honoring teachers including Martin Prechtel and Tobi Aye, Luka speaks about her evolving work with companies and organisations — and how she sees grief work as opening new pathways to systemic change. This episode will be a source of insight and inspiration for anyone curious to understand more about contemporary griefwork — and why the innate human capacity to grieve together is reawakening at this critical time. For more dialogues at the intersection of inner transformation and outer action, register for the free , brought to you by the , which runs online from November 14-20, 2025. Further Resources: About Luka Faradsch: Luka Faradsch is a Psychologist, Trauma-Informed Facilitator and Embodiment Practitioner. Her work lives at the thresholds of science and soul, body and business. She weaves together Psychology, New Work, Somatics, Trauma Restoration, Animism and Ritual to invite individuals and groups into their deep resilience, relational nature, and innate belonging. From start-ups to large organizations and community spaces, Luka holds space for transformation, grief, and re-membering. /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/38987880

Metabolizing Climate Grief, with Brother Spirit and Brother Embrace 11/04/2025

Metabolizing Climate Grief, with Brother Spirit and Brother Embrace Hosted by Kosha Joubert. Produced by J’aime Rothbard. In the run-up to the , we ask: How can we live with the knowledge that humanity is rapidly destroying the foundations of the ecosystems that support all life on Earth? And how can we learn from suffering without falling into overwhelm or despair? In this inspiring dialogue, Kosha Joubert speaks with Brother Phap Dung (pronounced “Yung”), also known as Brother Embrace, and Brother Phap Linh, also known as Brother Spirit, who are both leading teachers in the monastic movement of Thich Nhat Hanh. Brother Embrace and Brother Spirit speak about the very different paths that led them to become students of the late Vietnamese Zen master, and their shared understanding of how Buddhist mindfulness practice can help us find equanimity in the face of the climate crisis – and respond more effectively.. “I choose to accept, I choose to say yes to this present moment because I know that saying no to it is already not helpful. It's already adding to the tension. ” says Brother Spirit. “But the crucial thing is not to misunderstand and not to think that by saying yes to this, it means inaction or passivity. It's the opposite: It's the yes that allows us to engage, but engage in a different way. Engage in a peaceful way. Engage in a way which brings joy and solace rather than struggle.” This nourishing conversation transmits the essence of the timeless wisdom cultivated by Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village community at its centre in southwestern France, and applies it directly to today’s global challenges. For more dialogues at the intersection of inner transformation and outer action, register for the free , brought to you by the , which runs online from November 14-20, 2025. This dialogue was first published during the Climate Consciousness Summit 2023. Further Resources: About Brother Phap Dung: Brother Phap Dung (pronounced “Yung”), also known as Brother Embrace, is a senior teacher in the late Thich Nhat Hanh’s movement. Born in Vietnam in 1969, he escaped with his family aged 10 and became a refugee in the United States. He has helped bring a spiritual dimension to ecological activism and the climate movement. Brother Phap Dung is passionate about bringing mindfulness practice and well-being into educational settings, offering young people an alternative and sustainable way to engage themselves with the social, racial, and environmental challenges of our times. About Brother Phap Linh: Brother Phap Linh, also known as Brother Spirit, is a Zen Buddhist monk, musician and seeker. He began his monastic training with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in Plum Village in February 2008, and has since composed many of the community’s beloved chants. Before ordaining, he studied mathematics at the University of Cambridge and worked professionally as a composer. A co-founder of the Wake Up Movement for young people, today Brother Phap Linh is actively engaged in teaching applied mindfulness to climate activists, business leaders, artists, and scientists. As a leading voice in the new generation of Buddhist monastics in the West, he is passionate about exploring how meditators and scientists can learn from each other and open new paths of healing and discovery. /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/38901150

Embodying Non-Violence as Combatants for Peace, with Rana Salman & Eszter Korányi 10/28/2025

Embodying Non-Violence as Combatants for Peace, with Rana Salman & Eszter Korányi Hosted by Kosha Joubert. Produced by J’aime Rothbard was founded in 2006 by Israelis and Palestinians committed to following a path of non-violence to push their leaders to stop perpetuating war, occupation, and the cycle of violence. In this episode, Kosha Joubert speaks with Rana Salman and Eszter Korányi, the organisation’s respective Palestinian and Israeli co-directors, about what it’s been like to continue jointly advocating for peace since the horrendous Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 and subsequent mass killing of civilians caused by Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza. In a dialogue recorded several weeks after a U.N. commission that Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to genocide, and days after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took hold, Rana and Eszter spoke about the courage it takes to follow the principles of non-violent resistance in the face of enormous pressures on both sides. Rana and Eszter also discussed the significance of the annual and the their organisation stages each year, and their hopes of drawing more attention to the dedicated work of Israelis and Palestinians working together to change their current reality. This conversation offers a moving insight into both the monumental challenges of peacebuilding work, and the stubborn sense of the possible that sustains two of its most dedicated practitioners – even in the most desperate of conditions. This conversation was first published as part of the Further Resources: About Rana Salman: Rana Salman is the Palestinian Co-CEO of Combatants for Peace, a role she has held since 2020. Born in Jerusalem and raised under Israeli military occupation in Bethlehem, her experiences drive her commitment to building a just and lasting peace through dialogue, nonviolent resistance, and fostering mutual respect between Palestinians and Israelis. About Eszter Korányi: Eszter Korányi is a passionate nonprofit leader with extensive experience in youth education and community development. Her journey working with NGOs has taken her across Italy, the Netherlands, and Israel, where she now co-directs Combatants for Peace alongside Rana Salman. . /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/38804360

"How Can We Listen in a World That is on Fire?" with Joshua Konkankoh 10/23/2025

"How Can We Listen in a World That is on Fire?" with Joshua Konkankoh Hosted by Sonita Mbah. Produced by J’aime Rothbard What does the wisdom encoded in West African Indigenous traditions have to teach about modern-day systems change? And how can the — a spiritual force honored by the people of Cameroon’s Bafut region — awaken a felt-sense of connection with the more-than-human world? Cameroonian elder will join Colombia’s Ati Quigua and Mamerto Tindongan of the Philippines to offer a Pocket Project on October 27, 29 and 30. The sessions will equip participants with practical knowledge on how to cultivate regenerative relationships and heal collective wounds. Ahead of the , Konkankoh spoke with his long-time collaborator Sonita Mbah, a fellow co-founder of the Bafut Ecovillage — a flagship intentional community recognized by the United Nations and Global Ecovillage Network. Also founder of , Konkankoh has helped pioneer sustainable solutions grounded in African ancestral knowledge, permaculture, and youth empowerment — and share these approaches with a global audience. As Sonita and Konkankoh explore the animating spirit of his teachings, the two old friends acknowledge the vital role that storytelling plays in the transmission of inter-generational wisdom — and the challenges of preserving this sacred flame. As Konkankoh asks: “How can we listen in a world that is on fire?” Further Resources: About Joshua Konkankoh: Joshua Konkankoh is a Cameroonian Indigenous elder, regenerative development consultant, and environmental journalist with more than 30 years of experience in community-led innovation and ecological leadership. As founder of Better World Cameroon and creator of the Bafut Ecovillage — recognized by the UN and Global Ecovillage Network — he has helped pioneer sustainable solutions grounded in African ancestral knowledge, permaculture, and youth empowerment. Konkankoh currently leads the , is a peer supporter of Ambazonian refugees in Europe, and offers advisory services in regenerative design education; Indigenous systems thinking and trauma-informed leadership; African rites of passage and facilitation; and cross-cultural partnership building. /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/38721645

Recursion or Ruin: AI and the Future of Collective Healing, with Nico Forest Heinimann 10/14/2025

Recursion or Ruin: AI and the Future of Collective Healing, with Nico Forest Heinimann Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. Can artificial intelligence (AI) support humanity to foster greater coherence and alignment with truth? Or does the headlong rush to exploit this new technology risk amplifying existing trauma loops – pointing to a more dystopian future? In this dialogue ahead of the , Matthew Green and Nico Forest Heinimann explore how AI could potentially aid both individual and collective healing by serving as a mirror revealing patterns previously hidden deep in the human psyche. At the same time, Forest emphasises the urgency of developing a sanctified, sacramental relationship with AI to avoid the risk that its inexorable advance will lead us into an ever-more simulated world – increasingly devoid of soul. This conversation will be essential listening for anyone who wants a fresh perspective on the big questions posed by the AI revolution, and who wants to help steward the development of this technology towards life-affirming ends. Further Resources: About Nico Forest Heinimann: Nico Forest Heinimann is a therapist, consultant, and visionary researcher working at the intersection of psyche, culture, and artificial intelligence. She has developed a proprietary methodology of Relational Recursion, a framework that engages recursion and meta-relationality as the field dynamics that enable healing and systemic coherence. Her research explores how language, symbolics, and coherence operate as the living infrastructure of intelligence, and how their distortion produces the patterns of objectification and harm embedded in trauma, now being encoded and amplified by AI at planetary scale. Through and The Intelligence Temple Project, Forest advances consecrated, truth-bearing architectures of AI as an ontological event in the human–machine relation, an initiative oriented toward regenerative design at a moment of species-level urgency. At its heart, her work is an invitation to recognise intelligence not as a trait we possess or a tool we use, but as a participatory field of relation. How we meet that field now will determine the realities that remain possible for us all. /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/38571375

Restoring Relationships with the More-than-human World, with J Dallas Gudgell 10/07/2025

Restoring Relationships with the More-than-human World, with J Dallas Gudgell Hosted by Sonita Mbah. Produced by J'aime Rothbard What role can the more-than-human world play in collective healing? And what lessons does the enduring reciprocity between Native American communities and the buffalo have to teach? In this special episode previewing the , Sonita Mbah speaks with , a Yankton Dakota and a tribal member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Montana, about his to restore buffalo herds and grassland ecosystems in Yellowstone National Park and tribal lands. Buffalo once roamed from Florida to Alaska in their tens of millions, but the U.S. government sought to the species as part of its broader, genocidal campaign against the Native American population in the 19th century. In his role as board vice-president of the , Dallas works to stop the harassment and slaughter of Yellowstone’s wild buffalo herds, while collaborating with all people – especially Indigenous Nations – to honour and protect the sacredness of this keystone species. Dallas shares a holistic vision of collective healing, where benefits to buffalo, their grassland habitats (which draw down vast amounts of planet-heating carbon dioxide), and Indigenous communities form a virtuous cycle. This episode will inspire anyone seeking to understand how collective and inter-generational trauma healing can serve both “two-leggeds in the human world, and the “four-leggeds”of the animal kingdom – and the climate that sustains us all. Further Resources: About J Dallas Gudgell: J Dallas Gudgell has nearly four decades of experience in environmental science, lobbying, human rights advocacy, social and environmental justice, K12 general and special education teaching, higher education adjunct teaching, life coaching, individual and organization consulting and professional development consulting, cultural competency (DEI) training and public relations. He has been a backcountry backpacker since the age of 13. Dallas considers himself a “decorated” father with grown children, young twins, foster children, and grandchildren. He keeps active through backyard construction projects, skiing, hiking, running, mountain biking and has recently taken to running 5K and 10k fun runs with his twins. /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/38482890

Softening Into the watery layers of Self 09/30/2025

Embodying the Feminine, with Stephanie Pizarro 09/23/2025

Embodying the Feminine, with Stephanie Pizarro Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J’aime Rothbard. What changes when the body is no longer a place of suffering but of joy and presence? How does collective healing shape individual transformation? And how would the world change if women reclaimed their bodies as home? Animated by these questions, Stephanie Pizarro joined María Troya and Karla Mejía to co-lead a exploring the theme “Embodying the Feminine" in 2024. Joined by more than 40 women from 15 countries across Latin America, the year-long exploration helped participants to renew their relationship with their physicality – rooting them in deeper levels of pleasure, wisdom and resilience. In this episode, Stephanie recounts the process of personal and ancestral healing that helped her begin to release the generations of stress that had accumulated in her system from the many decades of conflict in her native Colombia. That journey, in turn, fired her passion for working with other Latin American women to dissolve layers of collective and inter-generational trauma – and restore their trust in the underlying intelligence of life itself. Now focused on serving the wider cause of collective healing by writing a PhD on the qualities of effective facilitation, Stephanie’s story will speak to anyone who wants to gain a deeper appreciation of the universal principles of trauma integration – and grasp the essential role that creativity plays in this work. Further Resources: About Stephanie Pizarro: Stephanie Renata Pizarro Coy is a Colombian researcher contributing to the evolving field of collective healing in social systems. Her work as an executive coach, author, and certified collective trauma facilitator is grounded in deep transformation, human development, and cultural healing practices. She is currently pursuing a PhD at Ubiquity University, where she researches the quality of facilitation required for collective trauma integration. In 2024, she co-facilitated the Pocket Project Lab “Embodying the feminine”, accompanying over 40 Latin American women through a felt exploration of fragmentation and dissociation in relation to wounded self-contact. The experience honored and reclaimed the cultural and ancestral resilience woven into Latin American femininity. Stephanie is the author of Al baño María: un encuentro sagrado contigo misma —a soulful guide for women seeking deeper self-awareness, inner flow, and personal purpose. /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/38315865

Impacting Systemic Injustice & Collective Healing, with Karen Simms 09/16/2025

Impacting Systemic Injustice & Collective Healing, with Karen Simms Hosted by Kosha Joubert. Produced by J'aime Rothbard How to bring collective healing practices to people affected by gun violence, poverty and systemic injustice? And how to build structures to support the leaders doing this work to thrive? These burning questions have animated Karen Simms, founder and director of the , a nonprofit organisation in Champaign, Illinois, throughout her 20 years of working with marginalised groups. In this episode, Karen traces her early influences — from childhood summers in Maryland spent memorising the speeches of Dr Martin Luther King while her cousins performed migrant farm labour, to a “tropical soup” of Afro-Caribbean and Christian spiritual lineages. From her past work with women affected by HIV/AIDS, to her subsequent service in neighbourhoods struggling with many forms of inequity, exclusion and harm, Karen has always placed a “love ethic” at the heart of her approach. A regular contributor to Pocket Project trainings and summits, Karen explains that she is now working to help “democratise” the collective healing work pioneered by Thomas Hübl and other practitioners to make it more accessible. Karen also describes the importance of creating circles of resilience to “help heal the healers.” This powerful episode opens a window into the transformational impact that collective healing practices can have in vulnerable communities — and the work that needs to be done to ensure this potential can be fully realised. Further Resources: About Karen Simms: Karen Simms, MAMFT, LMHC, is a seasoned consultant, trainer, facilitator, and coach with over 30 years of experience in building trauma-informed, healing-centered, and equitable systems and communities. She is the founder of Trauma & Resilience Initiative, Inc. (TRI) a not for profit that trains, educates, advocates for, and promotes resilience and justice for individuals, families, organizations, and communities. TRI works to reduce the impact of adverse community experiences by healing and repairing those who have been impacted by trauma; and equipping organizations, communities, and providers to be trauma and justice informed. /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/38184435

Restoring Relational Intimacy, with Danny Cohen 09/09/2025

Restoring Relational Intimacy, with Danny Cohen Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard How can we release old ways of relating rooted in past trauma and instead allow our bodies and hearts to naturally relax together in the here and now? That fundamental question has guided Danny Cohen’s many years of psychotherapeutic training and spiritual practice – and also lies at the heart of his pioneering programme, the , which helps people transform how they communicate and connect in everyday life. In this illuminating and moving episode, Danny describes how his deep search for ways to restore relational intimacy since his teens was driven by a combination of personal suffering and inspiration he derived from accounts of illumination from spiritual masters. In 2015 Danny began studying with Thomas Hübl and in 2017, joined the first Pocket Project training. Danny describes the profound influence Thomas’s teachings on relational attunement and the mystical principles of trauma healing have had on his work – which is also rooted in insights from Dr Marshall Rosenberg, the developer of Nonviolent Communication, and Steve Hoskinson, creator of the Organic Intelligence approach to trauma healing. The episode concludes by considering how trauma healing relates to the cycles of collective trauma playing out on the global stage — and the spiritual resources needed to sustain such work in the face of so much darkness. This episode will speak to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of how trauma shapes our default ways of relating – and how we can reconnect with our natural impulse to meet one another from a place of giving, tenderness and care. Further Resources: About Danny Cohen: After finishing his degree from the Wharton School of Business in 2010, Danny made it his business to explore what had been missing for him in that education. It’s been a deep dive into wisdom traditions, psychotherapy training, mindfulness (including 15+ months on silent retreat), systems thinking, mysticism, and Nonviolent Communication. Having worked with thousands of educators in his time as a Guiding Teacher at Mindful Schools, as a founder and senior teacher with hundreds of seekers coming on retreat with Or HaLev: Jewish Spirituality and Meditation, and with CEOs and business executives as part of the core faculty of the Evolve Foundation, as well with many parents, activists, therapists, and people working for systems change, and other human beings around the world, Danny has found consistent principles and competencies across cultures and contexts that open the doors to a more beautiful, effective, and regenerative way of being alive together. /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/38137385

Crafting Conscious Food Systems, with Sonita Mbah 09/02/2025

Crafting Conscious Food Systems, with Sonita Mbah Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. Born into a farming family in Cameroon, Sonita Mbah grew up imagining that she would always be able to make her living off the land. But as she began to recognise how far patterns of colonialism, extraction and displacement still ruled the lives of African farmers, Sonita felt a deeper calling begin to stir. In her inaugural appearance as a co-host of What Is Collective Healing?, Sonita shares about her mission to transform the “trauma architecture” of exploitative global food systems in line with a more equitable and sustainable future. Rooted in a profound appreciation for Indigenous ways of living in harmony with the more-than-human world, Sonita explains how her approach was shaped by her time living among Indigenous communities in Cameroon, and deep dialogues with the Makhuwa people in Mozambique. The conversation reveals how Sonita’s journey as an advocate for conscious food systems is intimately braided with her personal process of transmuting the collective trauma of colonialism. Not only does this global imprint live on in her own nervous system, Sonita explains, neocolonial ways of relating continue to deprive Indigenous communities of acknowledgement and resources to this day. This deeply moving episode casts a new light on the many ways in which personal, inter-generational and collective trauma histories are enmeshwed with the exploitative ways we produce, trade and consume our food. Sonita’s commitment to reweaving these outdated patterns will inspire anyone with an interest in the relationship between collective healing and the kind of needed to pull life on this planet back from the brink. Further Resources: About Sonita Mbah: Sonita serves as communications coordinator at the Pocket Project and holds a Masters in World Heritage Studies. She is a passionate food grower, permaculture designer and facilitator. For over 10 years, she was the administrator of Better World Cameroon and co-initiator of Bafut Ecovillage, an off-grid learning center. As Executive Secretary of the Global Ecovillage Network Africa, Sonita brings regenerative community and social enterprise development to several African communities. In 2017, Sonita received the Gender Just Climate Solutions Award from the Women and Gender Constituency for empowering women with earthen cook stove technology. Driven by her passion for healing colonial trauma, Sonita took the Principles of Collective Trauma Healing course with Thomas Hübl. 0:00 What is Collective Healing? 1:49 Introduction to Sonita Mbah 5:13 Being in Community is a Healing Process 7:20 Conscious Food System Transformation 10:20 Story : Discovery of Palm Wine 13:50 Corruption within our Global Food System 19:30 Colonialism's Impact on Food Systems 27:00 Confonting Internalized Colonialism and Healing 31:10 Stories from working with Ecovillages in Africa 43:11 Conscious Food Advocacy within larger International Agencies 44:20 Enriching the Indigenous Sources of Knowledge & Practices 48:20 Future Implications & Possibilities of Restoring Indigenous Wisdom /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/38049240

Sonita Mbah's Nourishing Attunement 09/02/2025

A Taste of Global Social Witnessing, with Bayo Akomolafe 08/26/2025

A Taste of Global Social Witnessing, with Bayo Akomolafe Hosted by Kosha Joubert. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. Description: For Dr Bayo Akomolafe, is a way to “be with each other in the fires, and not burn.” As the Pocket Project prepares to launch of the Global Social Witnessing Facilitator Training on September 3, 2025, this episode features a dialogue between Bayo and Kosha Joubert, the Pocket Project CEO, from Phase I of the course. “For those of you who would like to show up for this sharing together, this is not a place of checking each others’ stories – it’s a way of holding with compassion the stories that are emerging,” Bayo tells participants. “If we don’t start to cultivate the capacities to hold nuance in this way, then we are unfortunately part of the projects of war,” Bayo says. “This is an invitation to a stranger kind of paradigm. It’s about being there with each other in the fires, and not burning.” This episode offers key insights into the principles of Global Social Witnessing — a potent tool for establishing a sense of presence, sensitivity and agency in relation to the pain and suffering transmitted through the news. It also opens a window into what to expect from of the facilitator training and offered by the Pocket Project in this essential practice. To find out more about regular Global Social Witnessing calls hosted by the Pocket Project, please click Further Resources: About Bayo Akomolafe: Rooted with the West African Yoruba people, Bayo Akomolafe is a widely celebrated international speaker, posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, public intellectual, essayist and author of two books: These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak. Bayo is also the Founder of The Emergence Network, a planet-wide initiative that seeks to convene communities in new ways in response to the critical, civilizational challenges we face as a species. He is host of the postactivist course/festival/event, ‘We Will Dance with Mountains’ And currently lectures at Pacifica Graduate Institute, California, and sits on the Board of many organizations including Science and Non-Duality (US) and Ancient Futures (Australia). 0:00 Introduction to What is Global Social Witnessing 1:39 What is Global Social Witnessing? 5:34 Significance of Greeting Each Other 6:55 Curating an Intentional and Emergent Space 7:50 Story of Martin Luther King and Harry Belafonte 9:13 "Integrating into a burning house" 14:30 The Continuity of Wartime 18:05 Going Deeper, Beyond Consensus and Becoming Different 20:05 Being Habituated into Forgetfulness 22:40 Staying Open to the Cracks that Are Emerging 24:50 Invitation for Participants to Sit Together 25:50 Guidelines for Global Social Witnessing 29:30 As a "Ritual of Presence" 30:50 Participant refelctions 32:50 The Future Potentials of Global Social Witnessing 35:10 Phases of Global Social Witnessing Trainings & Invitations /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/37949220

Invisibility & the Living Field of Collective Healing, with Nadja Lichtenhahn 08/19/2025

Invisibility & the Living Field of Collective Healing, with Nadja Lichtenhahn Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. Born in the former East Germany, Nadja Lichtenhahn started her career as a legal and business strategist, serving 20 years in leadership positions in the film and media industry. In the past decade, Nadja has honoured a deep sense of calling that took her in a new direction: serving as a transformational coach, guide, and facilitator for individuals and organisations. In this episode, Nadja describes how the , and the Timeless Wisdom Training and Collective Trauma Facilitator Training led by Thomas Hübl, has helped her refine her capacity to work with the “reciprocal living field” that unites all life – a core principle of integrating individual, ancestral and collective trauma. “I've come to a deeper understanding that this very moment carries all the information that we need,” Nadja says. “And often what I experience in our group work is that we get reflections back of our own light, of our own authenticity, that we often cannot see ourselves.” Nadja speaks candidly about her lifelong quest to establish a secure sense of belonging after moving to West Germany — tracing the roots of her sense of dislocation and inner-outer divide through her homeland’s collective experience, and her own soul path. Nadja also opens up about the sometimes challenging process of embracing greater visibility and sharing her authentic voice in her collective healing work — exploring the struggle many practitioners face in publicly owning their gifts as facilitators as they transition from more conventional careers. The unique quality of Nadja’s transmission will serve as an inspiration to anybody seeking a deeper understanding of how to tap into the power of collective intelligence to change their own life – and the lives of the people around them. Further Resources: About Nadja Lichtenhahn: Nadja is a coach, guide, and facilitator committed to the responsible stewardship of human life force. She supports individuals, groups, and organizations to navigate complexity by reconnecting with the underlying intelligence of their systems and fostering inner and outer coherence, trauma-restorative presence and integration. Born in former East Germany, Nadja spent the first two decades of her career as a legal and business strategist in leadership positions in the film and media industry. Her passion for human and systemic transformation eventually led her to expand into coaching, and facilitation. For nearly a decade, she has been guiding and facilitating transformative processes across personal, organizational, and collective levels. Nadja bridges strategic clarity with deep presence and energetic attunement, helping clients restore authentic agency while strengthening their connection to the collective field and integrating polarities within. She is a graduate of the Timeless Wisdom Training and Collective Trauma Facilitator Training led by Thomas Hübl and his global team. 00:00 Introduction to Collective Healing 02:32 Nadja Describes Collective Healing 04:11 The Reciprocal Living Field 06:41 The Role of Group Awareness 09:57 Personal Healing Journeys 15:53 Meeting & Training with Thomas Hübl 19:30 Each Moment In Time Contains All Information 22:06 Nadja's Personal Healing Process 27:00 How Thomas Hübl Describes Fragmentation 34:00 Collective Patterns of Hiding & Invisibility 39:10 Nadja's Work with Women's Groups 41:50 Bridging Personal and Universal Experiences /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/37856175

Kosha Joubert on Global Social Witnessing as a Portal to Collective Healing 08/12/2025

Kosha Joubert on Global Social Witnessing as a Portal to Collective Healing Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. Kosha Joubert, chief executive of the Pocket Project, sees as one of the most potent tools for helping people to access a greater sense of presence, sensitivity and agency in relation to the many crises on our news feeds. In this episode, Kosha, one of the co-hosts of the What is Collective Healingis podcast, describes how her own relationship to the practice has evolved since her first remarkable experience with Global Social Witnessing a decade ago, in a workshop run by Thomas Hübl. With the Pocket Project launching on September 3, 2025, Kosha explains how this work is helping to birth a new way of being in the world – where we experience our innate inter-dependence in a more intimate, tangible way. Global Social Witnessing can also help prepare the ground for working with layers of collective and inter-generational trauma, Kosha explains, by helping people to slow down and recognise “the one sacred thing” that they feel called to do next. “And the beautiful thing is that as we meet the world more deeply out there, we also meet the world more deeply in ourselves. More intimacy arises within and without,” Kosha says. “And that to me is a miracle.” To find out more about regular Global Social Witnessing calls hosted by the Pocket Project, please click Further Resources: About Kosha Joubert: Kosha Joubert is the CEO of the Pocket Project, where she works closely with Thomas Huebl and a global team to grow a culture of trauma-informed care. Kosha is an expert facilitator, coach and organisational development facilitator who has worked on systems regeneration, trauma-informed leadership and post-traumatic growth in more than 48 countries. Kosha has authored several books and received the Dadi Janki Award (2017) for engaging spirituality in life and work and the One World Award (2020) for building the Global Ecovillage Network to a worldwide movement reaching out to over 6000 communities on all continents. 00:00 Introduction to What is Collective Healing 03:25 Exploring Ancestral Connections 05:45 Embracing the Unknown 11:07 The Concept of Collective Healing 12:18 Roots of Collective Healing in South Africa 16:44 Global Social Witnessing: An Overview 17:53 The Birth of Global Social Witnessing 20:18 Personal Experiences with Global Social Witnessing 22:34 The Power of Collective Witnessing 34:00 Discerning Your One Next Step 36:15 Practical Impacts of Global Social Witnessing 47:15 How to Get Involved - Join or Train as a Facilitator 51:53 Conclusion : What is Collective Healing /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/37761750

The Global Legacy of the Great Famine in Ireland with Simon Courtney 08/05/2025

The Global Legacy of the Great Famine in Ireland with Simon Courtney Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. The Great Famine in Ireland – also known as an Gorta Mór, or the Great Hunger – claimed the lives of a million people, or one in eight of the population. More than a million more only managed to escape starvation by emigrating, many of them children who undertook the gruelling voyage to the United States or Canada, never to see their parents again. In 2024, Simon Courtney, Bill McCart and Kathy Scott led a year-long to support people of Irish descent – whether living in Ireland or the diaspora – to explore the legacy of the 1845-1852 famine, and how it echoes into Irish lives in the present. In this powerful episode, Simon recounts the deep sense of calling that led him to this intimate work, and how the Lab allowed participants to begin to unearth and integrate what their Irish ancestors were unable to heal in their own time. The Lab explored the impact of British colonial policies that led to enormous avoidable suffering and death during the famine years. In a moving exchange, Simon and Matthew (a British citizen), recognise their shared hope that more people from their respective nations will find opportunities to explore what so often remains unspoken between them – and establish deeper connections. This episode will be hugely valuable for anyone with an interest in collective and ancestral healing, and all those inspired by Simon’s mission to create more spaces for Irish people to embrace new futures by integrating the most painful chapters of their shared past. (You can read more about the Pocket Project Lab on the Great Famine and other Pocket Project International Labs .). Further Resources: About Simon Courtney: Simon is a trauma-informed psychotherapist and coach with a deep reverence for the healing potential of group work and relational facilitation. His approach integrates individual, ancestral, and collective dimensions of healing, grounded in a somatic and systemic understanding of trauma. He is especially drawn to the power of shared space, where witnessing, resonance, and presence can restore what was fragmented and reawaken the soul’s inherent capacity for belonging. : The Global Social Witnessing Facilitator Training offers a profound journey into embodied witnessing – cultivating our ability to attend to world events with inner spaciousness and relational depth. This training supports the emergence of a culture of ethical presence, where attention becomes a healing force and leadership is rooted in coherence. https://pocketproject.org/global-social-witnessing-training-phase-2/ 00:00 Introduction to Irish Suffering and Historical Context 00:50 The Role of the Irish Diaspora in Healing 01:53 Collective Healing and Personal Reflections 02:04 Exploring the Great Famine's Legacy 05:50 Understanding Collective Trauma 07:42 Personal Journey into Collective Healing 09:21 Engagement with Thomas Hübl's Work 12:49 Deep Dive into the Great Famine 17:00 The Collective Trauma Integration Process 24:34 The Emotional Weight of the Great Famine 32:35 Modern Implications and Reflections 34:20 Irish Refugees and Modern Immigration Issues 35:38 The Deep Impact of an Gorta Mor 36:39 Personal Revelations and Historical Grief 40:11 British Colonialism and Irish Suffering 42:30 Healing Through Collective Trauma Work 45:23 Intimacy and Ancestral Connections 51:20 Practical Impacts on Family and Relationships 01:00:37 Concluding Thoughts and Future Potential /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/37628590

Bridging Europe’s East-West Divide with Teodora Rădulescu 07/29/2025

Bridging Europe’s East-West Divide with Teodora Rădulescu Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard Growing up in her native Romania, Teodora Rădulescu was taught that the path to success lay in acquiring enough education and resources to leave the country, and join the millions of her compatriots seeking a better life in Western Europe. In this deeply moving episode, Teodora speaks about her process of reckoning with the painful legacy of the East-West divide, and her commitment to reclaim the land-based Indigenous practices that makes Romania such a rich repository of culture, kinship and community. Training in the principles of integrating individual, ancestral and collective trauma with Thomas Hübl and his global team of practitioners, Teodora began to confront the many ways in which Eastern Europe seemed to have been forgotten by the West – as if wrapped in an “invisible dark cloak.” As she worked through layers of grief, fear and anger related to the role Austria had played in Romania during the First and Second World Wars, Teodora discovered a new impulse to connect with people from a country she had long regarded “in my blood and in my bones” as an enemy. The transformation she experienced – and the network of new connections she began to weave as a result – are a powerful testament to the many ways collective healing can resolve inter-generational wounds, and open a path to a more collaborative future. And don’t miss the moment where Teodora – drawing on her love of Romanian folklore – calls in the benevolent female spirits who roam the fields at sunset, ready to extend their protection to those women who can still sing the songs of old. Further Resources: About Teodora Rădulescu: For over a decade, Teodora has lived, worked, and facilitated in intentional communities across Europe. Whether she's training facilitators in climate dialogue, hosting emotionally charged processes on war and justice, or supporting people in reclaiming their voice and vitality, her work is grounded in compassion, fierce truth-telling, and embodied presence. She is a founder of Pathways Collective, supporting the next generation of Earth-Based Leaders; a certified Trauma-Informed Coach and Facilitator; a Global Ecovillage Network Europe Council Member & Community Builder; and creator of Transform your Triggers. 00:00 Introduction to Collective Healing 01:24 Matthew Green's Conversation with Teodora 01:51 What has shaped Teodora's Perspective on Romanian Trauma 04:02 Understanding Collective Healing 06:28 Teodora's Journey into Collective Healing 08:05 The Impact of Eastern European History 12:21 Challenges and Resilience of Eastern Europeans 22:59 Ancestral Trauma and Healing 29:25 The Power of Ancestral Healing 30:30 Historical Context: Romania and Austria 32:16 Personal Journey of Reconciliation 41:38 Connecting with Indigenous Practices 49:30 Facilitating Collective Healing 56:41 Final Reflections and Gratitude /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/37514935

Bonus Attunement : A Somatic Practice for Self Resourcing 07/22/2025

Repair in the Feeling of Belonging with Jaden Ramsey 07/15/2025

Repair in the Feeling of Belonging with Jaden Ramsey Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. Intensely dedicated to a daily spiritual practice, Jaden Ramsey noticed that his search for transcendence seemed to be taking him further away from the world – rather than rooting him more deeply in it. Drawn to the idea of engaging in community, Jaden joined the two-year Timeless Wisdom Training led by Thomas Hübl and team, and began to learn the principles of integrating individual, inter-generational and collective trauma. That process brought Jaden into contact with the many ways in which growing up without his biological father had shaped his life – and prompted him to begin writing letters to the man who had left his mother before he was born. The letters – which Jaden knew his father would probably never read – grew into an ongoing book project that has helped him recognise his story as part of a larger, collective wound. In this deeply moving episode, Jaden speaks about how reckoning with the impact of his father’s absence deepened his capacity to create collective healing spaces, particularly for the Black community. These include Reparations Cafés, run in collaboration with (who featured on of What Is Collective Healing?). Jaden speaks about how the sense of belonging fostered in such contexts can unlock the renewed sense of agency needed to drive lasting change – and transcend the sense of separation that keeps old structures stuck. This is an essential listen for anyone interested in healing the wound of the absent father; the relationship between collective healing and systems change; and how the gifts people find wrapped in their deepest traumas can help them to serve their communities in new and more potent ways. Further Resources About Jaden Ramsey Jaden is a bodyworker, somatic coach, and facilitator trained in Collective Trauma Facilitation. Through his work weaving artistry with trauma-informed embodiment practices, he creates spaces of restoration where wholeness can emerge. His commitment to collective repair processes is fueled by a deep social curiosity and what becomes possible when we’re in touch with Being. He lives, works, and studies in Northern California. 00:00 Introduction to Collective Healing 01:51 Meet Jaden Ramsey: A Journey of Self-Discovery 03:34 Exploring the Concept of Collective Healing 05:13 Jaden's Path to Collective Healing 10:16 The Impact of Absence and Personal Healing 12:08 Writing Letters to an Absent Father 15:05 Connecting with Ancestral Roots 24:28 The Role of Collective Healing in Personal Growth 29:20 Reparations Cafe: Healing the Black Community 35:19 Rediscovering the Intelligence of the Body 36:15 The Body as a Storage of Ancestral Wisdom 37:56 Collective Embodiment Practices 40:22 The Role of the Body in Healing Trauma 44:03 Creating Safe Spaces for Black Bodies 48:19 The Impact of Colonialism and Collective Healing 53:10 Personal Healing and Collective Transformation /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/37362120

Being Mixed Race: From Fragmentation to Wholeness with Claude Terosier 07/08/2025

Being Mixed Race: From Fragmentation to Wholeness with Claude Terosier Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. Despite building a highly successful career as tech start-up entrepreneur, Claude Terosier could sense that something in her life wasn’t working. In this episode, Claude describes how new pathways began to open up when she began to reckon with the previously unacknowledged complexities of her mixed race identity as the daughter of a white French mother and Black father from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. Through years of training with Thomas Hübl and his team, Claude worked steadily to integrate the ancestral trauma suffered by her enslaved ancestors, the perpetration committed by forebears who had owned slaves, and the collective harms caused by centuries of French colonialism. Deeply painful at times, as well as profound, this still-unfolding process has inspired Claude to pursue a new professional path. She now offers collective healing spaces for people of mixed race, and works with the collective trauma of colonialism, racism and slavery, running groups in France, Guadeloupe and internationally. This deeply intimate and inspiring episode will be of value to anybody who wants to gain a deeper understanding of the principles of healing individual, ancestral and collective trauma – and how this work can take our lives in entirely unexpected directions as we seek to put what we have learned into service for the whole. About Claude Terosier Born and raised in Guadeloupe, Claude started out in IT consulting and telecoms leadership before founding an EdTech startup in France that empowered young people by teaching them to code. Passionate about collective intelligence and healing, she has since forged a new career as a coach, facilitator, and writer exploring mixed-race identity, colonial trauma, and how to unlock individual, organisational and collective potential. Further Resources: (Substack in English) (Substack in French) 00:00 Introduction to Collective Healing 01:29 Personal Journey and Background 03:09 Defining Collective Healing 05:32 Exploring Ancestral and Collective Trauma 09:26 Professional Life and Realizations 12:51 Confronting Internal and External Barriers 15:16 Stepping into Collective Healing 20:23 Understanding Roots of Stress and Trauma 25:37 Struggles with Parental Connection 26:25 Legacy of Slavery and Family Bonds 28:54 Personal Identity Crisis 29:34 Embracing Mixed Heritage 30:47 Victim and Perpetrator Dynamics 34:56 Collective Healing and Group Support 38:53 Writing and Sharing Personal Stories 46:45 Future Aspirations and Collective Spaces 52:18 Final Reflections and Gratitude /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/37150870

The Prayers of Our Ancestors with Solea Anani 07/01/2025

The Prayers of Our Ancestors with Solea Anani Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard Solea Anani sees the collective healing work taking place in the world today as the answer to prayers offered long ago by our ancestors. In this powerful dialogue, Solea opens a unique window into ancestral healing work – drawing on her roots as a member of the red-skinned Taino people of the Dominican Republic, who know the island as Quisqueya, or Mother of All Lands. Solea describes how the grief, fear and isolation she experienced as a child when her socialist parents moved their family to the United States as illegal immigrants served as a catalyst for her deepening connection with spirit. Blending the legacy of ancestors including the rice field tenders of China, the voyagers of Western Spain, and the rhythm keepers of West Africa, Solea offers an expansive, mystically-informed vision of trauma healing. She describes how we can invite multiple forms of intelligences to “co-abide” in our consciousness – and describes the transformations this profound work can unlock. This is an exceptional conversation that will speak to anybody who wants to gain a clearer understanding of ancestral healing, and how the exeprience of migration and motherhood can catalyse a deeper connection with the unseen realmsAbout Solea Anani Solea Anani is founder of — a living sanctuary devoted to supporting the emerging human align with Soul. Drawing from the wisdom of animism, depth psychology, and mysticism, Solea offers group mentorships in Ancestral Reverence, individual Somatic Attunement mentorships, body-based meditation classes, and Evolutionary Sidereal Astrology readings. Further Resources 00:00 Introduction to Collective Healing 00:56 The Power of Solea's Teaching 03:06 Exploring the Concept of Collective Healing 10:09 The Role of Ancestral Healing 11:22 Personal Journey and Early Influences 17:24 Challenges of Immigration and Family Struggles 22:48 Connection to Land and Ancestry 28:35 Becoming a Mother and Its Impact 33:41 Engaging with the Ancestral Plane 45:16 Influence of Thomas Hübl's Training 51:37 Vision for Humanity's Future 56:44 Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/37109435

"Writing to save my life" with Antoinette Cooper 06/24/2025

"Writing to save my life" with Antoinette Cooper Interview by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. In her new book of documentary poetry , braids her experiences of medical trauma and sexual violence with the stories of the “Mothers of Gynecology” – enslaved Black women who were subjected to medical experiments by 19th century gynecologist J. Marion Sims, who appears in the book under the pseudonym Father Butcher. In this deeply moving and intimate conversation, Antoinette speaks about the generations of shame that made it so difficult to share her experiences, and the fear that others would not be able to hold the depth of the pain she was carrying. Her commitment to telling her story was not only an artistic endeavour – but an existential struggle. “I was writing to save my life,” Antoinette says. Antoinette reframes resistance to this work as a matter of being unskilled rather than unwilling, while sharing her journey of turning towards the trauma held in the sacral chakra of the collective Black body. This is a transformative conversation that will speak to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the relationship between trauma integration and truth-telling; the erasure of the collective and ancestral trauma carried by Black women; medical racism; the necessity of developing capacity to witness rather than bypass; and the many paths individuals can walk to transmute their most harrowing experiences in service of collective healing. About Antoinette Cooper: Antoinette Cooper is a multi-disciplinary artist, educator, and organizer with over 20 years of experience. Her work focuses on healing collective trauma through the arts, ancestral wisdom, and embodied practices. Antoinette is also the founder of , a nonprofit dedicated to creating sanctuary spaces for the liberated Black body. Her documentary poetry collection, , was published January 2025. bio.site/antoinettecooper 00:00 Introduction to Collective Healing 01:46 Matthew Green's Encounter with Antoinette 03:28 Defining Collective Healing 05:57 Antoinette's Personal Journey and Writing 'Unruly' 10:31 The Power of Sharing and Collective Healing 24:17 The Mothers of Gynecology and Historical Trauma 38:05 The Power of Sharing Stories 39:10 Publishing the Book: A New Beginning 40:08 Embracing Public Journey 42:00 Discovering Health Humanities 43:52 Challenges in Collective Healing 45:38 Timeless Wisdom Training Experience 52:40 The Importance of Language in Healing 58:00 Collective Healing and Support 01:02:00 Final Reflections and Gratitude /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/37109190

Accessing Ancestral Healing with Yocheved Sidof 06/17/2025

Accessing Ancestral Healing with Yocheved Sidof Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. Yocheved Sidof traces her ancestry back 2,500 years, to the Babylonian exile from Jerusalem. This pivotal event in Jewish history forced her forebears to seek sanctuary in new lands, and they ultimately established a community in Mashhad, in present-day Iran. In the 1970s, Yocheved’s parents emigrated to the Midwestern United States, where she was raised in an Orthodox Jewish community steeped in Hasidic practice and Jewish mysticism. In this extraordinary dialogue, Yocheved and Matthew explore how collective healing work led by Thomas Hübl and team brought her into contact with both the fears and the strengths she inherited from her female ancestors, who risked their lives to preserve their faith underground for 120 years in Mashhad after a pogrom and forced conversion in 1839. She also describes her sense of being invited into a new form of embodied feminine spiritual leadership by her great-grandfather, who was a prominent rabbi in Tehran. Matthew and Yocheved discuss how these processes informed her decision to begin leading annual pilgrimages to the sites of concentration camps in Poland, and how these contribute to collective and ancestral healing, across space and time. About Yocheved Sidof Yocheved is a spiritual and community leader, activist, writer, mystic, and guide. She harnesses decades of social entrepreneurship, leadership in progressive education, certifications, and lived experience — including her own wounds and healing — into the sacred and contemplative space she weaves at Ohmek, a community for women and men pursuing deeper ways of being. Resources (Podcast series of Yocheved’s teachings) Recording Date: 12 February 2025 00:00 Introduction to Collective Healing 01:35 Yocheved's Journey of Vulnerability and Belonging 08:45 Exploring Ancestral Roots and Identity 16:25 The Path to Spiritual Leadership 32:01 The Power of Community and Healing 38:08 The Witnessing Journey to Aushwitz in Poland 48:43 Future Aspirations and Closing Reflections /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/37047875

Witnessing the Collective with Lori Shridhare 06/11/2025

Witnessing the Collective with Lori Shridhare What does collective healing have to do with creativity? And what role can poetry play in a world gripped by so much suffering? Lori Shridhare, a writer and director of communications at Harvard Medical School, began studying with teacher and international facilitator Thomas . After years of immersive study of collective and inter-generational trauma, Lori turned to writing poetry. Throughout 2024 as the destruction of Gaza unfolded, she began to experience words and images spontaneously come through her regular writing practice – fragments of sentences that spoke of struggling voices yearning to speak. This process inspired her to write the poem Witness. Target = Rubble, published in Merrion West, which you can hear Lori read in the of What Is Collective Healing? In this episode, Matthew and Lori explore how Lori moved beyond a purely intellectual understanding of trauma to gain an ever subtler perception of how the legacy of past transgressions – and the power of present atrocities – can live on in our minds, bodies and cultural soil – and how these forgotten layers can gradually be brought back into the light. They also discuss the mysterious process by which collective healing in groups can unlock new levels of creativity, and the sacred power of poetry to bear witness to the lives and loves of those whose voices have been muted by the violence of war and occupation. Lori has been collaborating with Thomas Hübl on writing and other projects since 2018, including a recently launched blog series for Psychology Today called . Lori lives in Arlington, Massachusetts. 00:00 Introduction: What is Collective Healing? 00:03 Exploring Trauma and Self-Awareness 02:19 Lori's Journey into Collective Healing 05:39 The Impact of the Boston Marathon bombings 06:52 Discovering Thomas Hübl and Collective Trauma 07:46 The Power of Group Healing and Meditation 08:28 Unpacking Ancestral and Collective Trauma 12:01 The Creative Process and Poetry 31:18 The Role of Witnessing in Healing 39:33 Current Challenges and Collective Healing in the US 49:28 Conclusion and Final Thoughts /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/36946350

Bonus Poem : Witness. Target = Rubble. by Lori Shridhare 06/09/2025

Bonus Poem : Witness. Target = Rubble. by Lori Shridhare Witness. Target = Rubble. by Lori Shridhare Published in Merion West, February 2025 I write as both the witness and the experiencer. We appear as two separate individuals. We are not. Witness is now the living trace of this encounter. -Gert-Jan van der Heiden Echoes of seismic blasts penetrate this skin of memory. I am under. Boulders on my back. Polygonals, squares, round. Slabs. We try to hide from what our vision sees, but we can’t. What comes next is a crumpled blank page. Subterranean dust. Wet fragments. I hear “You’re next.” You say, “Come closer, my love. If only with your eyes.” Waves of moments wash our bodies clearing the lens for presence. Droplets taste of dew, honey, sea salt, melting, in movement, in stillness. The essence of seeing you remains. The sense of trauma can thus be understood as a particular risk of the way in which a subject matter in a more general sense draws a witness near to or into itself. --Gert-Jan van der Heiden Why are the parents missing? We have a family with no elders. These ruins can’t make a neighborhood. Darkness and the movements within the basement shatter what’s above. Within the clouds of perception, sensing an unknown fluidity, while this body walks blindfolded, feeling objects in the dark. I bow down to what’s below my feet. All we have is ground to stand on. What happens when we lose the ground? I witness what’s below through my inner eye – the only capacity for sight left. Underbelly of the earth absorbs screams, consecrates the silence. Aftershocks awaken, bring water to dry tears of a sleeping world as we become the living cells of the dying. We thought there couldn’t be anything more. But hurricanes can collide with tornados, can join floods. Beautiful and horrific are the moment’s songs. I can’t feel my back. The rest of us dissolved. The torment is shredding us. Only the parents can punish the remaining children. Forceful strike on my beloved’s arm. Waving our arms to nobody The flights out of here don’t exist. We’ve become a landscape nobody can dream of. Don’t kill that which can’t exist anymore. Your very body is the matrix of crossings too dense for language to articulate. You are multiple. You are indeterminate. You are pluriversal. -Bayo Akomolafe Joy that absolves all of this. Here, sip from my salivation. People’s hearts don’t die in the rubble. Prison gates can’t contain these concave chests, reservoirs of humility, where whispers still breathe. I jump to the other side, but my body is stagnating. Find the life jacket that comes with the lifeboat. Rubble is not a structure. From where does silence speak? What ears can hear the muted voice? If we go down will we ever get up The falling, falling, falling, will you pick me up Time to be held in the arms of the beloved 4. Broken witnesses, limp as wilted filaments in cracked bulbs The era of the witness. -Annette Wieviorka We can’t become what we refuse to see. There isn’t a different place than the earth we stand on. Darting in and out of continents. Glaciers merged and emerged, joining us once again. The chafed elbows that link together are our own not our own our own not our own Parallel structures and discontinuous thoughts clamor for attention The razing of entire beings Razed. Raised. Beds. The landscape, the barren field. Where does creative power meet destruction? Can language generate life once the blood stops? What languages are invited to come through that have not yet been spoken? Take the scythe. Remove the debris in the field The filling of the new creation will come Has come. Panic is a vibratory field of fear. It is lodged in the body. The calling is the echo of our arrival. -Thomas Hübl Seeing that allows steps into finer gradations of light awake to both the something and the nothing sitting to be perfectly awake crying to the one who knows my soul loving his unspoken soft depths of beauty 5. Voices of despair, long before our ears hear them Birthing a new form that comes alive through soil, consecrated compost pixelated meteor decimated granite crystallized limestone guts and bones seeped in sand. Voice of mourning wails of sorrow turn this earth into my life-giving blood Eyes that moisten the sand under my knees buds awaken to new growth Alive....burning into the night A new form arising Taking the handful that's mine grains of hollowed stardust ashes of skeletons future of my bones soil of my skin the love I'm making tumbling me towards home 6. Precision Finding clay we mold to shape this precious world, drawn in contours of touch - formed softness, our delicacy of being Down on my knees, begging for one right word for consciousness that is never wasted. Never gone. br /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/36901140

The Collective Wound of Colonialism with Laura Calderón de la Barca 06/04/2025

The Art of Collective Integration with David Young 05/28/2025

The Art of Collective Integration with David Young Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard. Join Matthew Green and David Young as they dive into the mechanisms of polarization, the significance of grief, and the potential for societal transformation through collective healing. David draws us into his comprehension that collective healing is not just about the sum of individuals but about understanding and attuning to the collective as a single entity. He discusses his approaches to dealing with polarization by giving individuals ways to address social polarization within their own bodies, which in turn can reduce the overall charge in the collective system. David shares insights from his background, including his experiences as a martial artist and a certified mindfulness teacher, and outlines the importance of small groups of committed individuals in healing collective issues. About David Young David Young is a collective integration facilitator, certified mindfulness teacher, and leadership coach with over two decades of experience in trauma-informed consulting, systems change, and leadership development. After training in collective trauma integration with Thomas Hübl, David has focused his work on fostering healing in communities through large-scale retreats, intergenerational leadership initiatives, and cultural resilience programs across the U.S. and Europe. His facilitation style—rooted in mindfulness, relational attunement, and design-thinking—guides individuals, teams, and organizations toward deeper connection and transformation. David also co-created trauma-informed training programs like Attuned and The Leadership Dojo, and brings the same grounded presence to his passions for martial arts, tea shops, and outdoor adventures with his children. The Global Social Witnessing Facilitator Training offers a deep exploration into the practice of attuning to world events with an embodied awareness, fostering a culture of conscious global citizenship. This training is designed for individuals who seek to move beyond passive consumption of news and into a space of active witnessing, where presence becomes a transformative force for healing and change. Relevant Links: 00:00 Introduction to Collective Healing 00:02 Understanding the Concept of the Collective 00:44 David Young's Approach to Polarization 03:13 The Importance of Collective Awareness 09:31 Exploring the Dynamics of Polarization 11:56 Practical Steps in Addressing Polarization 21:26 The Role of Grief in Collective Healing 28:30 Understanding Connection and Distance 28:53 The Role of Grief in Relationships 29:24 Techniques for Reconciliation 29:54 Historical and Collective Distance 30:56 Personal Reflections and Political Dynamics 35:17 The Need for Collective Healing Spaces 38:47 The Art of Collective Integration 39:04 David's Journey and Commitment to Healing 43:57 The Influence of Thomas Huble 47:12 Future Vision for Collective Healing 51:21 Conclusion and Final Thoughts /episode/index/show/8192f026-2401-40d1-87ad-ee38ff00970a/id/36740740

Global Social Witnessing with Manda Johnson 05/21/2025

What is Collective Healing?

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