TRAUMA HEALING INSTITUTE

We provide tools to help people and churches heal from trauma in their communities.

Trauma healing resources for churches, ministries, and other organizations to help people heal around the globe.

helps people heal

We provide ministry tools that help people around the world heal from the pain of trauma, grief and loss. We support individuals, churches and other organizations with resources they can use to help people heal in their own communities.

Why we help bring healing

Trauma knows no boundaries. It affects people of all ages, genders, and races. It affects people you know. The Trauma Healing Institute equips people like you, in communities and churches like yours, to help create safe spaces for healing.

How Trauma Healing Institute helps bring healing

How we help bring healing

Through the Trauma Healing Institute, American Bible Society helps equip individuals and churches to be part of God’s healing process for those who have experienced trauma. We use a Bible-based approach to help people recover from painful experiences and reconnect with God, others, and themselves.

Our program combines the wisdom of Scripture, proven mental health practices, and the power of community. For more than 20 years, people of faith all over the world have been learning how to safely and effectively lead groups and help people grow closer to God.

In addition to our trusted small group program, we also have dozens of standalone resources that can be used by anyone without training. These resources also combine basic mental health helping principles with the wisdom of the Bible to offer support to adults, teens, and children.

Healing In Community

Trauma keeps people from experiencing the life-transforming message of God’s Word. In small group settings, certified Healing Group leaders create a safe space where people can help each other heal and begin to remove those roadblocks.

Our Pillars

Equipping Local Churches

Trauma, grief, and loss exist in every community. That’s why we make it possible for local churches to be part of the healing process. Our resources use spiritual tools along with mental health best practices to equip the church to respond.

Trustworthy and Faith-driven

Our unique method brings together proven mental health practices and the wisdom of the Bible in a way that’s accessible to everyone. Research has shown that our program can significantly reduce PTSD, trauma-related grief, and negative emotions, as well as increasing spiritual engagement.

Accessible Programs

Our programs are designed with simple language and clear ideas that are easy to understand. We offer training and curriculum in audio, video and print formats, in various languages, and via mobile app, so that they can be used quickly and easily anywhere in the world.

Testimonies

Meet Christy

Learn how one small group participant found healing and freedom through Trauma Healing work taking place in jails and prisons across the U.S.

Meet George

See the miraculous story of George, who found God through a Trauma Healing session in Uganda, after growing up as a child soldier.

Meet Rebecca

One in every two people in Africa experience trauma, and many children are born into it. Rebecca discovered hope and recovery after her village was attacked and she lost her mother.

SEE MORE STORIES

THI & American Bible Society

The ABS Mission and Why Trauma Matters

American Bible Society’s mission is driven by a simple question: What if every person in every country could read, understand, and engage with God’s Word?

It’s a powerful mission. God’s Word can change hearts, minds, and lives, and that kind of power reaching every person would change the entire world.

But there’s more to it than making the Bible available to every person in the world. They need to be able to engage God’s Word with their heart, mind, and soul. And for people suffering from trauma, that kind of deep engagement can feel impossible.

That’s why we exist. Through the Trauma Healing Institute, American Bible Society equips churches to be a part of God’s healing process for those experiencing trauma by sharing the life-changing message of the Bible.

American Bible Society’s mission is to help people all over the world read and deeply engage with Jesus through Scripture. This means helping make the Bible available to people in their heart language, distributing it to people who have never had a copy of their own, and advocating for the Bible to play a role in culture.
But having access to the Bible is one thing—deeply engaging with it is another. Trauma keeps people from being able to fully engage with the Bible. It keeps them from connecting with God, themselves, and the people they love. It causes shame, isolates, causes people to get stuck in hurt places and keeps them from growing.
Finding healing from trauma allows people to connect more meaningfully with the Bible. It gives them a chance to encounter God and his love for them in new, powerful ways. It helps them to return to themselves as God created them to be, and to be ready to deeply engage with him and his Word.
Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” God cares about our pain. And when we face trauma, we believe he wants to meet us and help us find healing through his Word.

A key part of American Bible Society’s purpose is restoring broken lives through God’s Word. And that’s what our trauma healing program is all about. Through engaging with his Word in community with others, we can find healing and find our way back to a deep, meaningful relationship with God.
Our trauma healing program incorporates proven mental health practices and a time-tested library of resources. But all of that is built on one foundation: the wisdom of the Bible. Our resources reach hurting people through Scripture, helping them to find healing from their trauma and to reconnect with the God who loves them.
That’s what makes this program truly life-changing. People feel the weight of trauma not only mentally and emotionally, but also spiritually — and our program gives people the chance to engage with their pain on every level. They find healing from the Healer himself, through his Word.
At the Trauma Healing Institute, we believe in the power of Scripture because we’ve seen it at work. Our program has been shown to significantly reduce PTSD, trauma-related grief, and negative emotions, as well as increase long-term engagement with the Bible.
"Unresolved trauma and loss block people from engaging with the Bible and finding God’s deep and abiding love,” said Rebecca Taguma, Executive Director of Trauma Healing. “When people experience trauma and loss, they look for comfort and answers. They are open to engaging with Scripture in new ways."
The healing power of God’s Word is real. Through our Bible-based trauma healing program, ordinary people in ordinary churches can help bring that healing power into the lives of hurting people.

The Research

Trauma Healing in the U.S. Church

On average, 2 in 5 congregants have experienced some form of trauma. Learn about the needs and responses in rural, suburban, and urban communities in the U.S.

Research from Baylor University and American Bible Society

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Spiritually Oriented Trauma Healing in Nigeria

Field Study of the Healing the Wounds of Trauma program

The Trauma Healing Institute Impact Survey

THI History and Changes

The Trauma Healing Institute was created by the American Bible Society in 2010. But the story of how our program began and how it has grown to touch lives all over the world goes much deeper. It's a story full of God's goodness, mercy, and unending love.

The earliest version of our Trauma Healing materials, which we now refer to as “the THI method,” were first created in the late 1990s. And, like everything we do today, they were created in response to real human need—to help people who were dealing with trauma.
After the Rwandan genocide in 1994, there was widespread war and conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a response, local pastors, counselors, and community leaders came together to find a way to help people who were suffering deeply. They understood that traumatized people couldn’t engage with God or the Bible until their pain was addressed. So together, they created the first version of Healing the Wounds of Trauma: How the Church Can Help. our trauma healing method.
Five unique characteristics that make our program work
Our trauma healing materials have evolved over time, but the same five characteristics that make our program uniquely effective were at the heart of the program from the start:
1. It brings together proven mental health practices and the wisdom of the Bible in a way that’s accessible to everyone.
2. It’s designed for anyone to use, with simple language and clear ideas that are easy to understand.
3. It happens in small groups, led by trained facilitators who don’t need to be professional counselors.
4. It uses a participatory format to help people engage deeply with themselves, with God, and with each other.
5. It’s adaptable, so people can use it no matter their background.
Trauma Healing’s first official lessons were drafted in 2001 by mental health professionals, Bible translators, Scripture engagement consultants, and members of SIL International, an organization that is now a member of our THI Alliance. Then, in 2010, the American Bible Society took on the role of stewarding the Trauma Healing method and materials in partnership with the Trauma Healing Alliance.
The American Bible Society formed the Trauma Healing Institute to ensure that our program method, model, and resources remain relevant and accessible. And today, more than 7,500 healing groups facilitators are using the THI method to help hurting people in more than 100 countries. In total, our program has trained more than 20,000 facilitators. It is available in more than 150 languages, and more than 250,000 people have participated in healing groups around the world.
Today, the Trauma Healing Institute is made up of four parts:
1. Trauma Healing Alliance
The Trauma Healing Alliance is a group of international organizations that are actively committed to the ministry of trauma healing, working together to maximize our capacity and increase the reach of trauma healing worldwide.
2. Advisory Council
Our Advisory Council is composed of subject matter experts and seasoned practitioners in the areas of mental health counseling and Biblical studies, making sure that our approach is sound, well-informed, and adheres to best practices.
3. Curriculum Authors
The four authors of the original curriculum in the book Healing the Wounds of Trauma bring a wealth of experience and perspective to our work, and also to the development of new resources and materials.
4. Operational and Support Staff
A team of operational staff works to serve and equip partner organizations globally, supporting the tools and systems that facilitate implementation and shared learning around the world.
Our mission today is the same that it’s ever been: to make the THI method available to as many churches and people as we can around the world. And one of the ways we’re doing that today is through technology.
The THI Audio Healing Group app delivers both training and curriculum in audio and video format. It streamlines reporting, communication, and program management, giving users up-to-date information through a time-saving process. Through this platform, we can offer every program participant more Bible-based resources in the palm of their hand, offer a space for them to connect with others, and even become trained to help.
Our history at the Trauma Healing Institute is, at its core, a story of God’s faithfulness. It’s a story of how he can lead people in one place to create something that will change lives of people all over the world.
It’s a story we’re proud to be a part of. And it’s a story God’s still writing. If you’d like to be a part of the next chapter, we’d love to have you join us.