Collective & Transgenerational Trauma in the Balkans Lab II

Exploring the Unintegrated Past & Inviting Healing in the Present

Hybrid | English

What will we be exploring in this Lab?

The Balkan Peninsula, today a mosaic of nations and cultures, has been a cradle of civilization, a crossroads of empires, and a theatre of pivotal historical events that have shaped our world. The Western Balkans in particular have been an ideological front line for millennia – between the Roman and Byzantine Empires, Christianity and Islam, the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires, and more recently communism and capitalism. What can we learn today from these fragmenting experiences, and how can these lessons help us create a lighter and more inclusive life in this region and beyond?

Who is invited to participate?

We are inviting women and men who are touched by the situation in the Balkans and who feel ready to explore and be part of a collective healing movement in the region. You are welcome when you are living in one of its countries, when you have your origins there or when your heart is there, also when there is no direct connection with the region. We feel the whole will benefit from the coming together of a diversity of perspectives, from the inside as well as from the outside.

More about the journey of the Lab

We will start with strengthening the group coherence and creating a safe container. Entering the landscape of trauma, we will include individual experiences by listening, witnessing and feeling emerging emotions. After building up trust, we will give space to painful experiences and invite healing. Sharing about customs, narratives, listening to music will help us value the differences. In addition to the whole group, small groups will meet for further processing. We intend the lab to be an impulse for self-organised action and further individual healing beyond it.

When will we be meeting?

We will start in January with meeting every three weeks for the first four sessions, to establish connection and commitment. After that, we will meet every four weeks until the end of the year. Halfway through the journey, we will meet in-person in the Balkans for a 3-day retreat. The online meetings will take place on Thursdays from 6-8pm CET.