Excerpts

Chapter 1Striking Out on a New PathALTHOUGH WE ALL KNOW that suffering is a universal human experience, the modern world still does not know how to speak about and understand the terrible experiences that human beings inflict on each other every day. Because of the horror and disbelief associated with human-on-human violence, it is easy to slide into a cynical attitude that nothing can be done to prevent this violence or to recover from it. One reason for this is that the major harms caused by human aggression are invisible wounds. While physical scars can be identified and accounted for by medical science, psychological, spiritual, and existential injuries remain hidden.I have spent the past twenty-five years caring for people who have experienced human aggression on a societal scale, as refugees, victims of torture or terrorism, and survivors of war. My experiences reveal a new way of thinking about human aggression and the healing of the physical and emotional damage caused by violence. Major insights, which I call scientific epiphanies or revelations, occurred as I interacted with my patients. I proceeded to investigate these conclusions scientifically and, when they were proven valid, to integrate them into my clinical care. These revelations form the basis for the healing practices advocated in this book.My pathway to this work was a circuitous one. Educated in a technical high school with an engineering curriculum of physics, chemistry, and math, I discovered early on that science does not address the moral and humanistic issues of society. These matters are better addressed by the humanities and arts. Although I had never met a doctor except during routine physical examinations, in college I majored in chemistry and religion, fantasizing that in medicine I could apply my interests in science, religion, philosophy, and the arts to better the human condition. While in medical school in New Mexico, I worked in the remote Hispanic villages of northern New Mexico and the Indian reservations of Zuni and Jemez Pueblo, serving poor patients within a rich cultural and natural environment. Subsequently I undertook residency training in psychiatry while simultaneously pursuing an advanced degree in religion and philosophy. Divinity school provided the moral compass for my medical and scientific skills, as well as for my future work with survivors of extreme violence. My interests in the arts and literature have also informed my work, yielding metaphorical insights to mysteries that are beyond the abilities of science and medicine to explain.A NEW CLINICWhen I arrived at Harvard as a young doctor in the early 1980s, I knew that I wanted to provide the highest quality of medical and psychiatric care to the poorest people in my community, in spite of financial and political barriers. Looking around the Greater Boston area for those who most needed help, I found that newly arrived refugees from Southeast Asia were both extremely poor and almost t Excerpted from Healing Invisible Wounds: Paths to Hope and Recovery in a Violent World by Richard F. Mollica All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.