On Friday October 27, 2017 Founder and Therapist of Embracing Empowerment Counselling Services, Parul Shah attended a Full Day Seminar on Working with Trafficked Persons:  Dynamics and Best Practices.  Director of Anti-Human Trafficking Program Larissa Maxwell was the Guest Speaker for the Day.  Larissa spoke a lot about the difference between Trauma Informed Care  and the necessity of Mental Health Professionals to use Trauma Sensitive Care especially dealing with victims and survivors of Human Trafficking. Trauma Sensitive Care includes specifically designed Therapeutic strategies, building autonomy, compassion are a few examples.

There are three forms of Human Trafficking:

Sexual Exploitation,

Labour, and Organ.

The most known is Sexual Human Trafficking.  A 2005 Canadian Statistics study showed numbers in regards to Human Trafficking that were before the Courts are astonishing!  Out of 360 identifed 341 were Canadians related cases; 111 were underage and the numbers are rising.

Human Trafficking often has a result where some victims become the one who victimizes another. The cycle can continue, however Trauma Sensitive Care, can bring back the humanity in the horrific human acts placed upon them.

We often hear “walk a mile in my shoes” when we describe our own hardships, hurdles, complexity of life, trauma, but what happens when we actually understand that phrase. We build empathy, we learn there are two truths, we learn about someone’s trigger, or as Larissa Maxwell suggested “activating thoughts/emotions”; we learn to listen when someone tells their story; we learn to unravel the pain, and we learn to heal.

Excerpt: Information provided through Larissa Maxwell and her Organization Deborah’s Gate that is located in an undisclosed Location for those who have been traumatized through Human Trafficking.