McCormick’s Trauma Healing Initiative is dedicated to fostering a compassionate, trauma-informed culture in theological education. With a heart for community, it strives to strengthen connections with faith groups and partners, equipping them with valuable resources to effectively address and heal from institutional, historical, collective, and personal trauma.

Together, we can create a supportive environment for all!

The initiative focuses on education about what trauma is, where it comes from, how and when it reveals itself, and offering programming dedicated to equipping pastoral leaders to help communities heal when traumatic events occur or recur. Healing-centered engagement with trauma recognizes that church and community leaders are not usually clinically-trained therapists or counselors but, in their roles, they often find themselves attending to those struggling to cope with trauma. Pastors and other leaders can draw on cultural and spiritual resources for grounding and centering the community. A unique characteristic of healing-centered engagement is that it pays close attention to the well-being of caregivers. Leaders come to recognize that their health and well-being are tied to the health and well-being of the communities they lead and serve. THI will contribute to the broad-based formation of pastoral leaders to respond to trauma by focusing on trauma-informed pedagogy and public facing education about best practices for trauma-informed ministry.

The program is being funded through a grant from the Lilly Endowment’s Pathways to Tomorrow Initiative.