At this event you will have the opportunity to view story cloths from CTP healing circles around the world. Founder and Executive Director Dr. Rachel Cohen will speak about how textile testimonials can provide a pathway for healing for survivors of human rights abuses. The exhibit amplifies the voices of women, girls, and LGBTQI people who have been silenced by systems of oppression and violence. The story cloths invite us to bear witness to their suffering, their resilience and their capacity for recovery.

The CTP approach takes inspiration from the ancient practice of making story cloths found across many cultures: Women come together to sew their 'unspeakable' stories into images in cloth. They find safety, support, community, and a vital means of self-expression. In the group therapy, they begin to experience their stories in a new way—free of stigma, shame, self-blame, guilt, and the body’s automatic response to traumatic experiences. The sewing circle becomes a community of acceptance and support for those who have been stigmatized and rejected.

As she stitches her story, one participant explains its impact: “I feel like I’ve rid myself of a heavy load, a load I carried. It’s passed now. I am getting rid of things that I had carried in my heart.”

Learn More www.commonthreadsproject.org

Common Threads Project (CTP) is a non-profit humanitarian organization that uses textile work, art therapy, mind-body approaches and group trauma treatment to provide pathways for recovery for survivors of sexual violence, war and displacement. Since its founding in 2012, CTP has established healing programs for in Ecuador, Nepal, Bosnia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and in refugee communities in the US. We believe that all survivors, regardless of circumstances, deserve deeply effective and enduring recovery services.