This chapter moves from a consideration of Western Modernist ideals that have turned us inward looking, fuelling an illusion of an independent sense of self divorced from context, to calling attention to the need for such a contextual understanding and practice attuned to trauma and healing, in place.

Traumatic reactions play out in our biology and emotions but also in our beliefs about the world, the way we relate to each other, how integrated we experience our sense of self, somatic disturbances in our body, our ability to function and the continuity of our memory. As such, traumatisation can pass from one generation to the next, its origins getting lost in time but transmitted via the way others are able to relate to us and through the biases we create in our communities.

It asks us, how would we see ourselves and mental wellbeing differently?, and importantly, would that lead us to more interesting ways forward as a society? What role does ‘place’ have in the system that creates our felt sense of wellness and connection to others and purpose?