An American woman living in Northern Ireland has launched a support programme after her own experience of childhood trauma.
Holly Perreault, 53, moved here from Seattle four years ago after meeting her Northern Irish husband while they both were working for Microsoft in the United States.
After learning more about the desperate mental health landscape here, Holly was eager to help which resulted in the birth of Recentre, a trauma support programme that's the first of its kind in Northern Ireland.
Read more: NI woman on rebuilding her life after hitting rock bottom
Holly has lived experience of childhood trauma, and has been outspoken about her healing journey which was ignited by attending a residental programme in America.
Using this knowledge, Holly and her team have structured their programmes to address trauma through a lens of kindness, compassion and selflessness.
The group use talking and behavioural therapies, alongside other techniques that involve the body and nervous system, to help survivors of trauma acknowledge, confront, and begin the path towards healing. This unique approach has seen decades of success in the United States, but Recentre are the first to bring it to Northern Ireland.
"I wanted to do this because I was 40 before I realised the impact trauma was having on me. In that time, things happened that I wished never happened and I can't take that back," Holly told Belfast Live.
"I want other people to know ahead of time, before their family dissolves, or they do something they regret, or they get into an addiction, that there's help out there. had been in therapy, but nobody ever told me there were programmes to work on this once and for all.
"Why are we having to wait until we're in our 40s or our 50s to take care of ourselves? There are lots of people who know they have trauma, they've worked at it, but it's still affecting them and they need to go deeper.
"They're tired and they want real support. Something that makes us very different is we look at the whole person, and we also use multiple types of therapy to support someone, it's not just one type."
Earlier this year, Recentre hosted a pilot programme for women aged 36 to 46 from Northern Ireland who had experienced complex childhood trauma. Independent researchers WellBeing in Mind evaluated the programme's results and found that after 75 hours of virtual and in-person group and residential support sessions, the participants had been helped in a number of emotional and physical ways.
Isolation and feelings of loneliness, anxiety, sadness, anger and shame were dramatically reduced, and each participant reflected on how their bodies now feel more relaxed, and better equipped to cope with day to day challenges.
Participants were also thankful to be provided with a safe place that enabled them to be vulnerable and trust others whilst healing through community. Many felt a growth in their confidence and warmly welcomed back feelings of joy and self-compassion.
When looking at trauma, a worrying estimate of 61% of the adult population in Northern Ireland have experienced a traumatic event during childhood or later in life.
Holly said they're hoping Recentre can help those suffering from inter-generational trauma and their families.
She said: "We can work with people who went through The Troubles and their children. Parents went through a process of fear, so they maybe parented in fear, which can affect your childhood.
"Trauma affects how you parent and how you show up for your kids. People have a lot of shame - we almost have to whisper the word trauma, but it shouldn't be like that.
"If we can say 'yeah, I'm hurting and I'm going to get help' not only are you supporting yourself, you're showing modelling behaviour for your children. That's something I've experienced with my own daughter. I've started modelling for her how you can go get help."
Recentre's launch event took place earlier this week following Health Minister Robin Swann’s announcement of a designated Northern Ireland regional mental health service, and founders of the group urging decision-makers to consider a broader range of approaches when dealing with issues surrounding trauma.
Holly said they can help provide deeper support to the NHS when dealing with mental health waiting lists in Northern Ireland, and are planning to engage with Stormont to make this a reality.
"We need to educate people and let them know we're here, there's a new way to do things. One in five people are on anti-depressants here, it's horrific," Holly added.
"There are other ways to heal, there are other ways to support people. What frustrates me is when it becomes about the money.
"We don't think about that, I'm not taking a salary and I've funded this company so far. I pay three staff members, because we know it's about the five people who just finished our pilot programme. It's always about the people.
"It's frustrating for us when it feels as if that's not what's thought about here in Northern Ireland. I'm sure there's reasons for it, but I know there's ways to do it differently and better."
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