Health and Wellness Programming For Survivors
At Alabaster Jar Project, we believe that long-term independence for survivors of human trafficking comes from well-rounded healing. It is not enough to only provide one type of trauma therapy, or only provide life skills in their programming. We believe that they need the entire package of healing, including life skills coaching, several different forms of therapy, peer support, and most recently, we have implemented a Health and Wellness program as a part of their required commitments.
There are many reasons why we are including wellness training as a part of survivors healing. Good exercise and proper nutrition can stimulate their mind, which helps their brain recover from trauma. It is a well-known fact that the body and mind are connected, so we must nurture both!
One reason it is so important to promote health and wellness for the survivors at Grace House is because more often than not, with recovery comes weight gain. There is nothing wrong with that! Gaining weight when going sober can actually be a sign that the survivor is getting much better. But, even though our staff strives to create a body-positive atmosphere, we hold their physical health as a top priority.
How does recovery lead to weight gain?
When survivors make the commitment to go sober, their body starts to completely rebuild itself, strengthening their organs which may have been damaged from drug and alcohol abuse, as well as other parts of their body which might have been damaged due to physical abuse as a result of trafficking trauma. This process of rebuilding their body takes a lot of energy, and for our body, energy comes in the form of food. Not to mention, many survivors are denied food during their exploitation, and eating three regular meals a day, when their body is used to not eating much at all, can act like a shock to their system.
We want all the survivors we serve to have long-lasting healing, so of course, we don’t want them to associate sobriety with being unhealthy. Our solution to this is to implement Health and Wellness programming, in which we partner with USD Nursing School students, to instill healthy habits in Grace House Residents that will carry over when they start to live independent lives.
Our team at Alabaster Jar Project is committed to bringing wholeness to survivors’ lives. We are constantly researching and implementing new ways to give survivors of trafficking well-rounded healing so they have a fair second shot at life. To support the futures of survivors of human trafficking, please visit our website.
