Influences and Methodologies

The development of Towards Understanding and Healing was informed and influenced by both research on the need for storytelling and dialogue as well as the experience and practice of other projects in both Northern Ireland and abroad:

Brits Speak Out

Around the Good Friday Agreement in 1997-1998, John Lindsay, a writer/researcher for the Guildhall Press, made contact with a number of former British soldiers who had served in Northern Ireland over the past 30 years. These soldiers shared their stories with Lindsay who compiled them into a book entitled Brits Speak Out - British Soldiers' Impressions of the Northern Ireland Conflict.

In the course of the research it became apparant that there are many combatants and ex-combatants who suffer from social and psychological problems as a consequence of their experiences in Northern Ireland. Among those interviewed, there were soldiers who expressed the need to confront their past and the experience of serving in Northern Ireland. The soldiers who articulated their story felt that describing their experience was in some ways therapeutic. A number of soldiers expressed an interest in revisiting Northern Ireland to engage in dialogue with a community that they perceived as the "enemy."

Lindsay's research reinforced the idea that there was a need for a safe storytelling space. His book was influential in the formation of Towards Understanding and the first residentials, which sought to include all individuals impacted by The Troubles.

To Reflect and Trust

The format of the first residentials was based on two models. The first was an international model of practice entitled "To Reflect and Trust," which was set up by one of key speakers, Prof. Dan Bar-On of Ben-Gurion University in Israel. Prof. Bar-On was responsible for creating a dialogue group between descendents of victims of the Holocaust and descendents of Nazi perpetrators. The model concentrates on interactive workshops where participants are encouraged to share experiences at a personal level within a group setting. Bar-On's research is focused on exploring holistically the generational reverberations of conflict on societies struggling to come to terms with their violent history.

An Crann/The Tree

The second model of practice was based on the work of "An Crann/The Tree," a Northern Irish organisation set up to help people tell and hear stories of the conflict. This work includes storytelling at the individual/group level and uses the arts to help people articulate sometimes very painful memories. The ethos of An Crann/The Tree is one of inclusivity and validation of all individual experiences. By gathering and sharing the disparate narrative, the organisation aspires to connect people to the human and emotional detail of the hurts that have been done to all.