Healing the World, Healing Ourselves

In this timely and thought-provoking conversation, Janina Fisher sits down with somatic therapist, activist, author, and social change leader Staci Haines to explore the profound relationship between personal healing and collective transformation.

Drawing on more than three decades of work at the intersection of trauma recovery and social justice, Staci challenges the idea that trauma exists only within individuals. Instead, she invites us to consider how systems of oppression, violence, inequality, and disconnection shape both our nervous systems and our societies—and why healing must address both.

Together, Janina and Staci discuss what it means to pursue healing in a world that often feels unsafe, how trauma lives not only in events but in environments, and why resilience grows through connection, community, and shared purpose. They reflect on the emotional toll of living in turbulent times, the importance of finding beauty and “micro-joys” amid uncertainty, and the role of embodied healing in helping us stay engaged rather than overwhelmed.

From childhood trauma and social movements to climate anxiety, community care, and intergenerational hope, this conversation offers a powerful vision of healing that extends beyond the therapy room and into the broader world we are creating together.

Whether you're a clinician, activist, or someone trying to navigate these challenging times with greater courage and compassion, this episode offers inspiration, perspective, and a reminder that healing and social change are deeply connected.

• Trauma is not only about what happens to us—it is also about the environments and systems we live within
• Personal healing and social change are not separate endeavors
• Systems built on “power over” relationships often create the conditions for trauma, oppression, and disconnection
• Community is one of the most powerful antidotes
• Healing helps us access the resilience needed to stay engaged with the challenges of our time
• Embodied practices can help transform fear and helplessness into presence, purpose, and action
• Working toward a more just and life-affirming future is both a healing practice and an act of hope

Staci has been experimenting at the intersections of personal and social transformation for the last 30 years through the work of politicized somatics, trauma healing, embodied leadership, and transformative justice. Her work brings transformative capacity building social and climate justice leaders, organizations and alliances.

She is currently the co-lead of The Outer Work Project, an initiative partnering with internationally known trauma healing and embodiment leaders, and their communities, to mobilize thousands of new people into progressive social movements. The first cohort starts July 11th!

Staci is the author of The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing and Social Justice (2019) and Healing Sex: A Mind Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma. She co-founded generative somatics and founded generationFIVE, committed to ending child sexual abuse within five generations.

https://www.stacihaines.com/

The Outer Work Project

https://theouterworkproject.org/

Staci’s Books:

The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing, and Social Justice

https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Trauma-Somatics-Healing-Justice/dp/1623173876

Healing Sex: A Mind-Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma

⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Sex-Mind-Body-Approach-Sexual/dp/1573442933

Trainings:

https://www.stacihaines.com/self-paced