After completing two cohorts following the initial launch in June 2022, Eleison continues to implement the Healing and Resilience after Trauma (HaRT) program, welcoming the third group of participants this month. In collaboration with the HaRT nonprofit organization, this 12-week group mental health program combines mindfulness, mind-body practices, and supportive group discussions to address three core themes: safety in the body, radical self-love, and healthy relationships. Implementation of the HaRT program reflects Eleison’s commitment to providing trauma-informed, survivor-centered, and community-based mental health care to survivors of human trafficking.
Since its launch, HaRT has been an incredible success. Thus far, the program has helped survivors cultivate a more holistic understanding of their mental health and well-being by learning how to use their bodies as an avenue for self-care. Participants learn that they can take control of their own reactions to stressors by developing skills like mindful breathing or meditation. They also learn how to better communicate with others when they are experiencing stress so that they can support each other in navigating their emotions and experiences. In addition, participants learn about themselves through self-reflection exercises that help them identify patterns within themselves that may be contributing to their feelings of isolation or helplessness—patterns that can then be addressed throughout the sessions.
Survivors in the first two HaRT cohorts expressed feeling physically relaxed, socially accepted, and emotionally supported. They report feeling less stressed, more at ease, and visibly kinder to themselves both during and after the sessions. Participants also mentioned improving their interpersonal relationships and learning to set personal boundaries. One participant mentioned:
“I noticed physical changes in my body. I did the stretching and poses at home. When I came home after the HaRT sessions, I could sleep better. I’m no longer emotional. For example, if I feel like crying, I would no longer dwell on it so much. I listen to the negative things people say about me, but I no longer dwell on them. I no longer have time for that. I feel happy because I feel I have value. In the HaRT discussions, I heard ‘you’re important.’ When I shared during the HaRT sessions, I can say that I was accepted.”
Despite the Philippines’ establishment of a national mental health system in 2018 and the anti-trafficking sector’s growing recognition of the need to address survivors’ mental health, significant barriers remain in mainstreaming psychosocial support services and making mental health a public priority. Most interventions overemphasize clinical mental health and rely on the availability of specialists, who are extremely limited in number and often inaccessible to marginalized communities. The HaRT program provides a free, accessible, and community-based alternative form of mental health care, making a significant and pioneering contribution to the anti-trafficking sector.
Eleison is currently conducting research on the impact of the program on survivors’ mental health and social well-being in collaboration with HaRT and the University of Alabama. After a mixed-methods evaluation of the intervention, the HaRT research will culminate with this third cohort of HaRT participants.
If you want to support the HaRT program, you can contact us at info@eleisonfoundation.org or donate here.
