Lesson objective:

Thank you for following through with your learning experience with us. Dealing with unwanted pain requires unwanted efforts, so we must always be vigilant about that as we move forward, in the hopes for a better and brighter tomorrow.

Thank you for joining us. We hope that these videos have been informative and interesting.

Recall that The Field Guide for Barefoot Psychology is an educational and psychosocial support tool for those affected by stress and trauma. Our team of practitioners and scientists wrote the guide hand in hand with individuals who have experienced stressful or traumatic experiences including systemic oppression, violence, war, forced displacement, and armed conflict. We believe that scientific information is a right. We all have a right to know what may be happening in our brains and in our bodies.

We do not choose the injustices we experience, and it is therefore fundamental that we provide access to all about what some of the effects on injustice might be in the brain, the body, and behavior. 

We had to main objectives with The Field Guide: 

• To clarify why and how adverse experiences can affect the brain, body, and social behavior 
• To provide specific information and exercises to recover from the effects of stress and trauma, improve emotion regulation, and build resilience  

We hope that we have met these goals, between these short videos and the self-care exercises we’ve provided as well. 

Throughout these videos, we have shared some of what we know about some of the things that happen to the brain and body though stressful or traumatic experiences. 

We don’t expect that scientific information on its own will change the course of our lives, but we do believe that knowledge is power, and knowledge can relieve some of the burdens of shame and stigma many of us face when confronting issues of mental health and trauma. 

It is hard to confront our pain if we have no framework for understanding it, and while there are many other types of knowledge from faith traditions and philosophies that help us make sense of suffering, we hope that the science shared here has shed new light, and now insight that can make recovery just a bit easier. 

Science is your right, and the self-awareness it brings is a tremendous asset in navigating a complex and unjust world. 

Thank you for joining us, and thank you for learning some barefoot psychology.