When Violence Reawakens Old Wounds: Community Trauma, Values & Collective Care

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When violence occurs in a shared public space, it doesn’t only impact those directly involved — it ripples through communities, values, and our collective sense of safety.

In this short, reflective episode of Growing Tall Poppies: Thrive After Trauma, Dr Nat Green explores community trauma, collective memory, and why events like the recent violent attack at Bondi during a Jewish Hanukkah gathering can feel deeply triggering for so many Australians (and audiences worldwide).

Violence in familiar, public places can shake us in ways that are difficult to explain. Even if we weren’t there. Even if we don’t know anyone directly affected.

Dr Nat speaks gently to the community trauma  — and why these events can reawaken old wounds, both personally and collectively. Drawing on decades of trauma-informed work, including her involvement in community recovery following the Port Arthur massacre, Dr Nat reflects on how trauma memory lives in the nervous system and why reactions such as fear, hypervigilance, sadness, anger, or numbness are deeply human responses.

This episode also acknowledges the specific impact of violence on communities gathering in faith and celebration, and speaks directly to the Jewish community with compassion and validation.

Importantly, listeners are offered clear, practical, trauma-informed strategies to support themselves in the days and weeks following community violence — not to fix or bypass what’s happened, but to help the nervous system settle and feel supported.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn About:

• What community trauma is and why it affects all of us
• How collective and historical trauma can be reactivated by current events
• Why heightened vigilance, sleep disruption, emotional swings, or numbness are normal trauma responses
• The impact of violence on communities gathering around faith and culture
• Trauma-informed grounding strategies to support the nervous system
• How compassion, connection, and shared values support collective healing

7 Trauma-Informed Strategies Shared in This Episode

• Creating psychological distance from distressing news and social media
• Orienting the body to present-moment safety
• Grounding through movement, breath, and sensory awareness
• Normalising emotional fluctuations after community trauma
• Staying connected to others as a buffer against isolation
• Lowering expectations and prioritising self-care
• Seeking additional professional or community support when needed

Resources & Support (Australia) If you are struggling, support is available:

• Lifeline — 13 11 14 (24/7 crisis support)
• Beyond Blue — 1300 22 4636
• Headspace (for young people) — headspace.org.au
• Your GP — for referrals and mental health care plans

If you are part of the Jewish community, consider reaching out to trusted community leaders or culturally safe support services.

If this episode resonates with you then I'd love for you to hit SUBSCRIBE so you can keep updated with each new episode as soon as it's released and we'd be most grateful if you would give us a RATING as well. You can also find me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drnatgreen/ or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DrNatalieGreen

Intro and Outro music: Inspired Ambient by Playsound.

Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to be deemed or treated as psychological treatment or to replace the need for psychological treatment.

Episode Transcript

Dr Nat Green (00:01):
Welcome to the Growing Tall Poppies Podcast.
I'm your host, Dr.
Nat Green, and I'm so excited tohave you join me as we discuss
what it means to navigate yourway through post-traumatic
growth and not just survive, butto thrive after trauma.

(00:23):
Through our podcast, we willexplore ways for you to create a
life filled with greaterpurpose, self-awareness, and a
deep inner peace.
Through integrating the manyyears of knowledge and
professional experience, as wellas the wisdom of those who have
experienced trauma firsthand.

(00:44):
We'll combine psychologyaccelerated approaches.
Coaching and personal experienceto assist you, to learn, to grow
and to thrive.
I hope to empower you to createdeeper awareness and
understanding and strongerconnections with yourself and
with others, whilst also pavingthe way for those who have

(01:08):
experienced trauma and adversityto reduce their suffering and
become the very best versions ofthemselves.
In order to thrive.
Thank you so much for joining meon today's episode.
Hello and welcome back toGrowing Tall Poppies, thrive
After Trauma.

(01:29):
I'm your host, Dr.
Nat Green, and today's episodeis a short and tender reflective
one.
Like many Australians I've beencarrying.
A real heaviness since theviolent attack at Bondi late
yesterday during a JewishHanukkah gathering.

(01:51):
I want to acknowledge thisclearly at the outset.
This was not just an attack onindividuals or a specific
community gathering.
It was an attack on somethingdeeply held in Australia.
Our shared sense of safety,belonging, values, and
community.

(02:11):
And if you are feelingunsettled, shaken, angry, sad,
or numb, that response is human,deeply.
Human events like this createwhat we call community trauma,
even if you weren't there.
Even if you don't know anyonedirectly affected, even if your

(02:34):
reaction has surprised you.
When violence occurs in a publicfamiliar place, a beach, a
shopping center, a celebration,a community gathering, it
disrupts something fundamentalin each and every one of us, and
in our nervous systems.

(02:54):
The belief that we are safetogether and when it targets
people gathering around faith orculture.
It strikes even more so at theheart of belonging, which
affects all of us, and thatripple effect travels far beyond
the event itself.

(03:17):
So I wanna name something reallyimportant here, something we
don't often speak about.
Australia carries significantcollective trauma memory for
many of us.
Events like this don't exist inisolation.
They sit alongside earliernational tragedies.

(03:41):
Some remembered consciously, andothers held quietly in the body.
For me personally, this eventhas stirred memories from
another time in the yearfollowing the Port Arthur
massacre.
I was involved in communityrecovery work arriving just days

(04:01):
after the event, and walkingalongside individuals, families,
staff, and communities as theytried to make sense of the
unimaginable.
What stays with me isn't so muchthe violence itself, but the
shock, the grief, and the waysafety was shattered nationally.

(04:25):
Those experiences don't simplydisappear.
They live on as nervous systemmemory quietly in our bodies.
So when something like thishappens, again, it can reawaken
responses even decades later.
And this may be happening formany people who are listening

(04:46):
right now, if this is stirringmore than this moment and old
feelings in you.
If you've noticed heightenedvigilance, trouble sleeping,
sudden emotion or numbnessmemories or sensations surfacing
unexpectedly, then please knowyou are not overreacting and

(05:11):
you're not going backwards.
You nervous system may beresponding not just to now, but
to what it also remembers, andthis is how trauma memory works.
That deserves our compassion,not our judgment.

(05:31):
I also wanna speak directly tothe impact on the Jewish
community.
When violence targets peoplegathered in faith and
celebration, it can activatelayers of historical and
collective trauma far beyond asingle event.

(05:51):
Fear, grief, anger, and hypervigilance in response to this
are deeply contextual andtotally understandable.
So if you are part of thatcommunity and listening, please
know your responses makeabsolute sense, and you should

(06:12):
not have to carry them alone.
Please do not carry them alone.
I wanna offer some specific,practical grounding strategies
to everyone listening now, notto bypass or to fix what's
happening, but to support yournervous system and your

(06:37):
emotional world in the daysahead.
You don't need to do all ofthese.
Just choose one or two thatmight feel doable right now.
Number one, create psychologicaldistance from the event where
possible repeated exposure keepsthe nervous system in threat
mode.

(06:58):
So just choose specific times tocheck the news.
Avoid scrolling before bed.
Gently mute social media contentif needed.
'cause as we know, it'severywhere right now.
Stay informed, but don't stayimmersed.
This isn't avoidance, it'snervous system care.

(07:21):
Number two, orient your body tosafety.
Let's try this a few times a dayif possible.
We know that trauma pulls usinto past or even imagined
futures.
So gently orient and bring yourbody back to now.

(07:41):
Name three things you can see.
Three things you can hear andthree things you can feel in or
against your body right now.
And then do two things.
You can see, hear, and feel.
And then one thing you can see,hear, and feel.

(08:02):
Just say quietly to yourself.
This moment is different and I'msafe right now.
That is a really.
Simple grounding technique tojust help you orient to the here
and now and stay grounded.

(08:22):
And number three, ground throughthe body, not the mind.
You don't need to think your waythrough this helpful grounding
includes walking, gentle,stretching, being in nature.
Warm showers, slow, steadybreathing.

(08:44):
'cause we know that the bodysettles long before the mind
does.
And number four, it's reallyimportant that we normalize
fluctuating emotions.
You might feel, okay, one momentand completely overwhelmed the
next.
That doesn't mean you'refragile.

(09:05):
It means that your system isprocessing things and everyone
will process at their own pace.
Let emotions move withoutanalyzing or judging them.
Allow feelings to move throughbreath through, walking through
quiet reflection or prayerwithout feeding them through

(09:28):
constant rumination.
Number five is to stayconnected.
Even quietly, we know thattrauma isolates connection
doesn't have to mean having deepconversations.
It can be just sitting withsomeone, sending a message,

(09:49):
sharing a meal, just being nearothers.
So reach out to someone safe.
'cause community regulatesnervous systems and community
connection.
Is one of the strongest buffersagainst trauma and it's really

(10:11):
important.
Number six, be gentle withexpectations.
Your productivity, your focus,your motivation may dip or may
feel non-existent right now.
That's okay.
It's not failure.
Lower the bar temporarily aslong as you need to care.

(10:34):
For yourself is a priority rightnow.
And number seven, seek extrasupport if needed.
If you feel as though yoursymptoms escalate to panic,
intrusive thoughts, significantsleep disruption, then reach

(10:55):
out.
Reach out to your gp, counselor,psychologist, or helplines, and
I'll put some numbers.
In the show notes, they arereally appropriate supports.
Seeking help is not weakness,it's regulation, and it's
needed, especially right now.

(11:18):
Moments like this absolutelytest us, not just individually,
but collectively.
They challenge our shared valuesof safety, inclusion, mateship.
The right to gather withoutfear.
Violence seeks to fracturecommunity, but our response is

(11:41):
to be one of compassion, care,and solidarity.
This is how we resist thatcommunity fracture.
I've seen this before.
In Port Arthur in Bondi before,and in the quiet moments where
people show up for one anotherthat matters, and that is how we

(12:06):
move forward.
We stay united and connected.
So if today feels heavy, pleasebe gentle with yourself.
If this has stirred old memoriesor reactions, you're not weak,
you're human.
And your nervous systemremembers and it matters.

(12:30):
And if you're able, then extendthat gentleness outward because
in moments like this, how wehold each other matters.
Take care of yourselves and takecare of each other.
Until next time, I'm Dr.
Nat Green and this is GrowingTall Poppies thrive after

(12:51):
trauma.
Bye for now.

Speaker 3 (12:58):
Thank you for joining me in this episode of Growing
Tall Poppies.
It is my deepest hope thattoday's episode may have
inspired and empowered you tostep fully into your
post-traumatic growth, so thatyou can have absolute clarity
around who you are, what mattersthe most to you, and to assist

(13:20):
you to release your negativeemotions.
And regulate your nervous systemso you can fully thrive.
New episodes are published everyTuesday, and I hope you'll
continue to join us as weexplore both the strategies and
the personal qualities requiredto fully live a life of

(13:40):
post-traumatic growth and tothrive.
So if it feels aligned to youand really resonates, then I
invite you to hit subscribe andit would mean the world to us.
If you could share this episodewith others who you feel may
benefit too, you may also findme on Instagram at Growing Tall

(14:01):
Poppies and Facebook, Dr.
Natalie Green.
Remember, every moment is anopportunity to look for the
lessons and to learn andincrease your ability to live
the life you desire and deserve.
So for now, stay connected.
Stay inspired.

(14:22):
Stand tall like the tall poppyyou are, and keep shining your
light brightly in the world.
Bye for.