Gerald Kiesman has accomplished a great deal in the eight years since he moved away
from Prince Rupert.
Prince Rupert Daily News
June 9, 2008
Gerald Kiesman has accomplished a great deal in the eight years since he moved away
from Prince Rupert.
A resident of the city for 35 years, he left in 2000 and headed to Victoria seeking to find
the resources he needed to deal with a history of trauma and abuse. From the moment he
took his first counseling class and gained employment in the field, he has gone on to
research how trauma impacts the mind and body, and recently created a Trauma Resource
Kit for Aboriginal Communities.
“In ’98 I started my healing and realized there was a lack of materials and books that were
available in layman’s terms, because a lot of books about trauma are written by
psychologists,” said Kiesman. “So, for the average person trying to heal, I found a lack of
resources. There’s also a lack of services to help people confronting childhood and other
types of trauma.”
One of Kiesman’s major focuses has been on helping residential school survivors and
inter-generations deal with their trauma, and the kit he has created includes healing
guides for former residential school students, as well as Aboriginal children, youths and
people with disabilities. The kit also includes a training manual for frontline workers, as
well as the theory behind trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Since working through his own healing, Kiesman worked with several trauma projects,
attended nearly 150 alternative dispute hearings, trained in therapeutic re-enactment at
the University of British Columbia and in trauma counseling at the University of
Victoria. He says that after all he has learned, it became obvious that one of the key
problems in Canada is the availability of resources for trauma victims, which is why he
began working with the B.C. Aboriginal Network on Disability Society in October on the
B.C. Aboriginal Restorative Health Project.
“It was a pilot-project to provide training on trauma and PTSD to frontline workers, as
well as healing workshops in different communities,” said Kiesman. “One of the target
areas I’ve been working in is the North Coast, including Terrace, Kitimat, and
Morricetown, and I’ve done two healing workshops in Prince Rupert for the Nisga’a
Society. The response has really been excellent.”
The launch of Kiesman’s trauma resource kit coincides with Canada’s official apology to
residential school survivors, which the Prime Minister will deliver on Wednesday.
Kiesman said he wanted the kit to be available to Aboriginal communities before the
apology, as he believes it will include healing but will also cause many communities to
re-live the trauma of the past.
Copies of the kit, other support materials and more information on Kiesman can be found
by contacting Gerald at kiesmangerald@hotmail.com
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