In 2021, we brought the Common Threads Project trauma healing approach to the United States with our New York and Seattle programs. Since then, the program has continued to grow: helping bring effective trauma healing to some of New York’s most marginalized communities.
In New York, we work with marginalized women who’ve experienced trauma, sexual violence, exploitation, displacement, and poverty.
“Participants were able to take control by sewing and creating their own art at their own pace. They’re able to process personal narratives through the medium of story cloths.”
Background
Our partners work with diverse clients from the US and around the world and across New York’s five boroughs, many of whom are survivors of war-related torture. Many have experienced war, gender-based violence, prolonged family separation, and the loss of community and trust. These traumatic experiences can have a profound impact on individuals and families.
Despite this, refugees often face barriers to accessing the mental health care they deserve.
Our Partners
For 40 years, Sanctuary for Families has worked to ensure the safety, healing and self-determination of victims of domestic violence and related forms of gender violence across NYC. In Common Threads Project circles, they work with survivors of gender-based violence, many of whom are immigrants and refugees.
Libertas Center for Human Rights at Elmhurst Hospital provides survivors of torture and human rights violations in the New York City area with comprehensive medical, mental health, social and legal services to help them regain function and restore humanity in their lives.
Program for Survivors of Torture at Bellevue Hospital partnered with us from 2022–2024. They provide compassionate and holistic care to individuals and families subjected to torture and other human rights abuses.
The van Ameringen Foundation funds innovative and practical programs for early intervention, advocacy and increased accessibility of mental health services for people and communities with limited financial means and opportunities.
Our Work
With the support of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund and the Joseph H. and Florence A. Roblee Foundation, we launched our New York program in 2021.
Since then, 33 New-York based clinicians have gained experiential training in the Common Threads approach and began leading Common Threads healing circles for women in New York. The most recent cohort of facilitators began to lead healing circles in early 2025. These circles have provided healing to survivors of conflict, displacement, trafficking and domestic violence and have included groups of multilingual participants from across the world.
In 2024, three experienced facilitators from our New York program joined our team of senior clinical associates, helping conduct trainings and provide supervision to our programs in Ecuador, Nigeria, and Washington, DC.
Our ongoing New York program is made possible with support from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund and the van Ameringen Foundation.
“Not everyone is able to verbally express what they’ve been through. And so this—using the Common Threads modality—allows us to invite and engage our clients to speak, if you will, about what they’ve been through in other ways.”
