Bread group
Our Bread group is a space for survivors of torture to use the therapeutic process of baking to come together, learn to trust again and work to overcome trauma.
For many torture survivors it can be impossible to speak about the horrors they have experienced. That’s why we offer a welcoming environment and activities like the Bread group to help survivors rebuild their lives.
Part of our specialist therapies for survivors of torture, the Bread group has been running since 2006. It helps with:
- Improving social skills and the ability to trust others again
- Increasing self-sufficiency
- Providing a powerful physical release from stress
- Building cross-cultural connections
During the Bread group sessions, survivors often try out each other’s recipes and work together, telling the stories of their lives around bread.
The process of making bread can be a mindful activity, supporting a reduction in stress and anxiety experienced by many survivors of torture. The mindfulness comes through concentrating our senses of touch, vision, feeling and tasting, and practising the mental shift away from our problems to being in the here and now.
The Bread group has supported many survivors to access positive memories from back home, and to re-discover positive aspects of their personality from before the trauma. The group has also helped some survivors, like Nafa, to gain recognition for their skills and find a route into employment.
