Rituals for
Healing Trauma
Healing trauma through ritual & ancestral wisdom
A four-part series from Dr. Daniel Foor
This course is on demand, and may be enjoyed at your own pace.
About the Course
Healing trauma isn’t just a modern concept—it’s an ancient practice. Across cultures, ritual arts have long offered powerful tools for repair and resilience. This four-part series explores accessible teachings and practices for healing trauma. It’s designed for those seeking personal healing, professionals in the healing arts, and anyone interested in the intersection of ritual and trauma recovery.
How we relate with our pain makes all the difference in the unfolding of a meaningful life.
– Daniel Foor
How does healing trauma relate to ritual arts?
Trauma recovery and ritual work intersect at the crossroads of psychology, psychotherapy, and ancestor reverence. In Western psychology, trauma is often understood as an unresolved disruption to the nervous system, self-concept, and relational bonds. Thanks in large part to those who have centered the human impacts of war, patriarchy, and systemic oppression, the study and treatment of trauma is now a major part of the field of psychology.
Animist traditions have long recognized that suffering is not merely an individual affliction but a rupture in the fabric of relationships—with self, community, ancestors, and the unseen. Ritual serves as a bridge, providing structured, embodied ways to metabolize trauma, restore coherence, and reestablish a sense of belonging. Through tangible practices, we can make meaning out of suffering and foster integration and resilience in ways that complement clinical approaches.
This course integrates clinical insights on post-traumatic stress with inclusive, ritual-based approaches to healing. The teachings support personal and collective healing, complementing psychotherapy and systemic change work. This offering also pairs well with our Animist Psychology course. With the right tools and support, transforming trauma can lead to greater resilience, wholeness, and compassion.
Four recorded 90-minute lessons, plus a bonus teaching
Access to four annual live Q&A calls with Daniel
Guided, experiential practices with each lesson
Extensive additional resources featuring diverse voices
Lifetime access to all course materials
Access to a dedicated community discussion space
Course Curriculum
Lesson One: Foundations of Ancestor Reverence
- Learn the importance of regulating intensity while in connection with trusted others
- Consider how relating with the Earth, spirits, and Source expand our energetic capacity
- Discuss tangible ways to draw on these sources of relationship in the healing journey
- Practice accepting abundant support while stepping close to intense emotions
Lesson Two: Assessment of Four Blood Lineages
- Consider the critical role of physical, psychological and spiritual safety in trauma healing
- Explore essential skills for clearing, cleansing, and protecting one’s personal space
- Discuss ways to implement sacred boundary practices in the personal healing journey
- Enjoy guided practice to affirm healthy boundaries in service to healing and vulnerability
Lesson Three: Contacting Ancestral Guides
- Learn models that recognize the risk of soul fragmentation and the potential for recovery
- Consider the relationship of soul healing traditions with psychological trauma models
- Explore tangible ways to safely weave soul recovery practices into the healing journey
- Practice gently inviting home any aspects of self or soul that are ready to return
Lesson Four: Deepening with Lineage Elders
- Explore traditional teachings on the power of voice, expression and authenticity
- Identify your personal sources of ferocity and warriorship in support of wholeness
- Learn tangible skills for speaking in ways that align body, psyche, and culture
- Engage in guided practice to access and vocalize kind and courageous honesty
Add Animist Psychology
For a limited time, add Animist Psychology, a complementary 8-part course, for 15% off.
The field of psychology continues to grapple with colonialist legacies, reductionist approaches to the psyche, and disproportionate centering of European-ancestored voices. Sustained engagement with traditions of ritual and Earth-honoring practice can serve as a modest corrective to this tendency.
This course is an offering for mental health professionals, ritualists of diverse traditions, and anyone interested in the intersections of Earth, culture, and psyche. Lessons are pragmatic and accessible, and participants can expect to more easily identify and navigate the intersections of psychology, ritual arts, and cultural dynamics in your personal life and communities of practice.
Register for Rituals for Healing Trauma
3 and 6 month payment plans available at checkout at 0% interest.
Standard
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Our standard rate allows us to sustain our work. This typically applies if you’re employed in the Global North, and you’re able to provide for your needs in a consistent way.
Reduced
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This rate applies if you’re relatively less economically advantaged in the ways listed under “standard rate” or that cost is simply out of reach for you financially.
Bundle
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Get both Animist Psychology ($165) and Rituals for Healing Trauma ($75) at 15% off if you purchase them together for a limited time only. This rate is good through March 31, 2025.
Daniel Foor
Daniel is a doctor of psychology, experienced ritualist, and the author of Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing. He is an initiate in the Òrìṣà tradition of Yoruba-speaking West Africa and has learned from teachers of Mahayana Buddhism, Islamic Sufism, and the older ways of his English and German ancestors. Daniel is passionate about training aspiring leaders and change makers in the intersections of cultural healing, animist ethics, and applied ritual arts. He lives with his wife and two daughters near Granada, Spain in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Frequently Asked Questions
This course is designed to explore mental health and ritual topics through an animist lens, and participants may find themselves reflecting on tender or vulnerable topics like trauma, bonding, psychosis, and belonging. The course is not a replacement for direct, living support and/or professional medical advice, and enrollment does automatically include access to our Community Forum—an online discussion group of students past and present, including supportive members from Ancestral Medicine’s Practitioner Network and Ancestral Medicine staff. Sharing experiences, reflecting on practices, and making connections in this private online community can provide one form of support.
Ancestral Medicine offerings are rooted in feminist, decolonizing, anti-racist, LGBTQI-friendly, class-aware, international, Earth-honoring ethics and a heart-aware and non-dogmatic spirit that seeks to honor each participant’s unique life experiences and ancestral storylines. Resources included with each lesson favor ancestrally and geographically diverse voices both within and outside the field of psychology, and the online Community Forum includes BIPOC and LGBTQ-only discussion spaces.
All of our lesson videos have auto-generated closed captioning, as well as a full transcript and additional downloadable audio-only versions. If you have needs not met here, please feel free to reach out to us with suggestions at info@ancestralmedicine.org.
If you have general questions about our organization, offerings, or values, you may enjoy our Frequently Asked Questions page. If there’s something else, we’d be happy to help! Reach out to info@ancestralmedicine.org and someone from our team will be in touch, usually within 1-2 business days.
Have a question that’s not answered here?
Lesson One
Lesson One: Co-Regulating with the Earth and Spirits
- Learn the importance of regulating intensity while in connection with trusted others
- Consider how relating with the Earth, spirits, and Source expand our energetic capacity
- Discuss tangible ways to draw on these sources of relationship in the healing journey
- Practice accepting abundant support while stepping close to intense emotions
Lesson Two
Lesson Two: Sacred Boundaries and Ritual Safety
- Consider the critical role of physical, psychological and spiritual safety in trauma healing
- Explore essential skills for clearing, cleansing, and protecting one’s personal space
- Discuss ways to implement sacred boundary practices in the personal healing journey
- Enjoy guided practice to affirm healthy boundaries in service to healing and vulnerability
Lesson Three
Lesson Three: Soul Fragmentation and Wholeness
- Learn models that recognize the risk of soul fragmentation and the potential for recovery
- Consider the relationship of soul healing traditions with psychological trauma models
- Explore tangible ways to safely weave soul recovery practices into the healing journey
- Practice gently inviting home any aspects of self or soul that are ready to return
Lesson Four
Lesson Four: Fierce and Loving Honesty
- Explore traditional teachings on the power of voice, expression and authenticity
- Identify your personal sources of ferocity and warriorship in support of wholeness
- Learn tangible skills for speaking in ways that align body, psyche, and culture
- Engage in guided practice to access and vocalize kind and courageous honesty
