Sobrevivir responds to two of the most urgent crises of our time: the cycle of violence and trauma, and the threat to existence due to accelerating ecological collapse.
At a moment when humanity’s survival is in question, Sobrevivir turns to survivors as uniquely qualified leaders. Those who have learned to survive and heal are re-engaging with their communities and sharing the hard-earned wisdom our wounded humanity and planet need.
Sobrevivir brings together survivors of trauma in a journey of healing, thriving, and becoming the leaders we are called to be.
Survivors are often seen only through the lens of harm endured. While healing is essential, it is not the end of the story.
Research and lived experience show that many survivors, after long journeys of recovery, enter what trauma scholar Judith Lewis Herman calls Stage III of healing: a phase marked by renewed meaning‑making and being propelled into a survivor mission and social action.
Survivors are not only people in need of care, but also people with resilience, insight, and a calling to serve and lead
Survivors often know—at a nervous‑system level—what it means to live and rebuild after collapse
In a time of societal division and ecological breakdown, survivors may have what we need to survive, heal, and thrive again.
Survivors of trauma
Including survivors of clergy abuse, childhood abuse, domestic violence, incarceration, forced migration, war, human trafficking, and the tragic loss of loved ones—especially those who sense a call beyond “just surviving.”
Organizations and communities
Faith‑based groups, survivor‑support organizations, ecological justice initiatives, and educational institutions seeking trauma‑informed, spiritually grounded approaches to healing, sustainability, and leadership.
Sobrevivir begins with deep listening, supporting survivors by integrating trauma healing education and leadership development. Offered by Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Nonviolent Communication trainer, Steve Tumolo.
Planned to begin in the Spring of 2026, these walks will bring together survivors to reflect at significant sites of trauma and healing in Greater Boston.
Workshops and retreats lead up to four to nine-month leadership development cohorts for survivors. These learning experiences support peace leadership, ecological conversion, and a growing sense of belonging in our bodies, communities, and on planet Earth. We will cultivate vital leadership capacities rooted in Nonviolent Communication, including mindfulness, empathy, heart-led decision making, and conflict transformation.
Why ecology belongs in healing
Many of us facing the ecological crisis are experiencing grief, anxiety, and moral distress in our bodies. The Earth itself can be a healing balm for this stress. All of creation wants to care for us, especially in these times. Perhaps we as a people are not caring enough for creation because we have not first let creation care for us. Sobrevivir supports survivors in allowing ourselves to be cared for by creation and in caring back for creation.
Many survivors already know the Earth as refuge, witness, and companion—especially when human systems failed. Sobrevivir brings these realities together through a simple but profound conviction:
To care for creation, people must experience being cared for by creation.
We are all invited into what Pope Francis calls “ecological conversion,” a felt return to belonging—belonging in our bodies, in community, and to the living web that sustains us.
If you are:
A survivor sensing a call toward deeper healing, renewed meaning, and purposeful action
Called to peacemaking and a deeper connection with creation
A leader or organization seeking to bring together peace, healing, and ecological justice
We invite you into conversation.
Let’s discern together your what Sobrevivir be.
Schedule a listening conversation
Explore partnership or pilot programs
Request more information about somatic experiencing coaching, workshops, and walks.
Steve is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Laudato Si' Animator, and Certified trainer in Nonviolent Communication. Email Steve at stevet@everydaypeacemaking.org
Sobrevivir is the Spanish word for to survive. It combines the Spanish vivir, to live, and sobre, above, beyond, or super. Thus, sobrevivir suggests living in a new way, above and beyond a state of fight or flight. It suggests living on a higher plane, or, perhaps, a risen life.
This project is about survivors doing more than just surviving, but living in a new way, and helping us all to sobrevivir.