“B” further pointed out that, even though at some point one of the tree’s branches had been growing downward, it had found enough resources within itself to grow upward again and, in comparison, he thought that it was important for one to acknowledge one’s pain but then decide on the next course of action in order to move forward. Reconciling with Self Another lesson learnt from the tree by the participants was the ability, or need, to reconcile with oneself. Traumatic experiences caused by organized or political violence tend to leave individuals alienated from both themselves and their community (GobodoMadikizela, 2008). So when the participants spoke about the need to be reconciled to the self, they were referring to the journey traumatized people must make back to themselves and their community. As “V” pointed out: ...we have to be reconciled with ourselves. ...I think it is a departure point ...we can find a correct, straight path to healing and personal empowerment, because as long as we remain with hurt we will not be able to forgive, whether forgiveness is necessary or not... (italics added). This process of “reconciling with self” is called reclaiming life on one’s own terms by Sherman, et al., (2012) or meaning making by Casey and Long (2002). According to Sherman, et al., the cancer survivors revealed that breast cancer survivorship is a process marked and shaped by time, the perception of support, and coming to terms with the trauma of a cancer diagnosis and the aftermath of treatment. The process of survivorship continues by assuming an active role in self-healing, gaining a new perspective and reconciling paradoxes, creating a new mind-set and moving to a new normal, developing a new way of being in the world on one’s own terms, and experiencing growth through adversity beyond survivorship (p. 258). One way of achieving this is through storytelling as a way of creating meaning out of one’s experiences, and as noted above, the TOL methodology places great importance in storytelling, not only through the “trauma circle” but throughout all the other sharing and dialogue circles as well. The other circles include the introductory circle, where participants talk about themselves, their history and family backgrounds, hierarchical and cooperative forms of a power circle, and the one around a living tree, among others (Reeler, et al., 2009; Templer, 2010). In addition to TOL, the dialogue sessions and the written life stories also provided participants more storytelling opportunities. (See Ngwenya, 2014, p. 168, for a fuller discussion on the participants’ views of narratives as healing).