Episodes

Last December, I was on the London Underground when an ad from the Government of Ireland caught my attention: “The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme is open for applications.”I assumed it was something like a truth-and-reconciliation effort, reaching out to people abroad who had been harmed in the past. But when I began looking into what these institutions actually were—places where unmarried pregnant women were sent to give birth—I realised the story was far darker and far more comple...

In this episode of WeCanFindAWay, I sit down with Raheena Lalani Dahya — a mediator based in Canada, and co-author of a recent article on trauma-informed mediation practice. Raheena has been exploring what it means to bring a trauma-informed lens to civil mediation, and why this conversation is becoming increasingly important in the dispute resolution field.We discuss why mediators are now talking about trauma and how understanding trauma can deepen our insight into human behavior in conflict. Raheena explains how trauma is connected to fear responses and dysregulation, what happens in the brain when people feel unsafe, and how this impacts their capacity to participate fully in mediation.She introduces key concepts such as the “window of tolerance,” “safety in numbers,” “tend and befriend,” and “name it to tame it,” illustrating how these ideas can help mediators recognize when participants are overwhelmed and create conditions that restore calm and safety. She also discusses…

In this episode of We Can Find a Way, we reflect on a historic turning point: the dissolution of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in May 2025. The PKK’s decades-long armed struggle against Turkey claimed over 40,000 lives, leaving behind a scarred society now faced with the complex challenges of healing and rebuilding.To explore what a meaningful peace process might look like—especially when it comes to social cohesion, reintegration of former prisoners, and victims’ rights—I spoke with Ti...

Anlaşabiliriz'in bu bölümünde konuklarım Prof. Dr. Sevtap Yokuş ve Dr. Esra Elmas ile PKK’nın kendini feshetmesi ve silahsızlanma süreci bağlamında gündeme gelmesi beklenen af konusunu ele aldık. Konuklarım, farklı ülke örneklerine değinerek, bu tür afların amaçlarını, “af” olarak adlandırılsın ya da adlandırılmasın bunların ne tür düzenlemeler içerebileceğini değerlendirdi.Aynı zamanda çatışma mağdurlarının beklentilerinin nasıl karşılanabileceği, uzun süre cezaevinde kalmış kişilerin serbe...

In this episode, I spoke with Manal Hamdoun Ghandour who works for a Lebanese NGO that deals with issues of the past, reconciliation and trauma sensitive peacebuilding. She explained the aftermath of the Lebanese civil war; the amnesty law; how the families of the disappeared people reacted to it and reconciliation efforts through AI, all of which can be relevant after the regime change in Syria.

Asylum centers are ripe for conflict. Residents share crowded spaces with those they do not know or speak the same language. Often traumatized and sometimes alone, they try to navigate the asylum process. It is also difficult for the employees to try to assist the residents when they do not understand the structure and the process, let alone ensure compliance. In this picture, an asylum center in Belgium started using restorative practices to decrease incidents, create more connection and increa...

In this episode of WeCanFindAWay, I spoke with Georges Salines from France who lost his daughter Lola in the Battaclan terror attack in Paris in 2015. He explained how he got involved with Retissons du Lien, an NGO in Belgium that brought together the families of victims and perpetrators (covered in the second episode of season seven); what reaction he got from friends and family by being in the same group with perpetrator families and what he learned about by being in there.He was shaken by...

Bolu Kartalkaya’da yaşananlar ertesi mağdur aileleri hızla bir araya geldiler, acılarını paylaştılar. Aynı zamanda adalet arayışı için yargıya yönlendirildiler.Konuğum Ulaş Karan, mağdurların yargıya yönlendirilmesinin onları yıllar sürecek bir hukuk labirentinin içine sokacağı ve bu sürecin başlı başına insanlık dışı olduğunu ifade etti.Karan, bunun sadece Türkiye’de değil başka ülkelerde de konunun hukukileşmesine ve dolayısıyla mağdurların beklentilerini karşılamamasına neden olduğunu...

In this episode, I am talking to two persons from Retissons du Lien (Weaving links), a group established in Belgium following the terror attacks in Brussels in 2016. The group brought together unlikely people. Those who were bereaved by or were survivors of the attacks came together with the families who were concerned about their children becoming involved in the Jihadist ideology. Add to this, front line workers in the field and long meetings, events and monitoring of the trials followed.M...

In this episode, I sat down with Zaza Johnson Elsheikh, a seasoned interfaith mediator, to delve into the complexities of mediation in the context of the Sudanese conflict. Zaza shares her personal journey into interfaith mediation, sparked by an incident of bias and misunderstanding, and explores how her unique background equips her to address interfaith issues. The conversation shifts to the ongoing crisis in Sudan, highlighting the ethnic tensions, resource struggles, and the devastating impa...