# From battlefield to living room: a community-based narrative intervention for reciprocal healing during war

## TL;DR

This study explores a community-based approach to trauma healing during war by bringing soldiers and civilians together in a shared narrative process.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel community-based narrative intervention called 'Hero in the Living Room' for reciprocal healing during conflict.

## Key findings

- Soldiers gained social validation by organizing fragmented memories into a coherent narrative with the help of an audience.
- Civilians transformed from passive spectators to active participants in a therapeutic domestic setting.
- An emotional exchange fostered a mutual defense alliance between soldiers and civilians.

## Abstract

The “Swords of Iron” war created a reality of shared trauma, blurring the boundaries between the front line and the home front. Traditional clinical models often face challenges in providing scalable, real-time responses to mass trauma. This study examines “Hero in the Living Room”—a community-based narrative intervention-as a mechanism for processing trauma and promoting resilience during the acute phase of conflict.

Using a qualitative-phenomenological approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 65 participants: 25 active-duty soldiers and 40 civilians who hosted or attended the sessions. Data were analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis.

The findings reveal a dynamic of Reciprocal Healing underpinned by three psychosocial mechanisms: (1) Narrative coherence: soldiers utilized the audience to organize fragmented memories into a linear narrative, gaining social validation; (2) From helplessness to agency: civilians transitioned from passive spectators to an “Active Container”, engaging in a functional transformation of the domestic space into a therapeutic setting; and (3) The Mutual defense alliance: an emotional exchange occurred wherein soldiers provided a sense of physical security/meaning, while the community offered psychological security and normalization.

The study suggests that community-based narrative interventions serve as effective complementary tools to clinical therapy. By relocating trauma discourse from the clinic to the living room, the model bridges the civil-military gap and fosters collective resilience in times of national crisis.