by Heriberto Escamilla, PhD, R. Bong Vergara, DSW-C, Jerry Tello, MA, and Leo Lopez, MSW
This article explores the use of indigenous-based, healing circles for addressing the health challenges of youth impacted by current U.S. immigration policy and practices. Research indicates that these practices, specifically the violent and traumatic separation of families, is creating a serious public health problem. We contend that affected children need culturally rooted interventions to mitigate the physical, psychosocial and spiritual consequences of this trauma. The discussion begins with an overview of shifting immigration and deportation practices and their impact. This is followed by a definition of culture as critical wisdom with promising medicinal value, including an introduction to La Cultura Cura (LCC), a philosophy for healing. In closing, we focus on the LCC Círculo (Circle), its promising value, and challenges in helping heal impacted children.
You Are No Longer Welcomed: From Family Unity to Fear
Family unity has been a priority of American immigration policy for the last half century (Gubernskaya & Dreby 2018). This principle promoted a safe, welcoming transition for families adapting from one environment to another. Currently, the country is in the throes of a dramatic transition from unity to chaos and fear, where immigrants, even those legally living in the United States, are targets of increasing hostility (Cox et al. 2023, Becerra 2016). The fear affects not only the targeted individuals, but also their families and communities (Vargas et al., Sanchez, 2017), creating widespread public harm.
At the center of this changing environment are children. Recent census data estimates that with a median age of 30, Latino/Hispanics are the youngest racial/ethnic group in the United States (Gennetian & Tienda, 2021). Of immediate concern are those from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala who are deported at higher rates than other groups (Farrell-Bryan & Peacock, 2022). These immigrants are adversely affected by the detention and deportation of immediate and extended family members. They both internalize and externalize their parent’s fears and worries (Allen et al., 2015). They present with anxiety, depression, PTSD associated with further family separation, poor academic outcomes (Lovato et al., 2018), substance use and suicidality (Luo et al., 2025). Essentially, youth experience the pain of separation from parents and also worry about future disconnections from other family members.
Culture as Medicine: The Philosophical Core of LCC
The notion of culture as medicine for the consequences of violence and trauma, draws on the works of Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck (1961), Diaz-Guerrero & Peck (1963) and Hofstede (1980). Collectively, these researchers paint a picture of culture as orienting solutions to critical existential and universal problems. For many, the solutions are matters of life and death; value-imbued wisdom gained from the struggle to survive underlying all levels of a society. The problems, as Hills (2011) observes are “about human’s relations with time, nature and each other… ” Cultural values refer to relationships that form the basis of belonging, which is critical for overall health and well-being (Allen et al., 2021).
Developed by Jerry Tello, La Cultura Cura (LCC), which translates into English as “Culture Heals,” represents a practical understanding of trauma and healing developed from helping people of color struggling to live healthy and productive lives. The framework’s first principle is that all people, regardless of social position or role, carry inherent valor, the strength of mind and spirit to face life with firmness. Trauma, either real or imagined, wounds both body and soul by diminishing this strength. It disconnects people from this vital source of spirit. Conversely, the healing process consists of reconnecting people with their source. The philosophy contends that trust, respect, dignity and love are core relationship-based values common to all ethnic/cultural groups. In addition, LCC stresses the need for practitioner self-healing and support. Finally, it uses an adaptation of the Native-American medicine wheel, illustrating a five-stage healing process from awareness, to understanding, integration, movement, and interconnectedness (Escamilla et al., 2023).
The Círculo as Sacred and Transformative Space
LCC’s adaptation of the universal practice of gathering in a circle recognizes the vitalizing and connecting value of the Círculo. Collectively, those participating have a 360 degree view of the space inside and outside of the circle, promoting a visceral sense of safety and belonging. In their discussion of the therapeutic environment, Geller & Porges (2014) cite extensive literature demonstrating that the sense of safety is not a simple attitude or belief based solely on deliberate assessment, but mediated by biological processes that occur without our awareness. A person’s lived experience may set the response parameters, but the actual triggering of feeling unsafe is automatic. These adaptive biological mechanisms respond to what the authors call environmental or place-based “features of safety, danger, or life threat”.
Currently, the country is in the throes of a dramatic transition from unity to chaos and fear, where immigrants, even those legally living in the United States, are targets of increasing hostility.
Research from diverse areas strongly indicates that the experience of safety is a critical first step in any therapeutic intervention. Allison & Rossouw (2013) also acknowledge the physiological foundations of safety and its importance in the therapeutic alliance of psychodynamic interventions. In their seminal paper on trauma-informed care, Elliott et al., (2005) note the need for safety, along with respect, and acceptance among the ten principles of caring for survivors of trauma and abuse. According to Bath (2008), the creation of safe spaces may be the most critical ingredient in effectively treating traumatized youth. Escamilla et al., (2024) detail other elements of a grounded spirituality operationalized in the LCC Circulo that synergistically promote trust, gratitude, and interconnectedness.
Evidence and Challenges
Agency data collected between 2018 and 2023 from over 200 youths across five different communities provides promising evidence of the LCC Circulo’s effectiveness (Escamilla et al., 2024). The data indicate that People of Color, especially those of Mexican, Central and South American descent, easily relate to the LCC approach and healing circles. It shows consistent improvement in prosocial attitudes such as a sense of hope and self-pride. The youth reported having more friends that cared, and an increased frequency of turning down marijuana. They reported feeling more connected, with frequent talks with parents and caretakers. While the study design did not include a control group nor random assignment, the preponderance and consistency of data offer direction for future practice and research.
Data collected from circle keepers/facilitators across California suggest a need for ongoing support of practitioners to ensure conceptual clarity, program fidelity and efficacy (Escamilla et al., 2024b, Escamilla et al., 2025). While community-based organizations generally support implementation, public schools and other institutions tend to be more reticent. Circle Keepers need support preserving the spirit of the LCC Circulo, which is embedded in critical practices that are frequently misunderstood. The essential question is not whether or not Community Defined Evidence Practices (CDEP) such as Círculo have therapeutic value, but to what extent current science-based approaches can be adapted to see that value.
Healing circles are more than interventions; they are spaces for relational transformation. Educators, clinicians, and community leaders can integrate circles and circle-based practices to support youth impacted by deportation by reconnecting them with ancestral values and wisdom as sources of strength that can be adapted for their current lives. Such community-rooted, relational CDEP’s can be acknowledged for their role in grounding spirituality and collective wisdom in the healing process. Researchers can examine how elements such as gratitude, ritual, and spirituality contribute synergistically to healing, rather than isolating them into fragmented variables.
Heriberto Escamilla Morales, PhD, is a student, practitioner, researcher of indigenous healing practices and traditions, currently, the Director of Evaluation and Research for the National Compadres Network.
R. Bong Vergara, DSW-C, is a former co-chair of a coalition for the California Department of Public Health CRDP Phase 1, an invited stakeholder for the CDPH Phase 3 Design Task Force, and a social epidemiologist at the National Compadres Network. Contact: [email protected].
Jerry Tello, MA, is a community leader, healing practitioner and internationally recognized author and voice for healing and justice. Born from a family of Mexican, Texan and Coahuiltecan Indigenous roots and raised in the south central/Compton areas of Los Angeles.
Maestro Tello is considered an international expert in the areas of fatherhood, youth development, relationship and community violence prevention and healing, culturally based, trauma informed, healing centered strategies and curricula. He is founder and Director of Training and Capacity Building for the National Compadres Network.
Leo Lopez, MSW, is director of Special Projects at the National Compadres Network, with 30 years of culturally grounded leadership supporting children, families and communities, guided by teachings and family.