:: IJEBD :: (International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Business Development) Volume 06 Number 02 March 2023 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 4.0 International License. ISSN : 2597-4785 (ONLINE) ISSN : 2597-4750 (PRINTED) Onen Culture as a Traumatic Counseling Approach for the Timorese Hoineno Ex-East Timor Yenry Anastasia Pellondou, Jacob Daan Engel, Rama Tulus Pilakoannu, Irene Ludji Page │327 Onen Culture as a Traumatic Counseling Approach for the Timorese Hoineno Ex-East Timor Yenry Anastasia Pellondou, Jacob Daan Engel, Rama Tulus Pilakoannu, Irene Ludji Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Jl. Diponegoro No.52-60, Salatiga, Kec. Sidorejo, Kota Salatiga, Jawa Tengah 50711, Indonesia *Corresponding Author: yenrypellondou@staknkupang.ac.id 1 , jacob.engel@uksw.edu 2 , rama.pilakoannu@uksw.edu 3 , irene.ludji@uksw.edu 4 ABSTRACT Purpose: Past traumatic experiences often hinder a person's transformation and progress. When mental health is disrupted due to unpleasant events in the past, it is necessary to provide traumatic counseling services. Design/methodology/approach: This research, healing in traumatic counseling, uses Onen culture as its approach. Through observation and interviews, this qualitative research examines the phenomena that occur in the lives of the Timorese Hoineno Ex-Timtim. Findings: The meaning contained in one moment of grief can be a cultural-based traumatic counseling approach for the Timorese Hoineno Ex-Timtim to start a new life after returning to Timor. Paper type: Research paper Keyword: Traumatic counseling, Onen, Timorese Hoineno Ex-East Timor Received : January 12 th Revised : January 16 th Published : March 31 th I. INTRODUCTION The word Onen comes from the dawan language which means prayer or prayer. Toh & Taniu, (2022) As religious beings, almost the entire life cycle of the Timorese is colored by Onen. When experiencing sad or happy events, the Timorese always bring it up in the expression Onen. Based on its purpose, Onen is categorized into two parts, namely Onen when you are happy and Onen when you are sad. Onen when they like, is usually done when the Timorese are about to start activities such as farming, or when they experience good luck in life such as successful harvests, births and the process of proposing traditional marriages, and so on. On the other hand, Onen is during grief, for example when confessing sins or mistakes, when experiencing problems such as illness, accidents and death, as well as during post-conflict. In the past, Onen was led by an adat elder. Now Onen is led by traditional elders but is also attended and witnessed by religious figures. The contents of the Onen story are addressed to Uis Neno (the Transcendent), the Holy Spirit (Smanaf Knino), the ancestor (Nai Bei) and the god of nature (Uis Pah). Onen during times of joy aims to express gratitude, maintain kinship and so on, while Onen during times of grief is useful for repairing relationships, asking for protection, peace and blessings from Uis Neno, Nai Bei, Uis Pah for the Timorese people. In particular, in this research, the study of Onen will be focused on the time of grief, namely when the Hoineno Ex-East Timor (Ex-Timtim) Timorese chose to return to Timor Land after the conflict in East Timor (East Timor or Timor Leste). The Timorese people of Hoineno Ex-East Timor, saw and experienced first-hand the violence, vandalism, destruction of their homes and everything they owned during the conflict that occurred in 1998-2002. This has left its own trauma for them. When they chose to become Indonesian citizens and returned to the Land of Timor, they had to start everything in their lives from scratch, with various emotional wounds that still linger. Thus, it is in this context that Onen during grief can be used as a traumatic counseling approach with a cultural basis for them. Onen culture is an offer to support and heal mental health during the post traumatic stress disorder experienced by the Timorese Hoineno Ex-East Timor, post-conflict.