Elaine Miller-Karas, co-founder of the Trauma Resource Institute, is shown on the second row, far left, leading one of the daily EdCamp Ukraine sessions in which the Community Resiliency Model she co-created, is shared with the people of Ukraine at no charge and in support of their mental health and wellbeing during the Russian invasion.
As fellow empaths and leaders helping to create and move “what else is true”, it should come as no surprise that the Trauma Resource Institute is virtually and literally working with folks in Ukraine right now, every day. Ours is to hold them in the light and work here at home to connect, create ways forward and help us all find those sensations of neutral and or positive, be “on line” in our thinking brains, use our skills, staying one step behind one another, sharing and inviting resilience, and as Kevin McCleod of the Trauma Resource Institute says, "always chasing those sensations of resilience."
Summary Statement of our Work in Ukraine
Background:
Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, co-founded the Trauma Resource Institute (TRI) (https://www.traumaresourceinstitute) to create a cadre of natural leaders and mental health providers to share wellness skills called the Community Resiliency Model to our world community not only during times of distress but also as a means of prevention. Our Community Resiliency Model skills are now being used in 75 countries.
The Community Resiliency Model is a biological-based set of skills that is establishing research support regarding its effectiveness (i.e., randomized control trials) at various universities (e.g., Emory University, University of Kigali, Loma Linda University, Los Angeles County Mental Health Innovation Project). Research has shown statistically significant reductions in depression, anxiety, traumatic stress, and hostility indicators, as well as increased well-being. Links to the published research can be found on our website (https://www.traumaresourceinstitute.com/research). In addition, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Emory University just received a HRSA award for workforce development wherein CRM is central to their project.
The Ukrainian Humanitarian Resiliency Project
TRI has had a longstanding association with EdCamp Ukraine (https://www.edcamp.ua). Miller-Karas met the Ukrainian delegation in New Delhi when the SEE Learning program was launched by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in April of 2019. She is a senior consultant to the SEE Learning program (https://seelearning.emory.edu). SEE Learning is a secular approach to social, emotional, and ethical learning for the world’s children that was adopted in Ukraine. The CRM skills are taught in Chapter 2 of the SEE Learning curriculum.
Later that year, TRI established a strong relationship with Oleksandr Elkin, who inspired EdCamp, Ukraine and other educators when Miller-Karas visited Ukraine at their invitation for the launch of their SEE Learning program. As a result of this relationship prior to the invasion, TRI was organizing with EdCamp a CRM teacher training as a humanitarian offering that was to start in March 2022. The CRM teacher training was being offered pro bono so that our Ukrainian colleagues could become teachers and spread the model through Ukraine in a broader way, as fears of a potential invasion mounted.
On the morning of February 24th, 2022, a group of Ukrainian EdCamp educators met with TRI, the day the Russian invasion began. Knowing our model and its effectiveness, they requested we pivot from the original plan and give immediate humanitarian assistance and provide a series of CRM webinars for the Ukrainian people because of the Russian invasion. TRI immediately mobilized a team, which included members of our global international network of CRM Teachers and translators. Within 24 hours, a program was created, and a customized curriculum designed specifically for this crisis in the Ukrainian language and was put into motion.
TRI has extensive experience working with communities post-disasters (e.g., earthquakes, terrorist attacks, typhoons, civil conflicts, refugees from Syria, etc.). This is the first time in TRI’s history that we were able to use the Zoom platform and EdCamp Ukraine’s Live Stream on Facebook, to offer the skills and concepts online during an active war.
In addition to the initial four webinars, TRI was asked to provide daily “drop-in” meetings to provide ongoing support to those impacted by the war. These meetings started March 1, and TRI has committed to providing these one-hour meetings every day as long as needed. We are able to do this through the incredible support of our TRI network, as scores of individuals have volunteered to help. As with the initial webinars, these daily meetings are hosted by EdCamp Ukraine live on their Facebook page and the recordings of each have been posted on their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/edcampukraine). Below are the direct links to each of the four initial Facebook Live webinars held with EdCamp Ukraine:
At this writing, these recordings have had close to 30,000 views and there is an average in the last few days of 1,100 views per day.
We wanted to give you an idea of the kinds of questions our Ukrainian participants are asking our team. They are poignant and powerful examples of the toll of war. The questions are:
Imagine a situation when a person stays in a city that’s being constantly shelled. They go outside to buy some food and right in front of their eyes, a missile hits the street and people get killed. How do you stop seeing this image, even in your inner sight? How do you get back to your dear ones in the shelter? How do you talk to kids or elderly parents to avoid spreading your anxiety? (We later learned this happened to the person who asked the question)
In current conditions, it might be difficult to make a decision: should I leave the city that’s being constantly shelled or might be shelled any minute, or should I stay? On one hand, my home is here, and it’s still not destroyed, on the other hand, the roads are dangerous and jammed, with no food or gas, but the place you stay in can get attacked any time. How does one weigh the risks and makes a decision in a situation like this? Are there any techniques or strategies for that?
I am very afraid of the possibility of torture and rape. How do I deal with it?
How do we keep our “sanity” and be able to think more clearly in times like these (e.g., difficulty concentrating, difficulty with attention, etc.)? People sit and listen to the news, etc. so much.
I’m from Australia. Can’t sleep. We have four refugees coming. What do you do when a person breaks down? How do you continue the conversation when they have stopped crying? Does mindfulness work under PTSD?
A question about family and friendly ties with Russian citizens. Many people from the Russian-bordering regions that are being most hit by the war have many relatives and friends across the border who are affected by Russian propaganda and believe they are liberators, that our country is run by ‘nationalists,’ and that we need to hold on just a bit to be saved by Russians.
How do we manage these lost relationships? It often happens very briskly — back on new year, we talked to our grandpa in a normal way, and now he keeps repeating all those things to us. How can one accept and handle this painful loss of their close relatives?
I have overwhelming pain inside my body (fled from Kiev). The pain doesn’t allow me to communicate with my children, to do my work. The pain is overwhelming; how do I reduce the pain so that I can do what I need to do?
How do I deal with my anger toward God? Why would God allow this?
I am so terrified I have been thinking of killing myself and in the early days, I stopped myself from jumping out the window. It is happening less but sometimes I still think about it, how do I support myself in such moments?
Comments (1)