Resiliency Within

Drs. Larry Ward and Peggy Rowe-Ward will address how we are all as a world community are impacted by Racism and how we can heal from the traumas that arise from Racism. Dr. Ward’s book, America’s Racial Karma published in September 2020 addresses how America can begin to heal. They have been teaching and practicing with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, a global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist, revered throughout the world for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. They received the lamp (teacher transmission) from him at Plum Village in 2001. They co-authored Love’s Garden and this book was featured in The Best Buddhist Writing of 2009. Peggy and Larry work with CEOs of Fortune 500 programs to integrate cultural diversity, corporate change and transformation. They will also address the Wisdom School they have created to bring healing to our global community.

Join us for this encore show where Elaine dialogues with Reena Patel and Michael Sapp about the Trauma Resource Institute's international work. The Trauma Resource Institute (TRI) has brought their ideas about healing in the wake of traumatic experiences to Asia, Europe, the Mid-East, the Caribbean, Africa, Central America, North America, and the United States. They have created projects to help underserved individuals to learn innovative biologically based interventions (The Community and Trauma Resiliency Models) that can heal individuals and communities during and after human-made and natural disasters. So far, their work has been translated into 17 languages and has been brought to more than 75 countries. In February of 2022, TRI launched the Ukrainian Humanitarian Resiliency Project in collaboration with EdCamp Ukraine and have had over 80,000 views on Facebook. They are currently working with a number of projects in the Mid-East as a result of the tragedies that began in October 2023. The CDC Foundation (2022) describes public health as the science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities. The field of public health fundamentally tries to prevent people from becoming ill by promoting wellness and healthy behaviors. Identifying mental health as a public health issue is imperative to building healthier and more productive communities internationally. The Trauma Resource Institute’s Dr. Michael Sapp, CEO, and Reena Patel, the former Director of Education discuss with host, Elaine Miller-Karas, the Co-Founder of the Trauma Resource Institute their international work and the importance of biological based models that are a bridge to all nations because of our shared humanity. “I think this is what Nelson Mandela meant by the ‘rainbow nation’. Learning about how to stabilize the nervous system is equality and is beyond nations, culture, religion, and ethnicity.” Community Resiliency Model Teacher, South Africa

Elaine Miller-Karas and Michael Sapp will discuss Elaine's book, Building Resilience to Trauma, the Trauma and Community Resiliency Models, 2nd Edition, published by Routledge in 2023. Dr. Sapp will talk about the neuroscience of the Community and Trauma Resiliency Models. This is Part 2 of 2 Parts. Part 1re-aired on July 1, 2024.. Part 2 focuses on the neuroscience of the Trauma and Community Resiliency Models. Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, will discuss the second edition of her book, Building Resiliency to Trauma, with Dr. Michael Sapp, the CEO of the Trauma Resource Institute. During and after a traumatic experience, survivors experience a cascade of physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, relational, and spiritual responses that can make them feel unbalanced and threatened. The second edition of Building Resilience to Trauma explains common responses from a biological perspective, reframing the human experience from one of shame and pathology to one of hope and biology. Using two evidence-informed models of intervention that are trauma-informed and resiliency-informed—the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) and the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM)—chapters distill complex neuroscience into understandable concepts and lay out a path for fostering short- and long-term healing. CRM develops natural leaders who share wellness skills throughout communities as primary prevention, and TRM focuses on training mental health professionals to reprocess traumatic experiences. Studies have demonstrated that the models’ use leads to significant reductions in depression and anxiety, and both models also increase well-being. The models restore balance after traumatic experiences and can be used to cultivate well-being across cultures and abilities throughout the lifespan.

Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, will discuss the second edition of her book, Building Resiliency to Trauma, with Dr. Michael Sapp, the CEO of the Trauma Resource Institute. During and after a traumatic experience, survivors experience a cascade of physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, relational, and spiritual responses that can make them feel unbalanced and threatened. The second edition of Building Resilience to Trauma explains common responses from a biological perspective, reframing the human experience from one of shame and pathology to one of hope and biology. Using two evidence-informed models of intervention that are trauma-informed and resiliency-informed—the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) and the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM)—chapters distill complex neuroscience into understandable concepts and lay out a path for fostering short- and long-term healing. CRM develops natural leaders who share wellness skills throughout communities as primary prevention, and TRM focuses on training mental health professionals to reprocess traumatic experiences. Studies have demonstrated that the models’ use leads to significant reductions in depression and anxiety, and both models also increase well-being. The models restore balance after traumatic experiences and can be used as tools to cultivate well-being across cultures and abilities throughout the lifespan.

Dr. Phil Allen, Jr. returns to Resiliency Within to discuss his journey since the release of his documentary and his first book, Open Wounds: A Story of Racial Tragedy, Trauma and Redemption. In this episode, he will explore the themes of his second book, The Prophetic Lens: The Camera and Black Moral Agency, from Martin Luther King to Darnella Frazier, which examines the role of the camera in the fight for racial justice. Allen highlights both the prophetic potential of the camera and the context of Blackness as a liminal existence amid a context dominated by whiteness. He states, “Martin Luther King used news cameras to expose anti-Black violence by white mobs in the 1950s and 60s. Darnella Frazier used her phone to record and post the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin in May 2020. These are just two of many people who have captured images of injustice for the world to see. The Prophetic Lens delves into the camera's role as an indispensable prophetic tool for the security of Black lives and the pursuit of racial justice.” Using Walter Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination as a framework, Allen demonstrates how the camera can be a catalyst for cultural change. He chronicles the use of the camera in film, from J.D. Griffiths' Birth of a Nation to Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, revealing how this technology has effectively achieved the goals of its respective storytellers. Dr. Phil Allen, Jr. will also share the work of the nonprofit organization he founded, the Racial Solidarity Project. This organization aims to promote anti-racist, pro-community activism, and racial solidarity through its four pillars of sustainable activism: justice and equity advocacy, education, wellness, and intentional community-building. The Racial Solidarity Project believes that justice work requires solidarity, and solidarity invites healing. They emphasize the term “solidarity” because it reflects God’s work and is the central witness of God’s relationship with humanity.

Join Resiliency Within as Kate Sachs Leventhal, Chief Program Officer, and Steve Leventhal, CEO, share their experiences with WorldBeing and how WorldBeing's vision and inspired programs are changing the lives of youth -- and the systems that support them. WorldBeing (formerly CorStone) is an internationally recognized nonprofit organization that conducts innovative in-school wellbeing programs to empower vulnerable and marginalized youth in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). These programs help youth to re-frame their identities, unleash their potential, and transform their life trajectories. WorldBeing helps us understand that mental health concerns among LMIC youth are fueled by systems of entrenched inequities, discrimination, and resource scarcity, exacerbated by a lack of access to services. WorldBeing's programming particularly focuses on gender equality and building the skills of marginalized youth, especially girls, to advocate for their rights, stay in school, and resist early marriage. To improve mental health, WorldBeing believes it is crucial to target improving these systemic injustices and social determinants of poor mental health. WorldBeing’s Youth First and Girls First programs represent one of the first human-centered approaches to youth mental health promotion and prevention, taking injustices and social determinants seriously. Working from ‘the inside out,’ WorldBeing’s evidence-based wellbeing programs support youth to access their inner wellbeing and resilience, and cultivate their power as change agents within their families, schools, and communities. Since 2009, WorldBeing has developed, researched, and conducted well-being programs for nearly 500,000 youth and 250,000 teachers in 3,500 schools across India, Kenya, and Rwanda. Effectiveness trials of WorldBeing’s programs have provided some of the first evidence demonstrating that fostering wellbeing and resilience amongst vulnerable and marginalized youth significantly improves adolescent mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing; gender equality; and education-related outcomes. Additional impacts include improved school engagement, classroom behaviors, relationships with teachers, and delayed marriage.

This is an encore presentation highlighting the work of Natalia Valevska in Ukraine. We must remember the brave and courageous Ukrainians like Natalia who are helping their country persons during this difficult time in their history. Natalia shares her insights from living within her beloved country, Ukraine, since the Russian invasion in February 2022. She will discuss her experiences and work with EdCamp Ukraine, an association of over 40,000 teachers, including her association with the Trauma Resource Institute. She will describe how, out of her despair over the war, she began helping with the resiliency support meetings co-sponsored by EdCamp Ukraine and the Trauma Resource Institute. She will express her passion for helping her country now and her vision of creating support for her people in the future when the war ends. She is dedicated to the children of Ukraine and how to support their teachers, parents, and community through SEE Learning. Since this was first broadcast, Natalia has been married and is now a Certified Community Resiliency Model Teacher. She has trained more than 1000 Ukrainians in the skills of the Community Resiliency Model.

Resiliency Within welcomes back John Kania and Laura Calderon de la Barca. Join this conversation with the Collective Change Lab team who are at the leading edge of shifting how organizations, movements, and collective system change efforts are evolving towards more healing-centered ways of working. John Kania is the Founder and Executive Director of Collective Change Lab. Laura Calderon de la Barca is a psychotherapist specializing in individual, intergenerational, and collective trauma, as well as a collective healing researcher. The conversation will include thoughts on how, in the years since the massive disruption and unrest triggered by the pandemic, there is greater openness and receptivity to thinking about trauma more expansively than ever before. Engaging with trauma is increasingly vital as polarization worsens and challenges escalate into a poly-crisis - thankfully, a deeper conversation is taking root on how to mainstream trauma healing.

This encore presentation features Elaine Miller-Karas, the host of Resiliency Within, discussing Patriarchy with her colleague and friend, Dr. Michael Sapp. She discusses with Dr. Sapp a concept that she calls the “Rebecca Effect.” The “Rebecca Effect is the empowerment and transformation possible for all who have been oppressed, marginalized, or shamed. Her ideas were sparked by the fictional character Rebecca Welton, the owner of the fictional Richmond football team in the Ted Lasso television show. Initially, Rebecca is consumed by a desire for revenge against her ex-husband, Rupert, who betrayed their marriage. She aims to destroy his beloved football team, which she received in their divorce, by hiring the soccer-illiterate American football coach Ted Lasso. Her eventual journey is littered with reminders of her ex-husband's public attempts to marginalize and shame her. We see the impact of Patriarchal Systems. Like Rebecca, many people endure betrayal, marginalization, and oppression. Despite possessing great strength, they may experience doubt and question their value. Many of us encounter individuals who espouse misogynistic views and attempt to diminish our worth. Elaine describes the Rebecca Effect as the process through which women can embrace themselves in totality—their gifts and their imperfections. They gain the courage to confront injustice and patriarchy. This transformation includes embracing vulnerability, acknowledging the impacts of misogynistic thinking, and stepping into embodied power and strength.

A key component of personal growth and change is understanding the distinction between “White-Knuckle Change” and “Real Change.” White-Knuckle Change is trying to change behavior without addressing the underlying causes of the behavior. These causes may include health issues, interpersonal pressures, political conflict, and/or spiritual abuse. Real Change is changing behavior by virtue of addressing those causes. If you address the causes, behavioral change naturally follows suit. In this interview, therapist and author Steven Luff explores many of the realities that may cause any of us to experience negative emotion and/or acting out behavior and underscores the truth that Real Change is about honest engagement with the world, not the meeting of external standards. By virtue of this, Real Change requires education, a commitment to the pursuit of justice, and, most importantly, the construction of a faith life that opens us up to acceptance, uncertainty, and the Unknown.

Elaine and Analiza will discuss the double-bind dilemma - damned if you do and doomed if you don't and how women and women of color can manage it. They also discuss how allies and organizations can support women of color.Because our culture has an unconscious bias of how each gender should be, women are caught in a double bind. When caught in a double bind, doing one thing we need to do will undercut another equally important thing. In this case, if we act in ways consistent with gender stereotypes and are modest, collaborative, service-oriented, empathetic, and caring, we will be liked but not seen as a leader and not seen as competent. If we display leadership qualities like being confident, tough, aggressive, ambitious, and decisive, we might be seen as a leader, but we will also be seen as cold, unlikeable, and unlikely to reach a top leadership role. It is unfair that women must navigate the double bind, which takes an enormous amount of emotional intelligence.

Shannon Biteng of the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) is the Trauma Informed Organization Manager. She will share the development and implementation of the ODHS Trauma Aware Program. The program supports over 12,000 human services professionals dedicated to assisting 1.5 million Oregonians in accessing essential resources and enhancing their overall well-being. She will share how the Trauma Aware initiatives foster resilience, promote well-being, and strive to empower individuals affected by trauma and toxic stress. The Trauma Aware Program actively contributes to ODHS's mission of becoming a Trauma-Informed Organization by fostering supportive interactions at both individual and systemic levels, focusing on equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Their approach integrates evidence-based practices with the insights gleaned from the experiences of their workforce and the communities they serve. She will discuss an array of programs, which includes Trauma-Informed Practice, Resilience, Healing and Empowerment, Trauma Response Services, Employee well-being, Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Postvention, and the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) program.

Brendan Ozawa-de Silva will share the multifaceted concept of empathy, highlighting its various definitions in scientific literature. He expresses that most definitions of empathy overlook a crucial component: embodied joint action with others. From evolutionary and developmental perspectives, joint action emerges as pivotal to the function of empathy. Our nervous systems are inherently wired to resonate with one another, enabling us to synchronize our bodies by observing the intentions and movements of others. This synchronization encompasses both cognitive and affective dimensions. By exploring empathy through the lenses of shared intentionality, joint action, and movement, we broaden our comprehension beyond cognition and affect to encompass the embodied interaction of nervous systems. Such an understanding may illuminate pathways for cultivating compassion and bolstering mutual resilience.

Media Executive Michelle Hord was no stranger to trauma. Having started her professional career as an award-winning producer on America’s Most Wanted, she expertly guided families through every facet of unthinkable crises. Later, she covered heartbreaking stories while working at The Oprah Winfrey Show and Good Morning America. She sat with survivors of the unimaginable. When the unimaginable struck at home, her world changed forever. In her memoir, The Other Side of Yet: Finding Light In The Midst Of Darkness, Hord is confronted with a mother’s worst nightmare. She melds heart-wrenching personal narrative with tangible advice and wisdom that will inspire comfort, grace, and growth in the face of adversity. Determined that grief and despair would not become the entirety of her story, Hord has culled lessons learned from mental health experts, therapists, spiritual leaders and survivors. In The Other Side of Yet, she chronicles her journey from darkness and devastation to what she found on the other side. The Other Side of Yet is not only a profoundly moving memoir of grief and resilience, it is also a guidebook for anyone facing emotional crossroads or unexpected crises. With compassion and clear strategies, Hord explores the power of faith, hope, and love in the process of healing from loss. Her book serves as an active road map through personal crisis, with chapters offering clear, actionable directions such as “Face the Dark,” “Find Your Army,” “Control What You Can,” and “Make Room for Love”. Hord will share her perspectives on recovering from burnout, daily rituals for mental health, working through trauma using gentle healing techniques, and rituals for strength and momentum. The Other Side of Yet is a beautiful and emotional story about how to keep moving with bravery and defiant faith through life’s most challenging moments. *The paperback reprint includes an exclusive Readers’ Guide.

Integrating the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) into the multifaceted landscape of higher education carries its own complexity. Under the guidance of Erica Coates, Virginia Tech’s CRM teachers are actively engaged in not only cultivating equilibrium within their own nervous systems but also disseminating Zone language and skills throughout their student body, faculty, and various departments. In our dialogue, we'll delve into the mental health needs of our transitioning young adults as they pursue higher education, examining Virginia Tech's comprehensive strategy for CRM integration. Their CRM team has delved into understanding the cultural nuances of the model with young individuals and identified the obstacles hindering its implementation within intricate systems. They are enthusiastic about the potential of fostering a common language across different initiatives, aiming to extend CRM into discussions surrounding team cohesion, inclusion, and a sense of belonging. Moreover, we are developing a research framework for future exploration into community resilience, conceptualizing innovative outreach tools such as a CRM Sensory Bike for campus engagement, and crafting a web-based quiz to enhance understanding of individual nervous system responses. Through these initiatives, they anticipate facilitating a more resilient and connected campus community while also contributing valuable insights to the broader field of mental health research and practice. We welcome this conversation with Erica Coates on Resiliency Within.

Across the globe, there exists a pressing demand for effective treatment of complex trauma. While a growing number of trauma-informed mental health professionals dedicate themselves to supporting individuals, relationships, communities, and systems, the daily confrontation with trauma can take a toll, leading to exhaustion and burnout. Who stands ready to provide support to these therapists and aiding professionals along their professional journey? Brad Kammer, a Somatic Psychotherapist, Educator, and NARM® Senior Trainer, serves as the director of the Complex Trauma Training Center (CTTC), a professional organization dedicated to offering therapist training, consultation, mentorship, and community for psychotherapists and mental health professionals working with Adverse Childhood Experiences and Complex Trauma. Brad will discuss the crucial need mental health professionals have for both continuous professional development and personal support. CTTC is dedicated to empowering therapists and aiding professionals to enhance their effectiveness in working with complex trauma while safeguarding against burnout. The vision is to cultivate a professional community centered on supporting mental health professionals across three dimensions of human experience: personal, interpersonal, and transpersonal. CTTC will offer comprehensive, ongoing professional development and mentorship opportunities for clinicians, including NARM® Therapist and NARM® Master Therapist training programs. Grounded in a mentorship framework, CTTC is committed to guiding mental health professionals through their professional voyage of addressing complex trauma, ensuring their sustained growth and well-being. The spirit of CTTC is encapsulated by its three guiding principles: depth, connection and heart. Discover how Brad and the Complex Trauma Training Center team epitomize this spirit and foster a thriving professional community committed to delivering effective, transformative, trauma-informed care.

Dr. Luissa Kiprono will share the wisdom she gained from her remarkable journey. She had the desire to help people inspired from a young age. Becoming a women’s physician—first OBGYN, then maternal-fetal medicine—allowed her to fulfill this desire. When she cared for patients of all ages, from all walks of life through residency and fellowship in academia, as a military doctor, and in private practice, she discovered a privilege incomparable with anything she had ever experienced: the power of doing good, making a difference in people’s lives, helping them regain something that most of us mistakenly take as status quo, our health. She will share how she started to realize that people need emotional and spiritual healing as well as physical, organic healing. This meant coming full circle spiritually, making it her mission through her own vulnerability and personal trauma to help her fellow women and patients face their fears, overcome perceived shortcomings, and pursue their inner value. Three decades after she stepped foot on American soil, she decided to share her story with the world so others could see the light in the darkness if they only believed in themselves and the power they held within. She states, “We cannot ignore, avoid, or run away from it. We must go through it to come out to the other side. Otherwise, it takes over our lives and our future; it keeps us bound, feeling sorry for ourselves, guilty, ashamed. What we can do is realize that each one of us has an inner desire to succeed and to reach our own potential.

One of the most significant sources of suffering comes from our human tendency to avoid difficult emotions. We are not taught how to face these unpleasant, often daily inner experiences, so we tend to push them away, ignore them, or become unwittingly overwhelmed by them. Yet how we meet and greet these difficult emotions has everything to do with our well-being, resilience, and ability to connect with ourselves and others. Instinctually, we fight against our uncomfortable emotions. In doing so, we reinforce messages of “not good enough” or “something is wrong with me that I am feeling this way.” In You Don't Have to Change to Change Everything we learn that, instead of forcing ourselves to feel “happy” and pushing away what is unpleasant, or instead of getting hooked by intense emotions, we can change our perspective. Dr. Beth Kurland offers six vantage points to shift to when difficult emotions arise. They include: • The Anchor View: Finding Stable Ground • The Child View: Curiosity Is Your Superpower • The Audience View: Learn to Zoom Out • The Compassionate Parent View: How to Become Your Own Ally • The Mirror View: Your Strengths and Imperfections Are Welcome Here • The Ocean View: We’re All in This Together

Britt Frank, LSCSW, will share the key concepts and methods expressed in her book, The Science of Stuck, Breaking Through Inertia to Find Your Path Forward. Ms. Frank states that we all experience stuckness in our lives—in our relationships, careers, our bodies, addiction issues, and more. We know we need to move forward but don’t know how creating a loop of self-doubt that goes nowhere. The problem has been exacerbated by the isolation and setbacks of the pandemic, resulting in burnout, dissatisfaction, and life questions. Based on clinical research, theory, and her experience as a therapist, Britt has developed an empowering and action-oriented guide to discovering why we can’t think our way forward—and how to break through what’s holding us back in life, in love, and in work. The Science of Stuck offers researched-backed solutions—ranging from shadow work to reparenting, embodied healing, and other clinical practices—along with empowering personal stories and tools. The Science of Stuck synthesizes and simplifies that stack of self-help books we all have on the nightstand collecting dust. The book argues that you don’t need to be a mechanic to drive your car. You don’t need to be a doctor to care for yourself when you have the flu. You don’t need advanced training in neuroscience to get unstuck. Ultimately, Britt provides us with a hands-on road map for moving forward with purpose, confidence, and the freedom to become who we are truly meant to be.

We all have many beliefs about why we may act out sexually or with drugs and alcohol in ways of which we are not proud. For those of us within certain religious communities, some of those beliefs may include personal weakness or a disconnection from God. With this theology, the more we act out, the more we see proof that we are unworthy of connection, both human and divine. From a neurobiological perspective, we may act out because we are managing difficult emotions like anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression are very primal responses to our environments. If we experience abuse, neglect, or even environmental or human-made disasters, we may become uniquely sensitized to the stressors that cause negative emotions, and thus acting out behavior. While religious beliefs that promote certain standards may provide us with useful goalposts, especially with sex, those beliefs that do not also consider our deeply embodied emotional response to experience and the ways in which we all uniquely respond to life’s stressors set us up for failure and hopelessness. In his book Faith & Sex: Toward a Better Understanding of Recovery, Being, Relationship, and God, Steven Luff explores the neurobiological underpinnings of emotions and how our faith lives and faith communities, can be profound resources to us—instead of impediments—as we locate our emotions and gain skills in human and spiritual co-regulation.