International Trainings/Post Disaster Response
Over the years I have been an invited speaker or trainer for organizations providing mental health and psychosocial support to refugees and internally displaced persons. Below are a few examples.
I have also offered support in the immediate aftermath of disasters (Katrina Hurricane evacuees, the Haiti earthquake) and acts of terrorism ( Ground Zero support post 9/11, consulting staff of the Massachusetts Resiliency Center post Boston Marathon Bombings, and Community Crisis Response Team member post local acts of violence impacting communities and groups.
The Seed Foundation Erbil, Kurdistan (Iraq)
The SEED Foundation, Erbil, Kurdistsan invited Holly Aldrich, LICSW and me to join their Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services Technical Board. In December 2016 we visited the Foundation and its educational partner, Koya University.
The primary goal of our visit was to participate as technical advisors on our Board for the Center for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services at Koya University. This program is strengthening the skills of new Clinical Psychology graduates and mental health workers through the new PSS Training program. Working with policy makers and practitioners in mental health in Kurdistan, we discussed how best to teach, learn, train, and build the capacity of SEED's current and future work force. We also talked about how to use the Center to work together with others to reflect on what is and is not working and from that to develop best strategies to address Kurdistan's mental health needs emerging out of decades of violence, loss, and displacement. In addition to our consultation to Koya University we offered workshops on traumatic loss & grief for those providing psychosocial interventions for the Yezidi.
2nd & 3rd Annual International Conference on the Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma ( Amman, Jordan; Istanbul, Turkey) The Common Bond Institute. Workshops on Traumatic Loss and Grief. Group work with female Syrian refugees.