As a Deafblind woman with partial vision in one eye and bilateral hearing aids, Elsa Sjunneson lives at the crossroads of blindness and sight, hearing and deafness—much to the confusion of the world around her. While she cannot see well enough to operate without a guide dog or cane, she can see enough to know when someone is reacting to the visible signs of her blindness and can hear when they’re whispering behind her back. And she certainly knows how wrong our one-size-fits-all definitions of disability can be. As a media studies professor, she’s also seen the full range of blind and deaf portrayals on film and she deconstructs their impact, following common tropes through horror, romance, and everything in between. Her new book, Being Seen, is part memoir, part cultural criticism, part history of the Deafblind experience. It explores how our cultural concept of disability is more myth than fact, and the damage it does to us all.

Brooke Conway is a mental health and wellness counselor at Kapi‘olani Community College in Honolulu, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. In this episode we will discuss Brooke’s experiences implementing the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) on her campus as a strategy to support student mental health & wellbeing, particularly while navigating through COVID-19 pandemic and students returning to campus. Hawai‘i’s unique culture, history and place provide a rich landscape to reflect upon the value of accessible wellness skills like CRM for college students of all ages and backgrounds. Brooke also shares her experiences with the model’s connection to diverse ways of knowing and being in the world and supporting resilience from where you are.

Nearly everyone will experience thoughts of suicide at some point in their lives. The problem isn’t that we sometimes feel this way. The problem is that we suffer in silence when what we need most is to connect with non-judgmental and caring others. Neuroscientific findings suggest that humans are hard-wired to connect and that healing takes place in the context of human relationships. What this means is that supportive bonds can help us cultivate resiliency during difficult times. Stigma about suicide and mental health can get in the way of our natural ability to heal through connection. That is why we at Spotlight on Suicide (SOS) have made it our mission to shine a light on suicide by providing education about how to coexist with suffering. Stigma, like shame, can’t live in the light. Our Suicidal Ideation Toolbox (SIT) contains accessible skills for helping professionals and all people who experience deep suffering (which is everyone!). These skills are intended to increase resilience by fostering connection— with ourselves, our bodies, our communities, and our values— at times when we feel most disconnected.

J’vanete (Jay-vuh-nay) Skiba will share her perspectives from her role as the Assistant Director for Equity, Education, and Engagement for the New Hanover County Resiliency Task Force in Wilmington, North Carolina. The vision of the task force is a more resilient and compassionate New Hanover County. J’vanete serves the community through the idea of “functional compassion.” “Functional compassion” is the act of engaging in public and personal practices that spur change on a systemic level out of direct concern for the suffering of others. This kind of compassion grows and learns and changes and has the potential to be powerful and impactful. It requires hope for healing and invites us to build our own personal resilience while identifying and addressing the need to change systems that can cause suffering. In her work, J’vanete strives to help her community make meaningful connections to realize the task force vision.

Sami Aaron, the founder of the nonprofit, The Resilient Activist, will discuss how people everywhere are experiencing severe emotional distress caused by climate change and environmental devastation. And what makes it even more unbearable for some is when family, friends, employers, and governments don’t understand and often don’t care. She will share how the vision of The Resilient Activist was first ignited in 2003 as Sami struggled to find some meaning from the suicide of her older son, Kevin. He had degrees in environmental studies and sociology. He was working on a graduate program in urban and regional planning with a joint law degree when eco-anxiety (fear about the planet's ecology) and solastalgia (grief over the loss of beloved places in nature) combined with his own inner demons and he took his own life. For many people, the more they learn about the state of ecological devastation, the deeper their grief. Sami will share how the programs of The Resilient Activist are creating a community that nurtures, uplifts, and supports those who strive to live in conscious harmony with Earth. Her vision is that the programs of The Resilient Activist will help those sensitive souls - activists - find meaning, purpose, and support even in their darkest hours.

Todd Wilcher, MA, CTRS, will share his work with Covenant House, Georgia. Covenant House provides services to unhoused youth. Their Crisis Shelter, the P.J. Garcia Youth Shelter, serves as a home for up to 60 youths ages 18-24. Youth can find a safe place to stay and wraparound support for 30-90 days. Youth who stay in the shelter work with a case manager to create a plan for their future. At Covenant House Georgia, youth have access to hot meals and showers, medical and mental health care, job readiness programs, GED and college admissions support, life skills classes, and a community of people who show them absolute respect and unconditional love. Covenant House provides a haven and more. Unhoused youth face an array of challenges. Their lives have not been easy, as statistics demonstrate that: • 49% of youth experiencing homelessness have been sexually exploited. • 40% of youth experiencing homelessness are LGBT. • 42% of youth experiencing homelessness have experienced abuse as a child. • A 19% unemployment rate for 16-19-year-olds is higher for at-risk youth, increasing their risk of being unhoused.

Carmen Turner-Schott will share her book, Sun Signs, Houses & Healing: Build Resilience & Transform Your Life Through Astrology. Carmen will share the themes in her book that can help you transform your life in 2023 through transformation, healing, and resiliency. This beginner-friendly book provides insights on all twelve signs and reveals how your birth chart can help you overcome challenges and improve your well-being. Once you have your chart—which you can easily acquire online using your time and place of birth—Carmen Turner-Schott helps you fully understand it, providing everything from self-care affirmations to strategies for healing and transformation. This book also lets you quickly jump between signs and houses, making it easy to look up information for yourself and your loved ones.

The great spiritual leader, Desmond Tutu died last week, and Resiliency Within was already planning to enter the new year with his message of joy. We will celebrate his life in this episode highlighting his dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s about joy as expressed in their book, The Book of Joy. Desmond Tutu called himself the “prisoner of hope” and his message of hope and joy will live on. Many people in our world have expressed being tired and feeling a sense of hopelessness about the world condition. Desmond Tutu faced great hardship in his life, yet he was hopeful about the world condition, and he would say, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” Reena Patel, LCSW, and the Director of Education and Training, of the Trauma Resource Institute will discuss with Elaine Miller-Karas, the meaning of joy and how we can be lifted from suffering and hopelessness to embrace the spring of joy within each one of us. They will discuss the eight pillars of joy: perspective, acceptance, humor, forgiveness, gratitude, compassion, and generosity. Listeners will be asked to explore how they can nurture their joy to live life with greater meaning and restore hope.

A team of multi-generational civil rights leaders, historians, educators, community leaders and clinicians gathered together to participate in a landmark initiative, the Kellogg Foundation’s Racial Equity 2030 grant opportunity. Reena Evers-Everette assembled a team of progressive thinkers dedicated to empowering future generations with historic civil rights truth through a trauma-informed lens. In the process, new partnerships were formed and new meanings about race, equity, and healing were articulated. Kenneth Mason, Kevin McCleod, and Jordan Murphy will share their thoughts and insight into what it means to take steps in courage and confront the truth about race and trauma through a lens of healing and resilience.

Dr. Michael Sapp will discuss the importance of looking at mental health as a public health emergency with our host, Elaine Miller-Karas, a world-reknown trauma therapist. The impact of traumatic experiences on individual and community health is widespread. According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2021), “Traumatic events and loss are common in people’s lives.” There is a need to quickly establish programs that provide timely psychological counseling and intervention to alleviate anxiety and improve general mental health. Health and community care systems led by a cadre of psychologists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, chaplains, social workers, marriage and family therapists, nurses, peer counselors and physicians have brought the community resiliency model concepts and skills into medical clinics, community mental health and resiliency programs, shelters for the unhoused, and hospitals. Dr. Sapp will discuss how models like the Community Resiliency need to be scaled to meet the public health emergency of mental health conditions faced by children, teens and adults.