Resiliency Within

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.

Elaine Miller-Karas, the host of Resiliency Within, will turn the table and be interviewed during Women's History Month by her colleague and friend, Dr. Michael Sapp. She will discuss with Dr. Sapp a concept that she calls the "Rebecca Effect." The "Rebecca Effect is the empowerment and transformation possible for all of us 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. Through her self-reflections, the support of friends, and her relationships with Lasso and her best friend, Keeley, she reclaims herself 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. The Rebecca Effect describes the process through which women can embrace themselves in totality—their gifts and their imperfections. They gain the courage to confront injustice. This transformation includes embracing vulnerability, acknowledging their inner child, and realizing their inherent power and worth.