Many of us suffer from nightmares, and those generated by trauma are among the most insidious and frightening. Whether it is Big T trauma such as abuse, violence, or oppression, or a small trauma such as microaggression, a fender-bender, or minor surgery, these events can stretch their sticky fingers into our night dreams and haunt our daylight hours. Some Traumas are acute, and others are chronic, some we have experienced personally, and other traumatic legacies reverberate down through the generations: all can affect our sleep and dreams. Linda Yael Shiller will share her book, PTSDreams, which is an innovative, compassionate, and comprehensive guide to healing traumatic nightmares through active dreamwork. This book examines the relationship between nightmares and traumatic life events and provides a clear systematic path to healing both the nightmares and their root cause. The guiding principle is that we are all wired for health and healing and that with care and attention we can become, “strong in the broken places It offers hope and healing to nightmare sufferers, as well as to healers in the field of health, psychotherapy, counseling, bodywork, griefwork, and spiritual leaders who work with them. It incorporates many stories, case studies, examples, and exercises that bring dreamwork and trauma treatments to life while being well-grounded in theory and science.

Bob Doppelt, the coordinator of the International Transformational Resilience Coalition (ITRC) will discuss why community-based initiatives that use a public health approach to build population-level mental wellness and transformational resilience are important approaches to combat widespread harmful mental health and psychosocial problems generated by the climate emergency. In September 2023 alone, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Florida experienced devastation to their communities from hurricanes. Extreme weather events - floods, hurricanes, and disasters like wildfires are linked to a broad range of adverse mental health outcomes. Many types of persistent severe stresses are also rising due to the climate emergency. Bob Doppelt will highlight the work of the ITRC educating and training community members and working legislatively to create U.S. system-wide responses to promote community wide mental health and transformational resilience. The ITRC supports the Community Mental Wellness and Resiliency Act that will be introduced to Congress by Rep. Paul Tonko and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) on Tuesday October 18. He will discuss the important elements of the Act.

A $702 billion global diet/nutrition and weight loss industry shows that people worldwide are devoted to achieving maximum health and their desired bodies. Yet mainstream approaches are failing these individuals, and sadly, science supports this. Intent on gaining the “health,” “confidence,” and “happiness” that diets promise, consumers keep trying. Along the way, they often become sad and frustrated, believing they’re failing when they’re not. They need a legitimate, alternative path. In this episode of Resiliency Within, Alli Spotts-De Lazzer—Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, “CEDS” Certified Eating Disorders Specialist, CEDS Supervisor, and eating/body image expert—shares parts of her path to overcome more than two decades of fighting with food and body image; she reveals less-discussed truths and risks of pursuing maximal health and weight control; she introduces her unconventional, hope-filled self-help book, MeaningFULL: 23 Life-Changing Stories of Conquering Dieting, Weight, & Body Image Issues; and she offers at least three tips to guide listeners to more (and steadier) self-appreciation, wellness, and fulfillment.

We are more similar than we are different! There is more beyond our own beliefs, we all have blind spots. Presenting a groundbreaking new paradigm for understanding a variety of perspectives, Granddaughter Crow will share with listeners her ideas outside the dogma you may have previously been taught. By exploring your own pre-existing beliefs and the themes various spiritual and cultural traditions all share, you can heal thoughts that may be hurting you and others. She will share her ideas in her latest book, Belief, Being, and Beyond, which uses a variety of spiritual concepts and scientific findings to engage you in deep self-reflection and growth. In addition to sharing inspiring anecdotes from her own life, Granddaughter Crow explores a larger pattern of the human psyche. Reflecting through the longing for a creation, a flood, a hero, an end-of-times, and afterlife within many belief systems reveals a pattern of who and what we are as the human race. These stories, along with journal prompts, tarot insights, and wisdom from the cycles of nature, help you to truly know yourself and empower you to live with an open mind. At this point in history, the human race is faced with all types of challenges. The social climate has been agitated and the unspoken differences are now coming to the forefront. As we all stand within our own beliefs, we need to expand our consciousness and recognize where we are, where we would like to go, and what we will become together. Building a community on the ideology that we are more similar than we are different is a conscious movement forward.

The events this past month in Florida and Puerto Rico and in Mayfield, Kentucky in December, have shown us the tragedy of climate events and how every person in the community is affected. We must not forget the mental health challenges resulting from this experience. Elaine Miller-Karas, the key developer of the Community Resiliency Model and Dr. Michael Sapp, the CEO of the Trauma Resource Institute will help our listeners understand how the wellness skills of the Community Resiliency Model can help community members restore well-being during these difficult times. The Community Resiliency Model (CRM)®, a set of six wellness skills based upon the premise that there is a biological response to stressful and traumatic events common to all of humanity. The CRM understands that individuals experience common reactions physically, spiritually, cognitively, emotionally, behaviorally, and in relationships with loved ones. Using a mind-body approach, CRM introduces a paradigm shift in that reactions to stress are viewed as common biological responses rather than human weaknesses. The CRM skills can be a stand-alone set of wellness skills and they can also be integrated into other wellness practices. Elaine Miller-Karas and Michael Sapp have responded to typhoons, earthquakes and other events of mass destruction. They will share how the CRM helps individuals learn to track their nervous systems and bring awareness to sensations connected to well-being. As a person begins to pay attention to sensations of well-being, the nervous system can return to a state of balance. Learning about the neurobiology of stressful and traumatic human reactions helps people to understand the design of the nervous system. This knowledge can help people make sense of reactions they have experienced during and after traumatic and stressful experiences. The Community Resiliency Model is an evidence-informed intervention. The CRM skills can be used across the lifespan, across cultures and literacy levels.

“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 The Trauma Resource Institute (TRI) has brought their ideas about healing 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. 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, Director of Education will 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.

Carey Sipp, leader of strategic partnerships with PACEs Connection and Kelly Purcell, Well-Being Consultant and CRM teacher with Ground. Connect. Empower. LLC will share how strategic partnerships and involvement with local resiliency initiatives alongside CRM can work to create lasting systematic change. Carey and Kelly will highlight how counties in North Carolina are using both the PACEs Connection Cooperative of Communities and CRM to impact multiple sectors within a community and how that continues to grow and expand. They will share about a replicable six county initiative in North Carolina working to improve the health and well-being of children/youth in the foster care system and how CRM is reaching this community and how the model is being used to create a greater impact for healthier and more compassionate communities. They will explain how to get connected to and leverage the ever growing social network platform of PACEs Connection and how it can support the work of CRM teachers around the world and community members working to create trauma-informed and resiliency-focused individuals and communities.

Dr. Tara Well will share the elements of Mirror Meditation which she describes as an in-depth exploration into the power of reflections. She will share the benefits of Mirror Meditation reported by practitioners and students, including: • Illuminating their ability to solve problems • Providing perspective on their experiences • Validating hunches and intuition • Building a vault of creative ideas • Fostering gratitude Based on research from neuroscience and psychology, Dr. Well will discuss: • why face to face contact is so important • how to shift states of self-awareness to manage anxiety • the effects of self-objectification on our well-being • how to deal with the inner critic in the mirror • the link between mirrors and narcissism • the usefulness of video journals • using self-reflection to lessen social media addiction • how to see yourself and others more compassionately

Many of us needed a break from the pandemic and the usual windstorms of life. We needed a respite: a journey reminding us of decency, kindness, compassion and folksy wisdom. Over the last two seasons of Ted Lasso, an AppleTV+ original, we have laughed, cried and been deeply touched by the lived experiences of Ted Lasso and his crew. Ted Lasso is about “an American football coach hired to manage a British soccer team. What he lacks in knowledge, he makes up for with optimism, determination...and biscuits.” Ted is described as winning others over with his “decency” and “relentless optimism.” But his decency and relentless optimism” is anchored in the characters own painful struggles and is displayed within the context of other characters' struggles with pain that often play out in revenge, greed, selfishness, and a general lack of care for others. Ted Lasso offers an example of what else could also be true in how we treat others with value and respect amidst our own pain and challenge. It also demonstrates that a compassionate and kindly stance can transform people and systems. Elaine Miller-Karas, the host of “Resiliency Within,” will explore with Dr. Michael Sapp, the CEO of the Trauma Resource Institute, the themes of Ted Lasso and how relevant the character’s journey is to many of us who have been betrayed, deceived, belittled, abused, traumatized, and ultimately transformed.

Sara Cook will share her extensive experience working with people affected by conflict internationally and in Northern Ireland. She is the United Kingdom representative to Women Mediators Across the Commonwealth. Those working in the fields of peacebuilding and humanitarian aid are known for providing desperately needed support to people affected by conflict, war, natural disaster and inequality all over the world. However, there are few structures and services in place to support the psychosocial needs of peacebuilding and humanitarian practitioners. This conversation will explore how the Community Resiliency Model is being used to support peacebuilding and humanitarian practitioners, as well as conflict-affected populations internationally.