Resiliency Within

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.

Dr. Glenn Schiraldi will share his latest book: The Adverse Childhood Experiences Recovery Workbook: Heal the Hidden Wounds from Childhood Affecting Your Adult Mental and Physical Health. He will explore the links between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which occur in the first eighteen years of life, and health outcomes in adulthood. We will discuss the overview of the ACEs research and the principles, self-managed skills, and professional treatments that effectively restore inner wholeness and increase well-being and happiness.

These are the facts: 1 in 4 women globally experience domestic violence. On average, it takes 7 times for most survivors to successfully leave an abusive relationship. But behind the statistics are human beings. One Saturday morning, Beverly Gooden was woken up by her husband shoving her off their bed for no discernible reason. Despite her quick thinking and even quicker footsteps, he caught her, his sudden anger inexplicable. No words were exchanged. He began to strangle her as he had done many times before. With unflinching vulnerability, Gooden details what she had to do to walk away and how others can use her experiences to escape their own abuse. She provides practical advice on things like finances, possessions, and housing—from skimming the grocery money to squirreling away personal belongings, to navigating a domestic violence shelter. As importantly, she offers strategies for overcoming the social and emotional barriers survivors often face, such as overcritical social circles and, most powerfully, love. Uniquely compassionate when it comes to the heartbreak of still loving one's abuser, Gooden shares how she transformed and extended this love outward, using her story to encourage others to choose themselves. The voice and fire behind #WhyIStayed, she's exceptionally positioned to explore the many reasons victims stay in abusive relationships, and how they can muster the resources and motivation to leave.

Reena Patel believes in the words of Resmaa Menakem when he stated, "Resilience is built into the cells of our bodies. Like trauma, resilience can ripple outward, changing the lives of people, families, neighborhoods, and communities in positive ways. Also, like trauma, resilience can be passed down from generation to generation."—Resmaa Menakem (2017). Reena Patel and Elaine Miller-Karas will discuss how adversity is not destiny, and even when faced with suffering and trauma, human beings can heal and even thrive. Ms. Patel has worked internationally and will share her perspectives about the importance of biological models like the Trauma Resiliency Model and the Community Resiliency Model when working across cultures.

Today's show will focus on the topic of courage, connectedness, and resiliency. The question of courage has been in the public debate sparked by Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony in front of the January 6th Committee. Many have spoken about the bravery of women over the ages to speak out about moral principles being breached when others have kept silent. Ms. Hutchinson's bravery and that of other women like civil rights leader Rosa Parks are examples of women who had the courage to speak up. The question for many of us is, "could I be as courageous as these to women have been to speak my truth to power? Many of us can be driven by fear and keep silent. What is it about some who can, despite a great threat to their lives, summon their courage? Today's show will address the issue of courage. Dr. Joy Miller has worked with the courageous women interned at Auschwitz. She will share the wisdom she learned about their courage as well as her reflections of being a courageous pioneering woman in the field of Mental Health and Resiliency. She will also give us a peek preview of the conference Resiliency 2022.

COVID-19 exacerbated stress and trauma universally, creating a secondary pandemic that increased demand for mental health care in a system on the verge of crisis. An intense and immediate need for population well-being support resulted, and subsequent requests for resiliency training quickly followed. In response, Dr. Ingrid Duva and nurses in Georgia certified to teach the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) fast tracked efforts to share this mental wellness training program across their state. This successful nurse-led response to the crisis capitalized on statewide organizations' existing efforts to bolster well-being and reduce trauma. Partnerships were formed and joint aims identified to disseminate the Community Resiliency Model, as a self-care modality to individuals in organizations and communities throughout the state. An evaluation of this program was recently published in the American Journal of Public Health. Dr. Duva will discuss the results of their efforts and the implications to the well-being of front-line workers nationwide.

Shelly Sood and Nikhil Torsekar, husband and wife, will share that with an understanding of mental health conditions and receiving support and guidance, and accepting help, health, and life can be transformed.

They navigated a harrowing, but ultimately redemptive journey with the growing understanding of Nikhil's Bipolar condition.

Shelly went through a challenging ordeal to get Nikhil to accept what was hiding in plain sight: and that he suffered from undiagnosed bipolar disorder. It nearly destroyed their marriage - and their lives - until he agreed to get a proper diagnosis and seek treatment in 2016.

This also inspired the launch of GIOSTAR Chicago - a leading regenerative medicine center. Six years later, they run a successful business, and have developed a robust content platform called The Shelly Story.

This encompasses a book, a forthcoming movie, a blog, and a podcast where they speak with guests on a broad array of topics including mental health in the South Asian diaspora, technologies that can assist with managing bipolar disorder, advocacy efforts, and alternative treatment modalities such as Ayurveda and meditation.

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Interview with Shelly Sood, Untether Your Life Shelly Sood is the co-founder of Untether Your Life, a wellness platform that empowers individuals to reconnect with their inner peace, cultivate mindfulness, and create a life filled with purpose. Her approach is informed by more than 20 years of entrepreneurial and leadership experience in healthcare and other industries. Shelly's upcoming book Practicing Mindfulness on the Go offers accessible techniques for staying present in the midst of daily pressures and curveballs. Alongside this, her transformative course Reinvent Your Reality™ provides custom meditations, groundbreaking breathwork practices, and other tools to push clients past their limits to achieve the life they've imagined. Learn more at shellysood.com, or follow her on Instagram at @shellysoodofficial.

We live in a world of violence and sometimes we can feel overwhelmed and helpless. From the streets of our town and cities like Chicago to the Genocide in Srebrenica, Bosnia what lessons can we learn from peacemaking in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Lesley Carroll has been involved in peacemaking and healing the historical traumas of the past, she will share her wisdom of what she has experienced to bring solutions to respond to the violence in our world today.

November is National Native American Heritage Month, which pays tribute to the rich history and culture of the indigenous people of the Americas. In 2009, during President Barack H. Obama’s first term in office, November became National Native American Heritage Month. Magdalena Sunshine Serrano is an Indigenous woman of Serrano, Apache, and Tarahumara descent and Julene A. Jose, is an Indigenous woman of the Tohono O’odham Nation who also serves on the Pasqua Yaqui Tribe. Magdalena and Julene will share their perspectives and their wisdom about healing, hope and empowerment in their communities. We can all learn from their collective wisdom. They both will also address how the Community Resiliency Model is congruent to their organic views of healing. Over the last decade the Trauma Resource Institute, our sponsor, has had the honor to learn about the true history of the Indigenous people who lived in these lands prior to the Europeans who settled in the Americas. The suffering has been great, and the maltreatment of Indigenous people has been a holocaust often not acknowledged. The strength and beauty of the diverse cultures and traditions of Indigenous people will be discussed as well as the strength that springs forth from their cultural traditions.

After over two years of disconnection, frequent trauma, and grief, so many children are longing for connection, belonging, and the opportunity to process experiences. Meaningful conversations offer them all these gifts and more. They also reduce stress, burnout, and anxiety for adults. This session will introduce listeners to the power of back-and-forth-conversations with children, as a way of promoting resilience and healing for both children and adults. Delivered by a speech-pathologist, lecturer, and mother of two, this session will offer listeners a toolbox of fun, playful, and actionable strategies and ideas to enhance their relationships with children. Also, through discussing the neuroscience behind these strategies, this session will support listeners in understanding just how powerful and urgent it now is to have meaningful conversations with kids.