Elaine Miller-Karas and Michael Sapp will discuss Elaine's book, Building Resilience to Trauma, the Trauma and Community Resiliency Models, 2nd Edition, published by Routledge in 2023. Dr. Sapp will talk about the neuroscience of the Community and Trauma Resiliency Models. This is Part 2 of 2 Parts. Part 1re-aired on July 1, 2024.. Part 2 focuses on the neuroscience of the Trauma and Community Resiliency Models.

Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, will discuss the second edition of her book, Building Resiliency to Trauma, with Dr. Michael Sapp, the CEO of the Trauma Resource Institute. During and after a traumatic experience, survivors experience a cascade of physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, relational, and spiritual responses that can make them feel unbalanced and threatened. The second edition of Building Resilience to Trauma explains common responses from a biological perspective, reframing the human experience from one of shame and pathology to one of hope and biology. Using two evidence-informed models of intervention that are trauma-informed and resiliency-informed—the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) and the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM)—chapters distill complex neuroscience into understandable concepts and lay out a path for fostering short- and long-term healing. CRM develops natural leaders who share wellness skills throughout communities as primary prevention, and TRM focuses on training mental health professionals to reprocess traumatic experiences. Studies have demonstrated that the models’ use leads to significant reductions in depression and anxiety, and both models also increase well-being. The models restore balance after traumatic experiences and can be used to cultivate well-being across cultures and abilities throughout the lifespan.

Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, will discuss the second edition of her book, Building Resiliency to Trauma, with Dr. Michael Sapp, the CEO of the Trauma Resource Institute. During and after a traumatic experience, survivors experience a cascade of physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, relational, and spiritual responses that can make them feel unbalanced and threatened. The second edition of Building Resilience to Trauma explains common responses from a biological perspective, reframing the human experience from one of shame and pathology to one of hope and biology. Using two evidence-informed models of intervention that are trauma-informed and resiliency-informed—the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) and the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM)—chapters distill complex neuroscience into understandable concepts and lay out a path for fostering short- and long-term healing.

CRM develops natural leaders who share wellness skills throughout communities as primary prevention, and TRM focuses on training mental health professionals to reprocess traumatic experiences. Studies have demonstrated that the models’ use leads to significant reductions in depression and anxiety, and both models also increase well-being. The models restore balance after traumatic experiences and can be used as tools to cultivate well-being across cultures and abilities throughout the lifespan.

Dr. Phil Allen, Jr. returns to Resiliency Within to discuss his journey since the release of his documentary and his first book, Open Wounds: A Story of Racial Tragedy, Trauma and Redemption. In this episode, he will explore the themes of his second book, The Prophetic Lens: The Camera and Black Moral Agency, from Martin Luther King to Darnella Frazier, which examines the role of the camera in the fight for racial justice. Allen highlights both the prophetic potential of the camera and the context of Blackness as a liminal existence amid a context dominated by whiteness. He states, “Martin Luther King used news cameras to expose anti-Black violence by white mobs in the 1950s and 60s. Darnella Frazier used her phone to record and post the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin in May 2020. These are just two of many people who have captured images of injustice for the world to see. The Prophetic Lens delves into the camera's role as an indispensable prophetic tool for the security of Black lives and the pursuit of racial justice.” Using Walter Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination as a framework, Allen demonstrates how the camera can be a catalyst for cultural change. He chronicles the use of the camera in film, from J.D. Griffiths' Birth of a Nation to Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, revealing how this technology has effectively achieved the goals of its respective storytellers. Dr. Phil Allen, Jr. will also share the work of the nonprofit organization he founded, the Racial Solidarity Project. This organization aims to promote anti-racist, pro-community activism, and racial solidarity through its four pillars of sustainable activism: justice and equity advocacy, education, wellness, and intentional community-building. The Racial Solidarity Project believes that justice work requires solidarity, and solidarity invites healing. They emphasize the term “solidarity” because it reflects God’s work and is the central witness of God’s relationship with humanity.

Join Resiliency Within as Kate Sachs Leventhal, Chief Program Officer, and Steve Leventhal, CEO, share their experiences with WorldBeing and how WorldBeing's vision and inspired programs are changing the lives of youth -- and the systems that support them. WorldBeing (formerly CorStone) is an internationally recognized nonprofit organization that conducts innovative in-school wellbeing programs to empower vulnerable and marginalized youth in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). These programs help youth to re-frame their identities, unleash their potential, and transform their life trajectories. WorldBeing helps us understand that mental health concerns among LMIC youth are fueled by systems of entrenched inequities, discrimination, and resource scarcity, exacerbated by a lack of access to services. WorldBeing's programming particularly focuses on gender equality and building the skills of marginalized youth, especially girls, to advocate for their rights, stay in school, and resist early marriage. To improve mental health, WorldBeing believes it is crucial to target improving these systemic injustices and social determinants of poor mental health. WorldBeing’s Youth First and Girls First programs represent one of the first human-centered approaches to youth mental health promotion and prevention, taking injustices and social determinants seriously. Working from ‘the inside out,’ WorldBeing’s evidence-based wellbeing programs support youth to access their inner wellbeing and resilience, and cultivate their power as change agents within their families, schools, and communities. Since 2009, WorldBeing has developed, researched, and conducted well-being programs for nearly 500,000 youth and 250,000 teachers in 3,500 schools across India, Kenya, and Rwanda. Effectiveness trials of WorldBeing’s programs have provided some of the first evidence demonstrating that fostering wellbeing and resilience amongst vulnerable and marginalized youth significantly improves adolescent mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing; gender equality; and education-related outcomes. Additional impacts include improved school engagement, classroom behaviors, relationships with teachers, and delayed marriage.

This is an encore presentation highlighting the work of Natalia Valevska in Ukraine. We must remember the brave and courageous Ukrainians like Natalia who are helping their country persons during this difficult time in their history. Natalia shares her insights from living within her beloved country, Ukraine, since the Russian invasion in February 2022. She will discuss her experiences and work with EdCamp Ukraine, an association of over 40,000 teachers, including her association with the Trauma Resource Institute. She will describe how, out of her despair over the war, she began helping with the resiliency support meetings co-sponsored by EdCamp Ukraine and the Trauma Resource Institute. She will express her passion for helping her country now and her vision of creating support for her people in the future when the war ends. She is dedicated to the children of Ukraine and how to support their teachers, parents, and community through SEE Learning. Since this was first broadcast, Natalia has been married and is now a Certified Community Resiliency Model Teacher. She has trained more than 1000 Ukrainians in the skills of the Community Resiliency Model.

Resiliency Within welcomes back John Kania and Laura Calderon de la Barca. Join this conversation with the Collective Change Lab team who are at the leading edge of shifting how organizations, movements, and collective system change efforts are evolving towards more healing-centered ways of working. John Kania is the Founder and Executive Director of Collective Change Lab. Laura Calderon de la Barca is a psychotherapist specializing in individual, intergenerational, and collective trauma, as well as a collective healing researcher. The conversation will include thoughts on how, in the years since the massive disruption and unrest triggered by the pandemic, there is greater openness and receptivity to thinking about trauma more expansively than ever before. Engaging with trauma is increasingly vital as polarization worsens and challenges escalate into a poly-crisis - thankfully, a deeper conversation is taking root on how to mainstream trauma healing.

This encore presentation features Elaine Miller-Karas, the host of Resiliency Within, discussing Patriarchy with her colleague and friend, Dr. Michael Sapp. She discusses with Dr. Sapp a concept that she calls the “Rebecca Effect.” The “Rebecca Effect is the empowerment and transformation possible for all 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. We see the impact of Patriarchal Systems. 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. Elaine describes the Rebecca Effect as the process through which women can embrace themselves in totality—their gifts and their imperfections. They gain the courage to confront injustice and patriarchy. This transformation includes embracing vulnerability, acknowledging the impacts of misogynistic thinking, and stepping into embodied power and strength.

A key component of personal growth and change is understanding the distinction between “White-Knuckle Change” and “Real Change.” White-Knuckle Change is trying to change behavior without addressing the underlying causes of the behavior. These causes may include health issues, interpersonal pressures, political conflict, and/or spiritual abuse. Real Change is changing behavior by virtue of addressing those causes. If you address the causes, behavioral change naturally follows suit. In this interview, therapist and author Steven Luff explores many of the realities that may cause any of us to experience negative emotion and/or acting out behavior and underscores the truth that Real Change is about honest engagement with the world, not the meeting of external standards. By virtue of this, Real Change requires education, a commitment to the pursuit of justice, and, most importantly, the construction of a faith life that opens us up to acceptance, uncertainty, and the Unknown.

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.