HEALING TRAUMA AND INCREASING NGOS EFFECTIVENESS. By Gina Ross PART 1: HEALING TRAUMA

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1 HEALING TRAUMA AND INCREASING NGOS EFFECTIVENESS By Gina Ross PART 1: HEALING TRAUMA Trauma is an everyday reality for billions of people. Natural disasters strike often. Conflict is rampant and the impact of violence, war and terror is further disseminated and amplified by the global media. Catastrophic events leave people helpless and suffering under the burden of incalculable physical, emotional, mental and economic costs. Their effects can be devastating to populations and to the NGOs who serve them. Research on the generational impact of trauma raises serious concerns about the damage such catastrophic events can have on future generations. This potential threat to social stability is a challenge for all of us. At the individual level, we see people left with despair and helplessness, cut off from their resources and coping abilities, and deprived of their effectiveness. At national levels, we see hyper-aroused collective nervous systems with all energies narrowly focused on the pain of trauma, which can drive people to violence and wanton destructiveness. Groups and nations wake up years later dismayed at the devastation left behind. The need to find ways to address individual and collective trauma and distribute healing methods becomes ever more pressing. NGOs, a new rising world power, can play a unique role as a disseminating force for global healing. NGOs who acquire trauma-awareness and cutting-edge healing techniques can remarkably advance the worldwide healing of trauma. We have developed a universal language of trauma healing that can be used by NGOs when discussing trauma. Such language facilitates communication and can assist the work of NGOs in bringing quick healing to the populations they are helping. When Tragedy Strikes Traumatic events leave complex and chaotic consequences of harrowing proportions that can continue for months and years after the event. There is also a huge diversity of human response to trauma, with people grappling with emotions they don t like nor understand. A trauma survivor wrote eloquently of trauma s staggering physical impact: I suddenly became almost physically ill from being inside that place of death, and I couldn't understand why... I was too exhausted to sleep and afraid of the nightmares I might have. I remember lying in bed with a sense of devastation and numbness superimposed on percussions of the blast captured in every cell of my body... Disciplined intellect and rational thought was no match for what had occurred. 1

2 NGO personnel have to deal with the intense emotions of the victims around them, people who felt their souls shattered. Victims are often filled with anger, turmoil, mistrust, and sorrow. The disabling effects of horror and terror often bring people close to the edge of losing their minds and sense of control. We are rarely prepared for what happens to us. Victims of disasters or violence are caught in a trauma vortex, feeling the black hole of trauma, the huge abyss between their own shattered inner reality and the normalcy of life. They often can take comfort only from those who shared the same foreign and painful sensations. They feel disconnected from others and see as outsiders anyone who was not present during the event. NGO personnel may have to deal with those victims who have difficulty accepting them as helpers. They sometimes have to deal with the traumatic reaction: We (the victims) are we, they are they. These kinds of feelings may explain why even counseling services available immediately after a traumatic event go largely ignored. It may also illustrate the stigma still attached to trauma. Furthermore, many cultural traditions encourage masking one s painful feelings. The vagaries of the recovery process can leave helpers feeling helpless. People s reactions and recoveries are varied. Some want to move on with their lives; others need to mourn much longer. These responses do not depend on gender, race, culture or even proximity to the traumatic event, and leave the helpers with no guiding principles by which to operate. People have their own pace and rhythm as they struggle to recover. However, understanding the common markers and their resolution can make the difference. Luckily, in the last fifteen years the development of innovative theories and cutting-edge healing techniques makes it feasible to heal trauma more quickly and effectively than ever before. Alleviating and Healing NGOs who understand trauma s nature and characteristics, become familiar with theories that decode trauma and learn tools that can help release and prevent personal and collective trauma, can play a crucial role in alleviating suffering and despair. They can direct energies towards healing, hope and creative solutions. The first step for the NGO is to understand the ways trauma expresses itself and to provide this information to their constituency. The next step is to provide Emotional First Aid tools to cope with challenging situations and to develop resiliency. 2

3 Trauma s Bewildering Symptoms New research has shown that psycho-trauma affects the body, mind and spirit, triggering a wide variety of somatic, cognitive and behavioral symptoms that most people are unable to correlate as a consequence of traumatic experience. Trauma symptoms may manifest immediately after the traumatic event, or may take months or years to appear. They are myriad and may often seem disconnected from the original event that provoked them. Symptoms of trauma include: At the physical level: Chronic pain (chest, neck or back pain); tension and tightness; stiffness Discomfort, heaviness and feeling spacey or very agitated Dizziness, vertigo, fainting, nausea and elevated blood pressure Tension patterns and stiff or collapsed postures Headaches and migraines Hyper-arousal: faster heart and pulse rate, palpitations; difficulty breathing Increased sweating, chills and cold clammy skin Flashbacks, nightmares, panic attacks and difficulty sleeping Hypersensitivity to light, sound, smell, touch or taste Under-arousal: fatigue, exhaustion, numbness, lack of vitality; collapse Worsening of prior medical conditions At the emotional level: Recurring, intense, unpredictable and irrational emotions Dramatic and abrupt mood swings, moodiness or irritability High states of anxiety, panic and feeling unsafe Uncontrollable fear, terror or rage long after the traumatic event is over Helplessness; hopelessness; despair, depression or numbness Disruption of the usual sense of safety, predictability, empowerment and trust Feelings of isolation and alienation, torment and anguish Feelings of guilt and shame, and traumatic grief At the mental level: Confusion, disorientation, dissociation and memory gaps Loss of ability to make decisions Inability to concentrate and learn, short attention span; forgetfulness Vulnerability and suggestibility Repetitive, obsessive, anxious and otherwise negative thoughts Loss of the ability to reason and be reasonable Self-blame; projection of blame and violent thinking onto others Paranoid, radical, polarized thinking; intolerance of differences 3

4 Tendency to blame, judge, and criticize Loss of interest in one s families, work, and interests Cynicism and disenchantment At the behavioral level: - Stiff, snappy, abrupt or furtive, retracted, or frozen movements - Inability to function or acting out, impulsive and risky behavior Restlessness, racing and inability to sit still; exaggerated startle response Changes in speech pattern, confused, and vague, or speeded up Addictive behaviors, regressive or aggressive Meeting basic needs in destructive ways Meeting certain needs at the expense of others or at the expense of other people Withdrawal, isolating and cutting oneself off from one s resources Problems in communication and relationships, family discord, divorce Domestic violence spousal and child abuse At the social level: - Role of pariah; feeling powerless and isolated in the social order Turning anger, rage and hatred against society Mistrust of or hatred of humanity At the spiritual level: Dimming of consciousness and of the observing ego Arrest of spiritual development Misplaced pride; callousness or meaninglessness Loss of the sense of one s humanity or the humanity of others Loss of compassion for ourselves and others Feelings of shame vis-a vis God; disbelief, rejection, and anger towards God Focus only on the negative At the collective level: Extreme polarization of beliefs and values Distortion of collective narratives Sense of separation and alienation from other groups or nations Growing intolerance of religious, cultural, ethnic and economic differences Collective violence In young children: Regressive behavior at home and in school 4

5 Aggressiveness and acting out, repetitive violent play Inability to concentrate and learn Withdrawal In older children: Suicidal thoughts; avoidance of other children Academic failure, drug abuse, sexual acting out or violence Part II of this series discusses the effects of secondhand trauma and NGO burnout. Part III discusses collective trauma and its influence on the resolution of conflicts. We will also provide the basic steps of a cutting-edge healing method. This material is based on: Beyond the Trauma Vortex into the Healing Vortex: A Guide for Diplomats and NGOs, to be released October, By using the methods presented in the booklet, NGOs can achieve greater well-being for themselves and their constituencies and help promote peace. 5