Nepal Trauma Healing Project

LOTUS CIRCLE INTERNATIONAL

Lisa LaDue, LCSW, SEP                   Beth Nielsen, LMFT, SEP

Please help the survivors of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake by donating to the  Nepal Trauma Healing Project!

Update: August 25, 2015

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your suppport and generous contributions. We are very grateful and honored to be here in Nepal helping with the post eartquake recovery by offering training to local counselors and doctors in basic trauma healing skills. We arrived  on Friday August 21 and spent the first few days acclimating to the new time zone and beginning to attend to scheduling our time here with our local contacts.

As is important and necessary for good SE work, Lisa and I began our work here by orienting to the environment, joining with and learning about the local culture,  and settling our own bodies in preparation for the four trainings we will be doing starting tomorrow. 

We are staying at the Shechen Monastery Guest House, nearby to the Boudhanath Stupa, one of the holiest Tibetan Buddhist stupa's outside of Tibet and are feeling very safe and well taken care of here. Below is a photo of the stupa, which is being repaired due to earthquake damage. I found it to be a beautiful experience to circumambulate the stupa in the morning chanting Om Mani Padme Om alongside the Nepali people and feeling their deep devotion.

Boudhanath Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal

Today, after getting my broken computer fixed and purchasing some medicine for LIsa at a local pharmacy, I briefly visited one the the tent camps still occupied by many homeless earthquake survivors. I learned from my taxi driver that the walls surrounding the luxurious Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kathmandu fell down during the earthquake and the precious open land was quickly inhabitted by people who lost their homes.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to begin our training for Chhori, in collaboration with the Art2Healing project, founded by art therapist, Atira Tan. Chhori is a non-profit organization working in Nepal to promote girl’s education and enhance young women’s livelihood opportunities. However, late in the day today, we heard there may be another "Banda" (a government shutdown including restrictions on using roads) starting tomorrow due to the recent violent clashes protesting the proposed new constitution.   Given this,  there is a possibility we may need to postpone starting the training until the strike is lifted. If this is the case, we will need to stay put in the monastery to make sure we avoid any risky situations. This is another reminder that in this kind of humanitarian work, it is necessary to let go, remain flexible, and see what happens next.

We will keep you updated.

Regards, Beth

Nepal Trauma Healing Project 

LOTUS CIRCLE INTERNATIONAL

Lisa LaDue, LCSW, SEP                   Beth Nielsen, LMFT, SEP 

Please help the survivors of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake by donating to the  Nepal Trauma Healing Project!

Project Goals

Using Somatic Experiencing© concepts and skills -

·  Teach basic skills to local care providers so they can manage their own post-traumatic stress symptoms

·  Teach basic skills to local care providers so they can help others regain a sense of safety and build resilience

·  Mentor local care providers in trauma interventions during visits with earthquake survivors

·  Assess the needs and resources for an ongoing project to support and sustain local efforts in the effective management of trauma

Recipients of services will include:

·  School staff and students

·  Sex trafficking shelter staff and survivors

·  Local counselors needing trauma-sensitive expertise

·  Local doctors providing outreach to rural areas still experiencing unmet basic needs

·  Nepali residents experiencing trauma symptoms

·  Disaster response volunteers experiencing trauma symptoms

Background:

On April 25, 2015 the Kathmandu area of Nepal experienced a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, followed by another major quake of 7.3 on May 12 leaving over 8,500 people dead and at least 23,000 with injuries.  It was the deadliest earthquake on record to hit the Himalayan country. Hundreds of thousands of people became homeless, children were orphaned, and thousands of homes, schools and businesses were destroyed, including shelters for homeless and other vulnerable people such as sex trafficking survivors, hospitals and medical clinics.

Many people are now suffering from psychological trauma that is further complicated by ongoing threats to their survival.  Reports from staff members of local agencies confirm it is very difficult to find quality mental health care.  We have received multiple requests for skilled psychotherapeutic support and training to help identified clients/patients, staff members, and students cope with ongoing fear, hyper-vigilance and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

Lotus Circle International (LCI) is responding to these pleas for help by sending Beth Nielsen and Lisa LaDue, both trauma experts, to Kathmandu, Nepal to offer trauma training specific to post-disaster settings. LCI’s project aims to reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress and increase resiliency through teaching simple skills based on Somatic Experiencing.  Somatic Experiencing, a cutting-edge, holistic, psycho-biologically based trauma treatment model, provides individuals with self-empowerment skills to bring their minds and bodies back into balance.  

Lotus Circle International (LCI) is a U.S. based 501 C3 non-profit organization dedicated to assisting disempowered, traumatized and underserved individuals and communities affected by violence, disasters, and adversity. LCI provides education, training, and integrative healing tools for trauma resolution and nervous system regulation.

Project Description:

Beth Nielsen and Lisa La Due, both with extensive expertise in traumatic stress, will be in Nepal for approximately 18 days in August – September 2015 to offer clinical trauma training, consultation and interventions to organizations serving vulnerable populations. Trauma-focused trainings and interventions aiming to increase stabilization, build resilience, and to minimize the effects of the traumatic stress experienced by earthquake survivors will be provided for multiple organizations including a shelter for women and children who have experienced violence; a private school system in Kathmandu; and an voluntary organization of medical doctors working to improve living conditions and health in rural Nepal. Discussions are continuing with these and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to maximize the use of Beth and Lisa’s time and expertise while in Nepal.

In addition to direct training and interventions, the three-week schedule includes time for consultation with these local organizations to strengthen new skills; assessment and consultation to identify current, short-term and long-term community mental health and resilience needs; and an assessment of potential needs and resources for an ongoing, sustainable training/consultation program for identified organizations.

Project Model and Method

The Trauma Recovery Project for Nepal will utilize a combination of experiential training for local psychosocial services providers, teachers, students and clients; demonstrations of clinical methods and skills; mentoring of providers’ use of skills; and provision of direct interventions, as appropriate.  The training/treating/mentoring model is aimed at providing a sustainable foundation of knowledge and skills providing essential self-regulation skills and leading to personal and community resilience.

The training will address skills and interventions for trauma healing drawn from the Somatic Experiencing® method, developed by Dr. Peter Levine.  Dr. Levine developed Somatic Experiencing® (SE) as a body-awareness approach to healing trauma based on extensive research of the way animals respond to trauma in the wild. His theories are supported by neuroscience research and ongoing studies of the way the autonomic nervous system of humans responds to threat and trauma. The Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute (SETI) has trained thousands of therapists worldwide. This culturally sensitive training will place a strong emphasis on nervous system stabilization and empowerment, as well as basic levels of trauma resolution.  Utilizing experiential modules, the training will include a broad range of trauma-sensitive intervention skills.

One of the intended outcomes of these trainings for multiple organizations is the creation of a network of skilled individuals and organizations providing effective, trauma-sensitive care, thus strengthening relationships and enhancing the healing and resilience of individuals, families and communities in Nepal 

Beth Nielsen and Lisa LaDue will meet with representatives of numerous Nepalese organizations to discuss and assess needs for an ongoing, sustainable mind-body healing program based on Somatic Experiencing®.  If feasible, plans will be developed for regularly scheduled, returning LCI teams to expand and strengthen the initial work accomplished during this trip.

Initial Team Members:

Beth Nielsen, San Francisco, CA (Board President)

Lisa LaDue, Fort Collins, CO 

Beth Nielsen is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and founder of Lotus Circle International (LCI), Beth maintains a private practice in San Francisco, CA (USA) and has been a Senior Assistant and Consultant with the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute (SETI) for 13 years. She has helped train hundreds of therapists in Somatic Experiencing, a psycho-physiologically based method of healing trauma. Her passion for this work lead her into the field of Global Mental Health and in 2005, she co-organized a four-year post Tsunami trauma recovery project in Tamil Nadu with Trauma Vidya (www.TraumaVidya.org). In 2009 she founded LCI, and initiated a Women’s Empowerment Project in Tamil Nadu, India aiding NGO staff and local village women affected by gender-based violence. In 2013 she assisted in another Trauma Vidya project in collaboration with Don Bosco, offering Integral Trauma Resolution Training in Sri Lanka for counselors and other NGO staff with post war trauma.

Beth has consulted on or participated in other trauma training and recovery projects in Kigali, Rwanda, and in Beijing, China. To learn more about Beth and her work you may visit her website at www.lotuscircleinternational.org To reach her directly you may phone her at (415) 359-5597 or email her at Bethlotus@gmail.com

Lisa LaDue is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Colorado (USA, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Director of the National Mass Fatalities Institute and Adjunct Faculty member of the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute (SETI).  She has an extensive and diverse professional background including private practice with an emphasis on trauma and family therapy, medical social work, and disaster response planning and response.  She recently completed a temporary position as Lecturer in International Disaster Psychology, in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver.  Lisa has been providing disaster mental health services with the American Red Cross for nearly 20 years and currently volunteers with Team Rubicon and as a volunteer firefighter in her mountain community.

Lisa has responded to many catastrophic disasters including the September 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and New York City, Hurricane Katrina, the Indian Ocean Tsunami (with a Somatic Experiencing team to Thailand and with TraumaVidya to India), the May 12 Sichuan (China) Earthquake and the High Park Fire (Colorado).

Lisa lectures internationally and has published several works in her field. She is the primary instructor of “Foundations of Disaster Response for SE Providers,” a new SETI course she developed with Ale’ Duarte, SEP, from Brazil.

Photo © by USAID Nepal

Dates:

Initial trip to be August 19  -September 9, 2015 

Dependent upon results of onsite assessment and consultation with local Nepali organizations, plans may be established for follow-up teams to provide ongoing training and aftercare services on a regularly scheduled (quarterly or semi-annually) basis.  These plans will be dependent upon sustainable funding and staffing resources as well as safety conditions in Nepal.

Contact Information

Beth Nielsen: USA number 415-359-5597 Bethlotus@gmail.com

Lisa LaDue: USA number 970-430-5451 lisaladue@gmail.com

Funding:

LCI is seeking funding for the initial trip with 2 team members (Lisa Ladue and Beth Nielsen), as well as a second trip to Nepal with 4 team members. This will likely be a two-year recovery project involving multiple trips.  Direct and indirect costs for both trips total approximately  $23,000. ($12,400.00 for the intial trip).

Direct expenses include airline tickets, ground transportation, visas, lodging and food for the full duration of a 3-week project, training costs and service expenses (rent for the training or service locations, translator fees, internet fees, training materials costs). 

Indirect costs include project-related operating costs, modest stipends for team members, and administrative costs (website, fund-raising expenses, accounting fees).  A complete outline of the budget is available upon request from Beth Nielsen.

Please consider making a donation to Lotus Circle international for this project through Indiegogo at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/nepal-trauma-healing-project#/story.  If you would like more information, please contact Beth Nielsen at (415) 359-5597 or by email at Bethlotus@gmail.com.

Thank you, 

Beth Nielsen, MFT

www.lotuscircleinternational.org

Photo © by  U.S. Embassy, Kathmandu, Nepal

Please help the citizens of Nepal take full advantage of the opportunity to recover by helping us provide them with the treatment they need. We can only offer this help with your donations.

www.lotuscircleinternational.org