International Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Day, June 27

In reality, we should not be speaking about PTSD. Rather, we should use the term post-traumatic stress reactions (PTSRs), with emphasis on the plural. These are normal reactions to traumatic events, which are events that threaten the physical and/or psychological well-being of the person or someone close. These reactions are individual. They can be psychological, physical, or a combination of both. Drugs deal only with the symptoms, not with the underlying issues. People need to talk and process.
It is important to note that PTSRs do not only occur in the military. They occur in every traumatic situation, that is, personal traumas, family traumas, natural disasters, migration, torture, and situations too numerous to mention. Virtually every person experiencing a traumatic event has PTSRs of one sort or another.
It is important that processing of the trauma takes place as soon as possible after the traumatic event. Still, it is useful to work with the traumas even years, or decades, after the events occur. This is important for the functioning of the person and his/her family.
Also, the person can and will transmit the trauma to other people in the vicinity and to future generations. This is very well known.
A number of organizations work with PTSRs. We are one of them. We train people without previous education in these fields to work with others in our program known as Pragmatic Empowerment Training (PET). Please see our website, www.cwwpp.org, for details.

International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture, June 26

Unfortunately, physical, psychological, and sexual torture is extremely widespread. While it is carried out by quite a number of governments, some of which even have schools for torturers, it also is carried out by paramilitary and other groups. Also, unfortunately, torture is nothing new. It has been carried out through the millennia.

Torture of any sort is NEVER acceptable under any circumstances.

It is extremely important that ALL victims of torture get medical and psychological examination and assistance as soon as possible. Such assistance is very important, even if it is many years since the torture occurred.

The links below give organizations that can assist. If you cannot find other assistance, please contact us.

​http://tortureawareness.org
https://irct.org
https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/torture/
https://www.hrw.org/topic/torture
http://www.nrcat.org

Udruga Životna linija‎- Opasnost od PTSP-a među civilnim hrvatskim stanovništvom uslijed koronavirusa i potresa - besplatno savjetovanje

World Refugee Day is Saturday, 20 June.
 
We say the same thing every year and it seems to get worse rather than better.
 
The ways that governments are treating refugees and people attempting to assist them are nothing short of scandalous, inhumane, and blasphemous against the tenets of all religions. Virtually all refugees and asylum seekers are fleeing torture, war, discrimination, disease, and poverty. They are seeking better lives for themselves and their families. Virtually all become assets to the regions to which they flee. They provide labor and expertise and become valuable members of their new societies. Thus, rather than killing them and injuring them in pushbacks, governments and other bodies should be opening borders rather than closing them and welcoming them and providing facilities for them to learn the languages and cultures of the regions to which they come. 
 
In order for them to function well, their traumas – that is, those of the regions of origin, those of the journey, and those of the adaptation to the receiving region – must be dealt with adequately. Unfortunately, this rarely happens. We of the CWWPP have seen over the past 25 years – and one of us since 1988 – that people can be assisted to do this with one another through programs such as our Pragmatic Empowerment Training (PET), described on our website, www.cwwpp.org. This allows people to become “barefoot therapists”, also known as “peer supporters”. We have found that this creates capacity relatively quickly and overcomes at least some cultural issues. We welcome people contacting us about this.
 
Our knowledge is not just theoretical. One of us, Charles, comes from a refugee family and grew up with these issues. Also, as mentioned, we have been at this for more than 25 years.
 
Please, let us make the world a humane place and heal those with the trauma of flight and treat them as fellow human beings.

You can see a video of this statement on Vimeo or download the video below.
refugee_day_2020_compact.mp4
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One of our groups in Congo, the CSC!
​We are very proud of you.

Some Ways of Getting Through All of This
 
In the course of years, I (Charles) have been through a number of difficult periods, personally and with quite a number of clients. The following are a number of ways that might assist you.
 
Take it day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. Don’t look too far ahead.

Don’t obsess with the news or with other things. Listen or watch on a regular basis, but not constantly.

Concentrate on the task that you are doing at the moment, to the exclusion of the rest of the world.
You can think about the rest of the world later.

Devise a routine and a schedule for yourself, this for each day.

Find a goal for yourself in this period, something that you have wanted to do but usually would not have the time to do. This could be taking an online course, reading something, writing, doing something else creative, etc. Doing this, you might discover new things that you might not have thought of in the past.

Give yourself points of light during the day, that is, points to which to look forward.

Do something you like for at least a half hour every day. If you can, schedule several such periods. This can be anything – eating, writing, drawing, cooking, listening to music, playing with an animal, etc.

Find a way of getting your feelings out, this on a very regular basis, at least once a day and more if you can. You can do this through writing, drawing, playing music, or any other kind of creativity. This is extremely important. 

Do some physical activity or exercise, even if it’s simple, like running in place, pushups, situps, etc. While you shouldn’t push yourself too hard, getting things circulating in your body and getting some additional oxygen into your cells is useful. You also can build this up, a little more each day. Dare we say it, but you can maintain this once this period is over.

With regard to corona, physical separation does not have to mean social separation. Keep in touch with other people through Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, telephone, etc. If you are a member of an organization, suggest that they have online meetings. Suggest the same to your religious body, if you are religious. Having regular meetings with people also provides you with points of light to which to look forward, as described above. You might even find new things and new interests with the people with whom you’re communicating in this way.

In a similar context, assisting other people also can assist you. Listening to other people and facilitating them getting out their feelings also makes you feel good.

Remember that, just as all things, this too shall pass.  

​If you have other things to add to these survival mechanisms, let us know. We’ll revise them.
 
We wish you the best.

​The first course in the Pragmatic Empowerment Training Series is now available on this website and social media. This course is on the Caregiver-Client Relationship. It requires no previous education. The manual for it is available in various languages, including those used by asylum seekers and refugees and those assisting them. Take the course now!

Introduction from Dr Charles David Tauber:

This video is from 2015 but still may be of interest. The external link is Charles Tauber - Vukovar, grad u traumi (integralni intervju) on Vimeo.
This is a longer interview with Shrink Rap Radio.
​ www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5lwz9u1ywc&feature=youtu.be 
We also recommend that you have a look at Shrink Rap Radio's website, where you can find more than 600 interviews with psychologists. shrinkrapradio.com
In November 2018, we participated in this conference - click here to watch/download the talks.
LATEST
​        
  • In the time of corona, we are prepared to offer counseling to people affected by corona itself or by the consequences of the restrictions. Most likely, depending on the demand, we will organize one or more online groups. You can contact us on cwwppsummer@gmail.com.
 
  • On Sunday 22 March 2020, Charles Tauber gave an interview to Rabbi Zevi Wineberg about positive responses to the corona virus issue and about psychological assistance in general. The interview is available here.
     
  • To read our report for January 2020 and our previous monthly reports, click here.
 
  • To read our Semi-Annual Report for the first half of 2019, click here.
 
  • We have just published a brochure for short-term volunteers with migrants. This is the link.
 
  • The November-December 2019 issue of the Dutch Quaker Monthly "De Vriendenkring" contains an article by Charles David Tauber, M.D. on the migrant situation here. We have placed the article, with an English translation, here.​
 
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You can donate now.
Each and every contribution is valuable.

Your donation to CWWPP is needed, beautiful and one of the bravest acts of kindness.

​
26 November 2019 marked the 22nd anniversary of the registration of the CWWPP in The Netherlands. We are proud of this and hope to continue our work for a long time to come.


Notes for the seminar given for students of the Department of Psychology of the University of Osijek given 7 May 2019. click here


​We have had a virtual presentation accepted for the InPACT conference in Zagreb 2-4 May 2019. It is available here (in the Library on this site) and at http://inpact-psychologyconference.org/virtual-presentations/.
Special thanks to our donors


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​ANNE FRANK FONDS


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We thank our long-term anonymous US donor for his great generosity and humanity over many years.
​We also wish to thank the Hulpfonds of Dutch Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers) for their financial and moral support over many years.
Stiftung Kriegstrauma-Therapie
Norwegian International
International Center for Conflict Resolution
Evangelische Kirche A.B.
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Croatia Without Mines Foundation
International Police Association, Norway
VPRO Hilversum
Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution