Thank you to Lila Guirguis for her comments and enthusiasm regarding Young & Healthy’s first Trauma Informed Care training held on October 10 at Huntington Hospital. Lila wrote:
Yesterday many of the partners of Collaborate PASadena were fortunate to attend Part 1 of 4 trainings on Trauma Informed Care hosted by Young and Healthy at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena and facilitated by Matt Bennett from the Coldspring Center for Social & Health Innovation.
It was a fantastic training, but even better was the diversity of the leadership in the room, from Pasadena Unified School District staff, City of Pasadena, the Pasadena Library, many local nonprofit agencies and nurses and doctors of Huntington Hospital, at least 100 people attended!
So much of what was discussed was about our own personal narrative, what shapes and molds us into the individuals we are today especially looking at the brain science behind our behaviors, our choices and social and emotional health. We were led through conversations that helped us, in our small table discussions, and as a larger group, think about the clients, patients, young children and students and community we work with and reflect “what ways we have seen trauma negatively impact people’s lives and ability to thrive”.
One thing Mary Donnelly-Crocker, Executive Director of Young and Healthy, ended with was let’s make Pasadena a Trauma Informed City! It was a call to action, to policy and especially awareness of this important research. As the new Staff Lead of the Office of the Young Child for the City of Pasadena, I left inspired to support the dissemination of this information to many I have worked with and will be working with.
I leave you with this short video on Empathy vs. Sympathy Published on Dec 10, 2013….In this beautifully animated RSA Short, Dr Brené Brown reminds us what is the best way to ease someone’s pain and suffering? We can only create a genuine empathic connection if we are brave enough to really get in touch with our own fragilities.
Sincerely,
Lila Guirguis
