by WebPost | May 23, 2016 | Peace and Social Concerns
Quaker House recently published a book of healing strategies for moral injury, Help for Moral Injury: Strategies and Interventions. Cecilia Yocum, PhD, volunteered to write this after attending one of their presentations in Tampa, FL. It is available through Amazon or by contacting QH at [email protected] or 910- 323-3912. We hope it will be a help to our service members and veterans! Please share this!
In the United States we have been late to recognize and provide supportive services to victims of post-traumatic stress disorder, and are only beginning to recognize a need to address moral injury – debilitating guilt, shame and self-condemnation secondary to inflicting violence State- sanctioned or otherwise, on others. Both exist. Both haunt our society. The strategies and interventions provided in this booklet set forth a means of addressing the injuries to an individual’s moral codes. The conflict or tension with one’s personal codes and that of armed conflict and the aftermath may create conditions which can make it difficult to return to “normal” life.
The strategies and interventions provided here are opportunities for individuals to identify, address, and manage those conflicts or tensions through a structured process and, above all, in a safe supportive environment. The emphasis is on recognizing that agents of injury also suffer, identifying the nature of their emotional and spiritual injuries, and providing a safe environment to facilitate healing. These activities will help those with moral injury develop some tools to work toward the goals listed above along with other goals of understanding moral injury, self- care, and developing personal and spiritual resources. These exercises/activities are designed to be used by counselors/pastoral counselors, psychologists or other mental health workers.
Cecilia Yocum received her Ph.D. in psychology from Ohio State University in 1978. She has over 35 years of experience working with individuals, families, communities, and professional groups and has worked overseas with community-based trauma healing programs in Rwanda, Burundi, and Colombia as a part of Friends Peace Teams. Dr. Yocum has been actively involved with Alternatives to Violence Project workshops, is a past board member of the Florida Center for Survivors of Torture, and has provided psychological evaluations for political asylum seekers. Lynn Newsom, Quaker House co-director, wrote the introduction.
by WebPost | May 23, 2016 | Committees
Care Partners are people supporting family members with chronic illness. Being a Care Partner is stressful, so Partners also need care. The group focus will be on the Care Partner’s spiritual journey as it has been impacted by living with the person with the illness; focus will not be on the illness. What are our tools, struggles, victory stories, spiritual practices? We will meet at RFM for 6 sessions, from 9:30 to 10:45 am, before Meeting for Worship for Business on Third First Days from June through November.
Our first session will be June 19, 9:30 to 10:45am, at RFM in an upstairs classroom. A typical agenda will include opening silence, opportunity for checking in, presentation of an article or resource, journaling in response to a question, opportunity for any who wish to share verbally, and closing silence or affirmations. Under sponsorship of Care and Counsel, the group will meet with facilitator-participant Mary Fran Hughes-McIntyre. For more information, email Mary Fran.
by WebPost | May 11, 2016 | Committees
Hello Friends! Spring Retreat is coming soon, on the weekend of May 27 – May 29, and this year we have an online registration form that you can access at this address.
Our theme is Telling Our Stories, and we’ll have opportunities for you to tell stories or listen to stories, and of course, all the other great opportunities to enjoy each other and the beautiful Clearing, whether you want to camp, stay in one of the sleeping cabins, or just come for the day on Saturday.
Please do register though! It really helps us to plan the correct amount of food, avoiding waste and avoiding having too little. Also, please don’t worry about not having the money for the registration fee. Scholarships are available.
We can’t wait to see you! -Ted Heck, for the Spring Retreat Committee
by WebPost | May 10, 2016 | Peace and Social Concerns
In March, the Meeting minuted support of six youth (Emma Blake, Max Thoburn, Dorsey Crocker, Justin Sykes, Jordan Keller and Olivia Duncan) who had shared their written personal statements of conscience. As follow-up to this moving testimony, members and attenders were invited to write their letters of support on behalf of these youth. Such letters will be housed in Meeting archives and available to the youth in the event they are called up by Selective Service for the military.
In April, members and attenders were given additional information for writing their letters of support. At the request of members who earlier asked to read the statements again in preparation for their letter-writing, students asked that these not be placed on the website or in the newsletter for privacy concerns. Instead letters will be maintained under the foyer bulletin boards in a white notebook for members to re-read on Sunday mornings over the next month. Extra copies of statements may be taken home if you wish to have such in front of you when you write. Statements will also be available at the April 22 coffee house sponsored by RE.
Please address your letter either (1) to the student by name or (2) to the Clerk of Richmond Meeting on behalf of the student. Be sure to include the student name or names. Letters can be any length. If you wish to include something you know personally about the youth, please do so. Be sure to date and sign your name. Regretfully for letter writers, a letter on behalf of all six youth does not work. If a youth wishes to use them for Selective Service business at a future date, other names would be contained in the supporting document and would violate the privacy of those youth.
Please leave your support letters in the Historian’s mailbox hopefully by the May 15 Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business. Your letter(s) of support will be shared with each youth over the next few months. For questions, please email or call Betsy Brinson.
by WebPost | May 4, 2016 | Adult Spiritual Education
Friends:
The Adult Spiritual Education Committee is seeking your feedback on the series “Living the Quaker Life.” If you attended one or more sessions, please let us know how you experienced it and your ideas for the future. Reprints of the form below will be available at Meeting for Worship over the coming weeks or you can print a copy, complete the form, and bring to Meeting.
We are also eager to hear from those of you who did not participate. We would like to have your ideas and suggestions for future programs and series.
We look forward to receiving your feedback and suggestions.
Adult Spiritual Education Committee
The link below opens the feedback form:
ASE Living the Quaker Life Feedback Form