Reaching Resilience: A Training Manual for Community Wellness

In 1986 medical anthropologist Pat Omidian worked with Afghan refugees in San Francisco and first realized that people can find their own solutions when resilience is supported in culturally relevant ways. The ensuing years took her to Afghanistan under the Taliban, to earthquake torn Pakistan, to post-tsunami Japan, and Ebola threatened Liberia. This gem of a book shares lessons she learned in over thirty years of working in diverse cultures with people and communities in severe distress. Reaching Resilience offers an easy-to-use psychosocial health approach called Community Wellness Focusing (CWF), the combined work of many dedicated community activists and healers. Each chapter explains a basic principle and gives examples of activities that support inner sensing, group learning and deep empathic listening. Focusing Initiatives International is the organization that Pat started together with social justice activist Melinda Darer to promote and support CWF worldwide.

• Building Resilience to Trauma: The Trauma and Community Resiliency Models
• Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness
• When the Body Says No: Understanding the Stress-Disease Connection
• Autonomic Nervous System Table: Laminated Card
• Women Rowing North: Navigating Life's Currents and Flourishing As We Age
• Focusing with Children: The Art of Communicating with Children at School and at Home by Stapert, Marta, Verlieferde, Erik (2008) Paperback
• Edna's Gift: How My Broken Sister Taught Me to Be Whole
• From Conflict to Creative Collaboration: A User's Guide to Dynamic Facilitation
• Insights in Space: How to Use Clean Space to Solve Problems, Generate Ideas and Spark Creativity