International Trauma Expert Joins STAR Efforts

Carolyn H. Heggen, a trauma expert with world credentials, has come to work for Strategies in Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) at Eastern Mennonite University.

As co-leader of STAR Feb. 12 to 16, Heggen will bring her experience with people traumatized by natural and humanmade disasters in Pakistan, Nepal, and India, as well as with traumatized migrants, prisoners, and survivors of sexual abuse and family violence.

A former STAR training participant herself, Heggen recalls the joy of participating with persons from all over the globe. Two attending university professors of religion commented to her that "this place is mind-boggling. Here in this small town, this small university is doing some of the most creative healing work in the world."

STAR works with adults and youth in these areas: common responses to trauma; breaking cycles of victimhood and violence; trauma interventions for individuals and communities; self-care for providers.

Personal Journey to Hope

Heggen, who has a Ph.D. in counseling psychology, shared some of her own experiences and own journey to find hope amid devastation. One of her experiences: After the devastating Asia tsunami, Heggen spent two and a half months near the epicenter of the quake, tending to survivors’ emotional needs.

Receiving her cues from refugee camp leaders – who were overwhelmed with practical matters, such as the absence of drinking water and electricity – she was directed to 12-year-old Suniti. The large waves had thrown Suniti into the top of a palm tree where she had stayed that day and night.

Indian military planes spotted the girl and rescued her. She had been severely cut by the fibrous palm leaves. The girl quietly told Heggen that she had never before been off her island and now she was the only person from her island still living -- everyone she had ever known in her life and in her world were gone.

Heggen's Worldwide Reach

Heggen has taught at universities from Webster University in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the University of Punjab in Pakistan. She has worked with traumatized people in migrant camps of the Pacific Northwest, with those imprisoned in New Mexico, and with survivors of violence and abuse on the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation.

She has written bilingual educational materials, authored the book "Sexual Abuse in Christian Homes and Churches," and received a Fulbright research grant for work in India.

Heggen says she already feels at home in STAR, which has sponsored projects in dozens of countries, bringing trauma expertise to post-war and post-disaster communities, such as to the Gulf Coast after Katrina.

Begun as a response to 9-11 and funded in part by Church World Service, STAR has trained more than 3,000 teachers, religious leaders, counselors, and concerned citizens both locally and abroad.

STAR is 'Best Model'

"STAR at EMU is the best model I’ve ever heard of," says Heggen. "It practically addresses many of the issues about which I have been passionate for many years. It gives lay people the tools they need to address individual and community healing and to make a significant difference in our world."

Asked how she avoids being overwhelmed by the tragedies she encounters, Heggen tells this story: A young mother who lost her infant in the tsunami murmured to Heggen, "My breasts don’t know that my baby died."

Heggen matched the mother with an orphaned infant who desperately needed breast milk. Tears streamed down the mother’s face as she tenderly nursed this baby.

Heggen says she has learned to simply look at the person in front of her and ask herself, "Is there anything I can do in this moment for this one person?"

Later, she imagines walking along a beach, holding this person’s hand, seeing Christ walking towards them, and gently turning her over to His care. "I remind myself that it is not all dependent on me."

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For information on attending STAR trainings or developing STAR strategies in your organization, visit emu.edu/star, call 540-432-4651 or contact STAR@emu.edu.

— article by: Susan L. Beck; posted February 9, 2007