Our Global Trauma Relief Mission

Global Trauma Relief has taken The Center for Mind-Body Medicine all over the world to aide populations in crisis- Kosovo, Gaza, Israel, Macedonia, Bosnia and even at home in New York City post- 9/11 and the Gulf Coast post- Hurricane Katrina. Our Healing the Wounds of War program is the mechanism with which we bring mind-body healing and awareness to individuals traumatized by natural or man-made disasters.

Implementing CMBM’s psycho-social model entails seeking out and developing relationships with professionals in disaster areas who help us in outreach efforts to connect with local healthcare professionals, caregivers, community leaders and first responders. CMBM trains these professionals in managing their own stress by using scientifically validated approaches, including psychological self-care, self-expression (through words, drawings and movement), mind-body techniques (meditation, guided imagery, biofeedback, yoga, etc.) and group support. We then instruct program graduates in effectively incorporating these techniques into their work with clients, patients and the local populations they serve, thus promoting sustainability by integrating CMBM’s model in existing structures and reshaping services and programs to address psychological trauma and stress.

For instance, we have trained nearly 100 healthcare professionals, psychologists and psychiatrists who work with the Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) in Kosovo. A recent evaluation indicated that 90% of the CMHC workers now include the techniques they have learned in their daily lives, as well as in their work.

Not only have we been able to assist hundreds of professionals who have witnessed atrocities all around the world in healing themselves and managing their own stress, but we have also used these partnerships to bring our self-care model to the greater communities which they serve. That is our Global Trauma Relief mission- train professionals in a “training of trainers” model that seeks to aide them in alleviating their own trauma while instructing them in effectively integrating what they have learned into their work as a way to promote permanent changes in attitude and behavior that helps pave the way for self-awareness, understanding, and psychological recovery in traumatized populations.

As the (Israeli) professionals build their resiliency and prowess with this work, the CMBM will be blessed with facilitating broad societal change and upgrading human behavior and quality of life throughout the world by spreading the teaching of this program.

- Rabbi Immanuel Yosef Legomsky, MA, Neurotherapist, Israel Trauma Care