Trauma Informed Care and Psychologically Informed Environments Webinar

Trauma Informed Care and Psychologically Informed Environments Webinar 19 th of October 2020 www. smes-europa. org smeseu@smes-europa. org

Santé Mentale Mental Health et and Exclusion Sociale Social Exclusion SMES-Europa - Mental Health and Social Exclusion is an European non-profit Association which working since 1992 at the interface, intersection between mental health and social exclusion. Specificity Social Mission of SMES-Europa is to operate, working at intersection of mental health sector and poverty, social exclusion for improving mental, physical & social well-being, promoting human right & access to social and health services, to citizenship and participation, to inclusion and solidarity in European Countries especially for the most vulnerable people living in extreme social and health poverty conditions. I like to highlight the coincidence of the date of this webinar with a double anniversary: • 10 th Oct. World Mental Health Day: Everyone has the right to the best available mental health services within the health & social welfare systems. (U. N. Resol: 46/119, 1. 1, 1991) • 17 th Oct. World Day against Poverty : Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice ! It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the Right to Dignity and a Decent Life.

Vulnerability and Trauma Let me mention these two key words : vulnerability and trauma of this Erasmus project. We all know, from Greek mythology, the myth of Achilles' heel: according to the ancient legends, the mother Thetis immersed Achilles in the waters of the Styx, to make him invulnerable; but because she supported him by the heel, this part of the body remained vulnerable (hence the expression "Achilles' heel" to refer to a person's weak point). The birth - in a sense - is our first traumatic experience: it interrupts the absolute tranquility and warmth of the mother's womb, opening up to the unknown life: it is the moment of passage from the most protected, warmest and most loving place in the world, to the unknown of indefinite and unknown space-time dimensions. We all, in a certain sense, have our Achilles' heel, that is the critical point where all our fragility is concentrated, but we do not all suffer from the same level of vulnerability, which is conditioned differently by the evolution of each person's life, in fact we do not all run the risk of being affected there and in the same way.

Traumatic life conditions and COVID 19 The context of life : It’s not only the personal and individual vulnerability the reason of extreme poverty and exclusion but also trauma and traumatic situation during the life is playing a role: parents not taking care, parent drinking, parents dead, bullying, losing a job/home being a soldier in war and so on. When the project was prepared with Sophia's colleagues two years ago, no one could have imagined the tsunami that was going to hit our countries, taking thousands of people and leaving behind unsustainable situations in terms of health, economy and social life. For many people and especially for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable it was and continues to be a very traumatic period. Today, everyone's future is full of unknowns: not only when, but above all how we will get out of it.

TOGETHER and HOPE For the time being, all efforts are concentrated on the search for the vaccine. We too, I think that in our daily work, we must, in a way, provide the people we work with a ‘vaccine for life’ that is absolutely necessary in order to regaining confidence and regaining hope. Even the most destructive and deepest trauma should not extinguish this spark from which light and strength can again be drawn. And this is what we are trying to analyze, support and spread with this project – together - to regain the hope. .