Kids Connect for Trauma Recovery on Eve of 9/11
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 04:58AM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Unique Event at St. Luke’s Hospital Annual Back-to-School Event
New York, NY, September 8, 2011– The 10th anniversary of 9/11 occurs coincidentally with the time kids return to school and with the release by the New York Department of Education of a new curriculum that schools can use to teach students about the events of September 11. To address the potential stress of this time, and to help educate kids about 9/11, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital is including a special workshop at their 4th annual Child and Family Institute’s Back-to-School Event that includes self-esteem exercises, healing songs, and an exchange of dolls made by children from Haiti and Japan who survived the recent earthquakes and tsunami.
Where: St. Luke’s Hospital, Babcock Cafeteria, 419 W. 114th St. (btw Amsterdam Ave. & Morningside Dr.), NYC
When: Thursday, September 8, 2011, from 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM
At the workshop, the New York children will be making dolls with messages of hope to be sent to kids in Haiti and Japan who have gone through the recent earthquakes there. Last month, 100 dolls were decorated by Japanese children after the recent tragic tsunami/earthquake in that country and brought to Haiti where they were given to children who survived the earthquake there.
“The circle of dolls makes the children who have gone through terrible tragedies know that children in other countries care about them. The psychological impact of this, and learning simple techniques to feel good, is healing and also fun,”
says noted New York clinical psychologist, Dr. Judy Kuriansky, founder of the Global Kids Connect Project, a popular radio and TV personality, and humanitarian and NGO representative at the United Nations for the International Association of Applied Psychology. Dr Judy provided psychological first aide after 9/11 at Ground Zero and at the Family Assistance Center in NYC, as well as after other disasters including Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the Asian tsunami, earthquakes in the Haiti and China.
Including New York youth in the circle of children is significant at this time, given the upcoming 10th anniversary of September 11 when New Yorkers will all be aware of the need for healing. Many of these children are dealing with other major stressors such as family problems, poverty, poor living conditions, and family financial problems that prevent them from essential school supplies.
“The doll exchange is based on sound psychological principles applied in other disasters, like the teddy bears given to children after 9/11, which represent ‘transitional objects’ and ‘contact comfort’ symbolic of a nurturing maternal figure offering security and safety essential for children after disasters,” adds Dr. Judy.
At the event, an original song, “Towers of Light,” written in commemoration of 9/11 to promote healing and honor the heroes of that day will be performed by the Stand Up for Peace Project (www.towersoflightsong.com). The song has been performed yearly at 9/11 memorials in New York, as well as in Japan and around the world, including for the Dalai Lama.
Other partners for the Event include Nozomi Terao, founder and Executive Director of HappyDoll, Inc. (www.happydoll.org) and formerly of Morgan Stanley; Russell Daisey, internationally known composer and co-founder of the Stand Up for Peace Project; Father Wismick Jean Charles, a Haitian Catholic priest who preaches in Westbury, Long Island and teaches at New York’s Fordham University; and the International Association of Applied Psychology, an NGO accredited at the United Nations. Partners in Haiti are Centre Bon Samaritan and The Haitian Action for the United Nations.
The Back-to-School Event fosters excitement about education by creating a fun environment with confidence-building activities designed to teach kids that academic success is key to achieving future goals. The Child and Family Institute in the Department of Psychiatry Outpatient Department provides therapeutic services to over 730 children and families with emotional, behavioral, family and learning issues. At last year’s Back-to-School Event, 130 children and teens participated in activities to promote school achievement, study skills and self-esteem. Refreshments and backpacks and other school supplies were donated by Staples, BJs, Whole Foods, the Discovery Center and others, and a computer was raffled off.
AVAILABLE: Press interviews with the kids, staff, donors & participants; photos and video of the Global Kids Connect event in Haiti and photos from the doll-making by children in Japan
Contact for St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital: Susan Fenton, Director, Special Projects, Office of the Department of Psychiatry, (212) 523-7342 - sfenton@chpnet.org
Contacts for the Global Kids Connect Project: Becky at (603)520-5941 - GlobeInk@mail.com
and Dr. Judy Kuriansky, (917)224-5839 - DrJudyK@aol.com
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Dr. Judy Kuriansky, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and relationship expert, teacher at Columbia University Teachers College and United Nations Main NGO representative who has provided disaster relief post-9’11 and around the world after disasters in Haiti, Sri Lanka, China and the Middle East. A former reporter for WCBS-TV, WABC-TV and host of CNBC-TV “Money and Emotions” and veteran radio advice talk show host of the popular “LovePhones” show, she now appears often as a TV commentator. A former columnist for the Daily News website and the South China Morning Post, and author of many books including “The Complete Idiots Guide to a Healthy Relationship,” and “Beyond Bullets and Bombs: Grassroots peace building between Israelis and Palestinians,” she was recently awarded for Lifetime Achievement in Global Peace and Tolerance by the Friends of the United Nations.
The Global Kids Connect Project is a cross-cultural humanitarian initiative promoting healing and comfort for children after disasters that includes a workshop of stress reduction techniques, cultural experiences and exchange of dolls. Partners include HappyDoll Inc., a Japanese-founded organization that has exchanged dolls for orphans and other children; the UN-accredited International Association of Applied Psychology; Haiti Action Youth for the United Nations; and New York’s St. Luke’s Hospital.
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