Healing and Human Rights: A Blog by the Center for Victims of Torture
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Posted in Washington, D.C., Torture Rehabilitation, Human Rights, Refugees
Annie Sovcik, director of CVT's Washington, D.C., office, shares her thoughts on being among those in attendance at the White House reception for Pope Francis.
Read More
Read More
Monday, September 21, 2015
Posted in Torture Rehabilitation, Human Rights, Global Health, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, Refugees
In this session, as we continue to build safety and stability in the group, we aim to draw out survivors’ internal strengths and external resources to counteract the unhelpful tunnel thinking that keeps traumatized people in a state of despair. After reviewing the grounding exercise that helps survivors feel more stable in their bodies and returns them to the present moment, the facilitators use a table metaphor to demonstrate how the more “table legs” one can develop (internal and external resources), the easier it is to carry the burdens on the table.
Read More
Read More
Monday, September 14, 2015
In our international projects, our healing work for torture and war trauma survivors is conducted through group counseling. Groups typically meet for ten weeks. This is the first in a series of posts following the counseling group cycle in Jordan. Veronica Laveta is CVT’s clinical advisor for the Jordan project. Read other entries in this series.Next session ---->________________________________
Read More
Read More
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Posted in Torture Rehabilitation, Human Rights, Global Health, Immigration, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, Refugees
Jenni Bowring-McDonough, CVT media relations manager, comments on the critical and growing need for mental health and psychosocial support services in response to the ongoing refugee crisis.
Read More
Read More
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
It was in the early 1980s that Ben Kohler read about Governor Rudy Perpich’s proposal to create a center for torture survivors. “I learned about the center before it was even a center.” He remembers reading articles and letters in the newspaper in opposition to the idea and his sense of shock. “I just couldn’t understand how anyone could oppose something so good and so needed.” It motivated him to start supporting CVT’s work shortly after it became a reality.
Read More
Read More
Monday, August 31, 2015
Judith Twala, MA, is a psychotherapist/trainer with the Center for Victims of Torture in Dadaab, Kenya. Dadaab is the world’s largest refugee camp in the northeast region of Kenya, close to the Somali border. Most refugees in this complex of camps are from Somalia with others from South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries. As a psychotherapist /trainer with the CVT Dadaab project, I have been interacting with war and torture survivors from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Ethiopia, Southern Sudan and Somalia for more than two years. Though from different mother countries, these survivors share one thing in common and that is ambiguous loss.
Read More
Read More
Friday, August 28, 2015
Fotouh Younes (left) with New Tactics Training Manager Nancy PearsonWhen CVT’s New Tactics in Human Rights program launched the Middle East North Africa (MENA) initiative to strengthen the capacity of human rights defenders in the MENA region, we began training local human rights activists in the New Tactics 5-Step Strategic Effectiveness method. Fotouh Younes with the Arab Network for Civic Education (ANHRE) was one of those who learned the Strategic Effectiveness method and became a local trainer in early 2010.
Read More
Read More
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Posted in Torture Rehabilitation, Minnesota
Mary Healy’s involvement with CVT began with her appreciation of the beautiful yards highlighted in CVT fundraising Healing Garden tours in the 1990s. “I’m a fantasy gardener,” she explains. On one visit, she picked up a brochure about CVT and was intrigued to learn about its work in the Twin Cities. She volunteered to be a host at the next garden tour, and quickly became active in other roles. Beginning with New Tactics in Human Rights and continuing as a befriender, volunteer coordinator, and other roles, she has contributed to CVT for over 15 years.
Read More
Read More
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
On World Humanitarian Day, CVT recognizes humanitarians around the world including CVT staff.
Read More
Read More
Monday, August 17, 2015
Posted in Human Rights
In the spring of 2010, the New Tactics in Human Rights program launched the Middle East North Africa (MENA) Initiative to strengthen the capacity of human rights defenders in the MENA region. This new phase of the program included training local human rights activists in the New Tactics 5-Step Strategic Effectiveness method.
Read More
Read More
Pages
Blog Categories
Connect with us
Blogs We Follow
GLOBAL HEALTH
- Global Health Impact Blog
- Our Global Voices
- The Lancet Global Health Blog
- University of Minnesota Department of Medicine, Global Health
HUMAN RIGHTS
- Amnesty International Human Rights Now Blog
- Amnesty International LIVEWIRE
- Human Rights First
- Physicians for Human Rights Blog
- The Advocates Post
- UNHCR Global Views
- University of Minnesota Human Rights Center Events Blog