The power of empathy
Peer groups help veterans, police and moms of kids with special needs
8:42 AM, Jan. 17, 2012
Written by
MaryLynn Schiavi
For NJ Press Media
What do police officers, military veterans and mothers have in common?
They all fall into the category of those who help and support others — but often, do not get the help and support that they need, according to Cherie Castellano, the driving force behind the creation of three Central Jersey-based peer-to-peer support programs.
The programs, offered by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, are proving that empathy, which arises from walking in the shoes of another, creates a powerful connection and support for those in crisis.
That, in turn, helps both parties heal.
Castellano is a crisis intervention professional and program manager at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey’s Behavioral HealthCare division in Piscataway.
She is the director of Cop2Cop, which she established over a decade ago prior to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; NJ Vet2Vet, established in 2005; and Mom2Mom, established in late 2010, which offers support and guidance to mothers of children with special needs.
read more here
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
A soldier's fatal burden
A soldier's fatal burden
January 17, 2012 - 2:34PM
John Birmingham
When we think of soldiers, we think of the things they carry on the outside. The rifle. The bayonet. The camouflage pattern of a uniform. A helmet. Boots. Perhaps a canteen or a poncho or a hand grenade. And when we think about these things we might see them, but we don’t actually think about them, about their uses and their true meaning and how they make a soldier so very different from us that we can never really understand him or her.
What we don’t think about are the things a soldier carries on the inside. The things that make him or her exactly the same as us. Take away the rifle and bayonet, strip off that uniform, whether starched and pressed or tattered and bloody, and the soldier is merely a man or a woman.
Noble in reason, as Hamlet knew deep in his melancholia, infinite in faculties, admirable in form and movement, but like Hamlet and like you and I, prey to the anxieties and slights and failings of our common humanity.
The hard and melancholy things a soldier carries inside are the same as those we carry, but more so. They love each other as we do, they know fear, as we do, the cry sometimes and exult at others. They know boredom and frustration and resentment and rage. But sometimes, because of the extremes at which they must live and die and – lets not forget – kill, they know those things more intensely than we can ever imagine.
It destroys them. Not all of them, not all the time. But the strange, unnatural intensities of a soldier’s life and the proximity to violent death in which it is lived during war time destroys many, many more of them than the commonplace demands of life do us.
Perhaps that’s why, in the US, which has been at war for over 10 years now, a serving member of the military takes their own life every 36 hours. Perhaps it is significant that of those suicides, the heaviest numbers are to be found among infantrymen – the soldiers on whom the most grievous and intense demands are laid.
read more here
January 17, 2012 - 2:34PM
John Birmingham
When we think of soldiers, we think of the things they carry on the outside. The rifle. The bayonet. The camouflage pattern of a uniform. A helmet. Boots. Perhaps a canteen or a poncho or a hand grenade. And when we think about these things we might see them, but we don’t actually think about them, about their uses and their true meaning and how they make a soldier so very different from us that we can never really understand him or her.
What we don’t think about are the things a soldier carries on the inside. The things that make him or her exactly the same as us. Take away the rifle and bayonet, strip off that uniform, whether starched and pressed or tattered and bloody, and the soldier is merely a man or a woman.
Noble in reason, as Hamlet knew deep in his melancholia, infinite in faculties, admirable in form and movement, but like Hamlet and like you and I, prey to the anxieties and slights and failings of our common humanity.
The hard and melancholy things a soldier carries inside are the same as those we carry, but more so. They love each other as we do, they know fear, as we do, the cry sometimes and exult at others. They know boredom and frustration and resentment and rage. But sometimes, because of the extremes at which they must live and die and – lets not forget – kill, they know those things more intensely than we can ever imagine.
It destroys them. Not all of them, not all the time. But the strange, unnatural intensities of a soldier’s life and the proximity to violent death in which it is lived during war time destroys many, many more of them than the commonplace demands of life do us.
Perhaps that’s why, in the US, which has been at war for over 10 years now, a serving member of the military takes their own life every 36 hours. Perhaps it is significant that of those suicides, the heaviest numbers are to be found among infantrymen – the soldiers on whom the most grievous and intense demands are laid.
read more here
Homes Evacuated and Streets Closed During Stand-off with Armed Man
Homes Evacuated and Streets Closed During Stand-off with Armed Man
Updated: Jan 16, 2012 6:46 AM EST
Several residents on Green Bay's west side were evacuated Sunday night, as police were involved in a stand-off with an armed man.
The incident lasted about five hours.
Police were called to Thrush St., just south of Velp Ave. about 9:30 Sunday night.
Police blocked off streets in the area, including Velp, and people in nearby homes were told to evacuate or hide in their basements for safety.
Police say the man had threatened suicide, but a woman he was related to was also in the home, plus he had fortified the house, had several guns, and was recently in the military.
read more here
Updated: Jan 16, 2012 6:46 AM EST
Several residents on Green Bay's west side were evacuated Sunday night, as police were involved in a stand-off with an armed man.
The incident lasted about five hours.
Police were called to Thrush St., just south of Velp Ave. about 9:30 Sunday night.
Police blocked off streets in the area, including Velp, and people in nearby homes were told to evacuate or hide in their basements for safety.
Police say the man had threatened suicide, but a woman he was related to was also in the home, plus he had fortified the house, had several guns, and was recently in the military.
read more here
Waverly police seize guns from distraught man
Waverly police seize guns from distraught man
WAVERLY, Iowa --- Authorities seized a loaded handgun and a military-style rifle after being called about a distraught man on Saturday.
Waverly police took the man, whose name wasn't released, to the Waverly Health Center for observation after he was detained without incident during a traffic stop on Bremer Road at about 9:40 a.m.
read more here
WAVERLY, Iowa --- Authorities seized a loaded handgun and a military-style rifle after being called about a distraught man on Saturday.
Waverly police took the man, whose name wasn't released, to the Waverly Health Center for observation after he was detained without incident during a traffic stop on Bremer Road at about 9:40 a.m.
read more here
Soldier home just in time for teen brother's funeral
Bittersweet return: Soldier home just in time for teen brother's funeral
By Jed Boal
OREM -- The community lined Main Street with American flags Monday afternoon to show support for a family that has faced gut-wrenching challenges in the last week.
As the family prepares to bury one son, they welcomed another one home from the war in Afghanistan.
"This last week, it's been a surreal situation," said Troy Peterson, their father.
As friends and neighbors gathered and waited the brilliant sun battled a biting wind. Dozens of American flags fluttered in the stiff breeze. Yellow ribbons dangled in many trees.
It was a homecoming that drew out many different mixed emotions: joy and gratitude, but also sorrow and disbelief. But everyone wanted to be there, waiting in front of the Peterson's home.
The crowd gathered in anticipation of the soldier's arrival: A chance to welcome Army Private First Class Anthony Peterson home from a year in Afghanistan, and show their love for the family.
read more here
By Jed Boal
OREM -- The community lined Main Street with American flags Monday afternoon to show support for a family that has faced gut-wrenching challenges in the last week.
As the family prepares to bury one son, they welcomed another one home from the war in Afghanistan.
"This last week, it's been a surreal situation," said Troy Peterson, their father.
As friends and neighbors gathered and waited the brilliant sun battled a biting wind. Dozens of American flags fluttered in the stiff breeze. Yellow ribbons dangled in many trees.
It was a homecoming that drew out many different mixed emotions: joy and gratitude, but also sorrow and disbelief. But everyone wanted to be there, waiting in front of the Peterson's home.
The crowd gathered in anticipation of the soldier's arrival: A chance to welcome Army Private First Class Anthony Peterson home from a year in Afghanistan, and show their love for the family.
read more here
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