Well-being matters just as much as Wealth!

I was pleased to be among the invited guests at the United Nations Conference on Well-being and Happiness convened by the Royal Governmnet of Bhutan on A New Economic Development Paradigm

Experts and representatives from all sectors of society gathered at the United Nations for a landmark day-long conference April 2 and two subsequent days of working groups, April 3-4,  on “Happiness and Well-being; Defining a New Economic Paradigm,” hosted by the Royal Government of Bhutan.  The landmark gathering addressed next steps towards realizing the vision of a new development paradigm that replaces the present narrow system based on GDP (Gross Domestic Product) with a “Gross National Happiness” (GNH) model.

The current measurement is considered dysfunctional, based on the pursuit of material wealth and the unsustainable premise of limitless growth on a finite planet, while the Bhutan-originated GNH model is holistic, integrating economic, environmental and social measures and objectives. 

“A great beginning has been made but it is the end that we must strive for,” Bhutan’s Prime Minister, Jigmi Yoezer Thinley, said at the conclusion of the three-day discussions. “I hope that by 2015 the international community will have adopted a sustainability-based economic paradigm committed to promoting true human well-being and happiness, and ensuring at the same time, the survival of all species with which we share this planet.”

Gross National Happiness is defined by the Bhutan government as a holistic philosophy or development paradigm based on the belief that the ultimate goal of every human individual is happiness, so governments must ensure this human right and take responsibility to create those conditions that will enable citizens to pursue this value and goal.

The conference identified four dimensions for the proposed new economic development paradigm: well-being and happiness; ecological sustainability; fair distribution; and efficient use of increasingly scarce resources. “The new economy will be an economy based on a genuine vision of life’s ultimate meaning and purpose ― an economy that does not cut us off from nature and community but fosters true human potential, fulfillment, and satisfaction,” said Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley.

The historical meeting brought together a select but representative group of government officials, United Nations staff, diplomats, Nobel Laureates, scholars in diverse fields, leading economists and psychologists, representatives of non-governmental organizations, think tanks and advocacy centers, and spiritual and civil society leaders. Panelists and attendees were from both developed and developing nations.

The extent of global support for Gross National Happiness was evident in the participation at Monday’s conference of high level representatives from countries around the world, including Finland, India, Japan, Israel, Costa Rica, and the United Kingdom. 

Noting India’s cultural ties with Bhutan, Mrs. Jayanthi Natarajan, India’s Honorable Minister of State for Environment and Forests, endorsed the need for a new economic paradigm, quoting Mahatma Ghandi, father of the Indian nation, as saying, “Nature provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” She pledged India’s cooperation in the effort. 

Remarks by eco-feminist Dr. Vandana Shiva, Founder of Navdanya, Recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, which supports farmers, highlighted the concordant need to attend to the world food problem, and received considerable approbation by the audience.

Mr. Joe Nakano, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, expressed appreciation for ongoing support to Japan in the wake of last year’s Great East Japan Earthquake. He emphasized the importance of bonds that matter most to people (“kizuna” in Japanese), and the “Paradox of Happiness,” in which, in many developed countries, happiness is not proportional to economic wealth. A Council on National Strategy and Policy is now following up with visions and concrete measures for government policy-making based on a study published by a Japanese government commission last December, which proposed 130 well-being indicators focusing on bonds between families, communities and nature.  Japan also hosted an Asian-Pacific Conference on Measuring Well-being and Fostering the Progress of Societies in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank and other entities. 

Parliamentary speaker Mr. Eero Heinaluoma of Finland pointed out that Finland was one of the first countries to agree on a national set of sustainable development indicators and tools for such measurement in the late 1990s, and committed his country to mainstreaming new measures in its policy-making.   

Other addresses were delivered by the Honorable Tim Fischer, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, a country which has implemented carbon taxes to reduce carbon emissions; Mr. Gilad Erdan, Minister of Environmental Protection for the Government of Israel, who spoke of their leadership in alternative energy and clean technology, especially in regard to water shortages; from the Kingdom of Morocco, High Commissioner for Planning Mr. Ahmed Lahlimi Alami, whose country has taken major steps to reduce poverty; the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs from Thailand, Mr. Jullapong Nonsrichai,who referred to the Thai concept of “sufficient economy”; and Lord Gus O’Donnell, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who related its new well-being policy and measures. The British Government has instructed its office for National Statistics to begin measuring well-being in the United Kingdom.  The commitment of Great Britain to the Bhutan initiative was confirmed by the Prince of Wales who said in a video message that such a new paradigm is “an essential task that cannot be ignored.”

“Happiness is a sentiment that nests within each person,” said the President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla Miranda, in her keynote address. “There are many paths to reach it.  But human history, as well as current realities, teaches us that the paths to Well-being are deeply connected to the respect for dignity and the creation of opportunities to freely pursue our full and harmonious realization as part of the natural and social milieu.” Costa Rica, recognized for its exemplary sustainable development record, was the top-rated nation on the Happy Planet Index, combining its green ecology with reports of high levels of life satisfaction by its citizens.

The meetings were endorsed by the Member States of the United Nations General Assembly, reflected in Resolution 65/309 passed July 2011, when 68 countries co-sponsored the  Bhutan-initiated resolution titled “Happiness: Toward a Holistic Approach to Development.”  

Support from the United Nations was also evident in the participation of the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, President of the General Assembly Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, and President of the Economic and Social Council, Mr. Miloš Koterec, all of whom gave opening comments. The Administrator for the United Nations Development Programme, Helen Clark, served as moderator.

“Gross National Product has long been the yardstick by which economies and politicians have been measured,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his inaugural address to the conference, “yet it fails to take into account the social and environmental costs of so-called progress.”

Four panels made presentations on ecological sustainability, efficient use of resources, fair distribution, and well-being and happiness, including presentations by the President of the Centre for Bhutan Studies Karma Ura and the Secretary of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Commission, Karma Tshiteem.

Well-being is postulated as an important social indicator of development, which adds value to purely economic indicators; this is viewed as especially important for policy makers in this development model in which public happiness and well-being are their goals.

Eminent expert speakers represented the two aspects of the initiative – economic and psychological.  Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, endorsing the value and importance of the concept of well-being, said “Whatever the indicators we use, whether it’s Well-being or others, we have to be very conscious that …people are experiencing different things, and our commitment to equitable development means that we have to focus on the experiences not of the average but on what’s happening to all of our citizens, including those at the bottom and middle.” According to Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of British Columbia, John F. Helliwell, the world is moving toward both a green economy as well as policies that pay more attention to the quality of people’s lives.

Noted psychologist Martin Seligman founder of Positive Psychology (based on tenets of empathy, resilience, positive thinking, traits, relationships and institutions), emphasized the importance of Gross National Happiness in the mental health of peoples around the world.  Alarmingly high rates of depression worldwide underscore the relevance of such an index.  

Happiness is a state and a trait and a skill and can be learned, noted Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs.

In an appeal for a more green economy as well as concern for common good, David Cadman said, “We are living in a rock star mentality, as if there were no tomorrow.”

Prayers were given throughout the meetings by spiritual leaders from Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist faiths. 

While happiness has been critiqued as a naïve concept that cannot be measured, presentations at a pre-conference meeting at Columbia University refuted that idea.  Economists and experts from many fields presented “the “World Happiness Report,” released to coincide with the conference.  The report lends considerable credibility to a happiness index by presenting methodological approaches and measurement tools to assess development. The result was extensive country rankings along nine “domains” or well-being indices, including community vitality, cultural and ecological diversity and resilience, good governance, health, education, living standards, time use, and psychosocial well-being (e.g. “life satisfaction” and “positive affect”). The report is co-edited by Professor Emeritus of Economics John F. Helliwell, Director of the Well-being Programme at the London School of Economics Lord Richard Layard and The Earth Institute Director Jeffrey D. Sachs.

Countering critiques about limits of measurement of well-being and happiness, Chief Statistician from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Ms. Martine Durand, described their “Better Life Initiative in Measuring Well-being and Progress.” 

Although Bhutan is a small country, larger developed nations and their leaders are already committed to the new ways of measuring development and progress, including the British Prime Minister David Cameron, and France’s President Nikolas Sarkozy. Both leaders consulted Nobel Prize-winning economists Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen about new ways of measuring social progress. Sarkozy has said that the focus on GDP as the main measure of prosperity helped trigger the financial crisis; he ordered France's statistics agency to integrate the findings of the study into future economic analysis.

The Gross National Happiness model has already been applied in cities, communities, corporations and schools in Brazil, a country that sent a considerable number of attendees to the conference. Susan Andrews, founder of the Brazil-based Fortune Vision Institute, showed a film about a large-scale effort in a Brazilian city whose students polled citizens about their happiness. 

In two subsequent days, volunteers participated in break-out groups and came together to share plans and progress to help advance the Happiness agenda in four areas: strategic planning, expert and scholars, civil society involvement, and communications. 

The planned outcomes were to submit a report on the conference to the Secretary General of the United Nations; to distribute a set of recommendations for national economic policies based on happiness and well-being to heads of governments around the world; to draft a new development paradigm; and to design a communications strategy to enhance the global understanding of well-being and happiness.

“Happiness is a way of being that comes with genuine altruistic love – serenity - that can be cultivated as a skill day after day, month after month,” said Buddhist scholar Matthieu Ricard. “Now one thing that is clear is that the pursuit of happiness is intimately linked with altruism. There’s no such thing as a successful selfish happiness… Happiness and altruism are not a luxury, they are a necessity.”

The movement has already spawned civil society organizations committed to the cause, including Gross National Happiness World Project, Gross National Happiness USA, a government-sponsored Happiness Project in Japan, the London-based Action for Happiness and the Observatoire International du Bonheur in France (Happiness Observatory), which offers legal tools and research on happiness, as well as entrepreneurship enterprises like GNHappiness, which provides consultation for business transformation.

Youth involvement was an important goal identified by the planning working group, consistent with the emphasis on youth by many United Nations initiatives. At the concluding ceremony, student Latoya Mistral Ferns presented her model of an interactive television show, currently being piloted at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, in which youth interview the public on the topic of happiness. 

Since governments can make laws, but citizens must abide by them, reactions were important to gauge. Comments and questions from participants, interspersed between panelist presentations, revealed widespread enthusiasm and commitment to the GNH campaign. 

In the year 2015, the Millennium Development Goals, as outlined by the United Nations, will formally come to an end (these include the eradication of poverty, improving maternal and child health, promoting gender equality, and combating HIV/AIDS malaria and other communicable diseases); the governments of the world will consider new Sustainable Development Goals for the years to follow.  Looking towards this time, Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley said, “I hope that by the year 2015, the international community would have integrated a sustainability-based economic paradigm committed to promoting true human well-being and happiness, and insuring at the same time the survival of all beings on this planet.”

Commentary is presented on the website of the Centre for Bhutan Studies. Opinions and outcomes of the conference are being collated to present at the new economic paradigm at the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (“Rio+20”) to take place in Brazil this June. 

(this information approved by the Royal Government of Bhutan)

Psychologists Celebrate the 5th Annual Psychology Day at the United Nations

 Contributions from Psychology to the UN Agenda on Meeting the Human Rights of Vulnerable People are Offered

Psychologists who represent NGOs (non-governmental organizations) at the United Nations will hold the 5th Annual Psychology Day at the United Nations on April 19, 2012.

The theme of this year's conference is “Human Rights for Vulnerable People: Psychological Contributions and the United Nations Perspective.” The topic was chosen because achieving human rights is an ongoing major mission of the United Nations and its extended community.  The meeting will be held at the UN Church Center located at 777 UN Plaza on First Avenue and 44^th Street, across the street from UN headquarters in New York City, from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Psychology Day at the United Nations is an annual event sponsored by psychology organizations that have Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The event offers UN staff, ambassadors and diplomats, NGO representatives, members of the public and private sectors, students, invited experts, guests, media and other stakeholders, the opportunity to learn what psychologists contribute to the United Nations, to exchange ideas and to establish partnerships on global issues. 

“Psychology plays a major role in achieving the global goals of the United Nations as well as of civil society,” says Martin Butler, Ph.D., Co-Chair of the 2012 Psychology Day at the UN and NGO Representative to the United Nations for the International Association of Applied Psychology. “We are very pleased that this year’s Psychology Day at the UN brings many academicians and advocates together with UN staff to exchange psychological principles and United Nations perspectives on the crucial topic of human rights for vulnerable peoples.”

Three panels will be held.  The panel on “Psychosocial Well-Being of Refugees” features Ms. Grainne O’Hara, Senior Policy Advisor for the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR); as well as Adeyinka Akinsulure-Smith, Ph.D., originally from Sierra Leone and currently Assistant Professor of Psychology at City University of New York; and Katherine Porterfield, Ph.D., former Chair of the American Psychological Association Taskforce for Effects of War on Refugee Children and Families Residing in the U.S.. Both Akinsulure-Smith and Porterfield are staff psychologists at the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture  

The panel on “Poverty Eradication in the Lives of Women and Children” features Telma Viale who is the Director of the International Labour Organization in New York and who is also a trained psychologist. She is joined by Stuart C. Carr, Psychology Professor in the Industrial and Organisational Psychology Programme at Massey University in New Zealand who was recently appointed as an EU Erasmus Mundus Scholar in Humanitarian Work Psychology. Also speaking on that panel is Winifred Doherty, a social worker trained at University College Cork Ireland, who is a UN NGO representative for the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd and who also serves as Chair of the UN NGO Committee on Social Development.

Panelists discussing “Mental Heath and Sustainable Development” include Vijay Ganju who is CEO of the World Federation of Mental Health, an NGO accredited at ECOSOC at the UN; Priscilla Dass-Brailsford, Associate Professor at Georgetown University Medical School; and Richard Dougherty, President of Basic Need US, a non-profit organization focusing on poverty and human rights with programs in Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Lao PDR, Vietnam, and Nepal.

“Besides the present focus on the topic of human rights for vulnerable peoples, psychology provides research and best practices on a wide variety of important issues.  These include ageing, trafficking, domestic violence, poverty, mental and physical health, gender equality and education,” points out Co-Chair of Psychology Day at the UN, Janet Sigal, Main Representative to the United Nations for the American Psychological Association. 

In the past, Psychology Day at the UN has addressed the topic of “Psychology and Diplomacy” including ‘Negotiating Humanitarian access” and the “Human Aspects of Diplomacy” as well as the topic of “The Role of Psychology in Achieving Universal Access to Education,” specifically focused on projects encouraging STEM education for girls.  Psychologists representing NGOs accredited at the UN come from varying specialties, including clinical, educational, social, developmental, counseling, community and industrial/organizational.  They participate in various committees and working groups (for example, on the family, migration, technology, human rights, women’s rights, children’s rights, climate change and disaster recovery); advocate at UN commissions (for example, the Commission on Social Development and the Commission on the Status of Women); and design, implement and evaluate original field projects related to the MDGs (for example, on poverty eradication in Haiti and on women’s empowerment in Lesotho, Africa).

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Admission to the conference is free. A reception following the sessions will be held at the nearby Alcala Restaurant, 342 East 46 Street.

Psychological organizations co-sponsoring the event include the American Psychological Association APA), the International Division of the American Psychological Association (APA Division 52), APT Metrics, the Association for Trauma Outreach and Prevention (ATOP), the Institute for Multicultural Counseling and Education Services (IMCES), the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), the International Council of Psychologists (ICP), the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (SIOP), and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI).

For information, visit: www.unpsychologyday.org

or contact the Planning Committee Co-Chairs: Dr. Janet Sigal (janet2822@aol.com) or Dr. Martin Butler (butlerpsych@cs.com). 

Lessons from the Penn State sex abuse scandal

In the wake of the sex abuse scandal at Penn State, revelations about the serial sex abuse allegedly perpetrated by assistant coach Sandusky, the firing of revered coach Joe Paterno and the rioting of Penn State students in his support:

1.  Some media are hesitant to talk about the details of the grand jury findings against  ex-Penn State coach Sandusky, fearing they are too lurid.  Dr. Judy says we must not be ostriches putting our heads in the sand about child sex abuse. Glossing over what the disgraced coach did to the boys is like denying the horrors of pedophilia and child sex abuse.We must not skirt the issue and just say Sandusky is reported to have had “sex,” but instead we must say enough specifics to educate people about what child sex abuse is; for example, that he touched the young boys inappropriately and made one young boy put his hands up against a wall while he forced him to have anal sex from behind. That lets people know we are not afraid to face the facts and that we are brave enough to help people learn from this horrible case.  

2.  Use this case as a “teachable moment”: for all parents to talk to their young children about sex abuse.  Tell them that it is not okay for anyone to touch them in their private parts, and that if they are touched in a way that makes them “feel funny,” they should tell you right away, and that you will do something to protect them.

3.  Children need to be taught this lesson from the time they are little, even as young as five years old. Repeated child sex molestation even occurs to children as young as three.

4.  This sex abuse scandal at Penn State is a wake-up call for all college campuses - and high schools- to have classes about sexuality, about sex abuse and even about sexual harassment -- since the statistics about “hallway harassment” are shockingly high. All parent-teachers associations and groups should insist on such classes in their schools.  

5.  People are up in arms about Penn State students rioting in favor of now-fired head coach Joe Paterno, caught on video and posted on Youtube.  This rioting shows shocking disrespect for the kids who suffered the abuse. These students should be rounded up and showed the video interviews with the young boys who were molested. They should be asked, “How would you like it if you were forced up against a wall and the coach penetrated you sexually?”  That will shock them out of their football frenzy and into a different state of mind.

6.  Tremendous support should be offered the young men and their families who were “victims” of this abuse.  By the way, should be called “survivors,” not victims. They have demonstrated great courage in coming forward.  They need to be reassured that it is normal for them to have been confused – as one young man described – about what was happening when they were touched sexually by the coach, and for them to not be sure about how to react.  Such confusion and fears (e.g. of shame, not being believed) are very common.  They were understandably hesitant to report the experience, because they were getting benefits from the coach, and didn’t realize how they were being manipulated, seduced and bribed to keep quiet.  

7.  Some of these young boys who were abused are now finding strength in speaking out against child sex abuse, promoting an organization that helps survivors and provides education.  In this way, they can turn their horror into healing by helping others.  Others who have not yet come forward may be too afraid to publicly admit they too were abused but they can find strength in the others speaking out.

8.  It is not uncommon for serial pedophiles ot have been abused when they were young, completing the cycle of abuse.  But even if Sandusky had been abused as a young boy himself; this is in no way any excuse for his criminal behavior.  

9.  It is true that sports can stimulate sexuality, psychologically and also physically in that chemicals flow in the brain during the extreme activity, including adrenalin and endorphins.  Similar reactions occur in activities where crowds and action n predominates, like rock concerts.  Research proves this connection.  From a constructive point of view, I developed “theme park therapy” for Universal Studios based on the principle that couples can fall in love when engaged in an exciting activity in a high-energy environment like a scary theme part ride, or in a large, reactive crowd at a concert or sporting event.   But everyone must learn how to manage those feelings in appropriate situations, and to separate the “rush” from acting out sexually.  Kids should be given lessons about how to manage these experiences, since the psychological and physical reactions can be confusing.

 10.  Parents might understandably be leery of allowing their kids to join team sports because of the abuse uncovered in this case.  With adequate education, now that this scandal has been so public, kids can safely engage in the sport.  All schools personnel, coaches and parents will now be on the alert.

Lennon’s former lover and other shutterbugs show off iconic photographs with a psychological message

Trust is key in making a relationship work. I know that, as a psychologist. Trust is crucial for lovers, and between photographer and subject.

Accordingly, “Trust” is a subtitle of a section of favorite photographs held by their image-maker, featured in the new book “Behind Photographs – Archiving Photographic Legends. The exquisitely published coffee table book produced by photographer Tim Mantoani includes a range from collector’s item portraits of icons like Mother Teresa, Bruce Springsteen and Nelson Mandela to jaw dropping images of war refugees, an Iraqi boy injured by an explosive, an AIDS-ridden child.and a row of Russian missing forearms deformed by pollutants. There’s also Cuba’s Fidel Castro smiling and hugging  grinning Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev when they met at the United Nations General Assembly on September 20, 1960 – an encounter of particular interest to me, as an NGO representative at the UN who has sat in on GA sessions when heads of state make presentations each September. 

Imagine. That’s another favorite psychological term.  Imagining allows you to fulfill your dreams, consistent with the inspirational saying, “If you can see (imagine) it, and believe it, you can be it.”

Imagine is also the title of one of John Lennon’s most popular albums. Imagine if you were up close to that icon of our times.

May Pang was.  The photographer and Feng Shui jewelry producer is an icon of sorts herself as the one-time assistant to Lennon and Yoko Ono who became his lover during the 1973-1975 interim phase of that relationship, referred to by Lennon as the “Lost Weekend.”

Pang’s contribution in Mantoani’s book was taken in the summer of 1975 on the Long Island Sound, capturing Lennon in a charming pose with his young son Julian.

“I helped bring the two of them together that summer,” Pang told me.

Pang answered a burning question, “Was John Lennon a good lover?” with an enthusiastic, “Yes.” When I asked her to elaborate, she replied that he knew how to please a woman first and even taught her a few things.  These are all excellent signs, I told her. 

Another stunning photo is the Fab Four in 1964 caught midair jumping onto a bed when told by their manager Brian Epstein that they were number 1 in American and going to New York.

Besides the Lennon shots, you can “Imagine” why I marveled at a youthful Elvis Presley caught on celluloid June 30^th 1956 backstage at the Mosque Theatre in Richmond Virginia clearly tongue-kissing an unknown date. It reminded me of how Gene Simmons once thrust his (albeit longer) tongue down my throat backstage at a concert in the days when I was hosting my Z100 “LovePhones” call-in radio show. 

Imagine doing something innocently at one point in time that decades later becomes outrageously valuable. Lori Grinker did that as a student in 1980 when doing a project on young boxers, taking a picture of then 14-year old Mike Tyson, being told he would become the next great heavyweight champion – and then he did! She followed the later-ear-biting champ for 10 years, and is quoted in the book saying, “He was a troubled but sweet kid who veered off the good path he was led to with all that comes with being a celebrity in that world.”

Similarly, Amy Arbus in 1983 stopped a then-unknown young woman on the street (whom she recognized as a girl in her gym who sat around naked in the locker room) to ask for a picture who said she still had her pajamas on, was grateful since she would be famous one day.  The girl turned out to be Madonna.

At the book reception and exhibition recently in New York City, Mantoani described the psychological value of a still photo that you can look at again and again.  “It tends to burn into your psyche. It becomes ingrained in your mind.” 

Seeing the groundbreaking image-makers with their favorite subjects not only puts a face to their work, but reveals another interesting psychological principle in Mantoani’s description of how over time photographers develop their own way to seeing and their individual style.  Indeed for all of us, “We all have our own personalities…our own voice and our own style.” 

Convincing the photo takers to pose with their images was surprisingly not always easy.  “Some were shy,” Mantoani told me.  But he was persistent, driven to show young generations what these artists have done and to be inspired to create their art.

His words reminded me of a young Japanese girl in the class I taught at Tokyo’s Aoyama Gakuin University.  After my lecture about following your dreams, she came up to me and told me of her dream to become a photographer, but her parents’ disapproval, wanting her to do something to insure a more secure future. She cried as I encouraged her to go for her dream.

Another valuable psychological message in the book comes from a photo of children jumping high in the air off a rock onto the sand at a beachfront on the Marshall Islands in 1997.  The notation by photographer Mark Edward Harris says wisely that “kids don’t need money to entertain themselves…a lesson we should all keep in mind.”  

We all have our own Ministry: Wisdoms from a luncheon at the UN

“We all have our own ministry.”

That was the wisdom of the Honorable Felix Ortiz, New York State Assemblyman, learned from his father.  I love that message.  We all serve others in our own way, with our own skills.  It reminds me of Martin Luther King’s famous saying that if you are a street sweeper, be the best street sweeper you can be.

Ortiz, chair of the Mental Health Committee and Puerto-Rican/Hispanic Task Force in the state assembly, was the keynote speaker at the luncheon I attended October 27th at the United Nations delegates dining room, sponsored by the American Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (AAPR).  One reason I went is because I have worked with AAPR colleagues, since they are an NGO affiliated at the UN, like my NGO, the International Association of Applied Psychology, for which I am the main UN rep.

“We have to think out of the box,” said the congressman, using another phrase I\that I consider wise. I love that phrase.  I always recommend that people, and couples, be creative in their lives. 

The assemblyman, a member of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic Legislative Caucus, also noted that to improve mental health systems, we have to achieve cultural competency, including to overcome linguistic problems.  Fortunately, the government has mandated that every agency that provides services needs to have staff who speak different languages. We also have to identify problems early, to get them into the system (like in cases of autism), taking a more long-term view.

On other matters, he noted the need to re-distribute financial waste, utilize webcasts, and be ready for women in the armed forces returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Another reason I went to the luncheon was to meet in person the President of the World Psychiatric Association, Dr. Pedro Ruiz, who was being honored with the Irving Blumberg Human Rights Award (pictured with me in the photo). 

  

I've had a long-time association with WPA, on the board of the Disaster Section and meeting with colleagues in Buenos Aires and Sao Paolo. I gave him a copy of our book, Intervention in Destabilizing Situations: Crises and Traumas (published in Rio de Janeiro by Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria, 2009) and edited by my friends Brazilian psychiatrists Jose Thome and Iveley Taralli and Argentinian psychiatrist Moty Benyakar.  The book is an interesting multi-cultural tome with articles mostly in Portugese and Spanish. My article in English is “Communication and media in mass trauma: How mental health professionals can help.” Another article in English is “Spirituality, Religion and Resilience Promotion in Resilience Trauma” by Australian psychiatrist Russell D’Souza.

Dr. Ruiz was presented his award by his good friend, psychiatrist Dr. Humberto L. Martinez, who has spent 32 years serving in the South Bronx.  I found it fascinating that he remembered my being on TV news from decades ago, from recognizing my eyes!

“The eyes are windows to the soul,” he said wisely. We traced that keen attention to his being in the armed forces, after being drafted from his native Puerto Rico. As an army brat, I could relate.

Yet another valuable wisdom from that afternoon was the phrase:  “A sandwich and conversation.”

That’s a good way for friends to offer their friendship and consolation.  It’s the approach of “Project Help” described by founder Sam Tsemberis, when volunteers cruised the streets of New York in a van looking for homeless people and offering them help (food, shelter, personal connection). It reminds me of the approach we used as mental health volunteers after 9/11 when we walked around the pit of Ground Zero offering the rescue workers water, apples, gloves and an opportunity to talk if they wanted.  It is also my approach in disasters that I applied in Haiti right after the earthquake there, where I trained students to be “comforters” offering the injured people lying on hospital grounds water and comforting words. 

So think about, what is my own ministry?  How can I think out opf the box?  To whom can I offer a sandwich and ocnversation?