Holy Land healers meet with El Paso 1st responders and mental health counselors
EL PASO, Texas -- A team of trauma experts have arrived in El Paso from over 7,000 miles away to train with local mental health counselors, first responders and religious leaders.
They are members of the Israel Trauma Coalition and after landing in El Paso over the weekend, they had a busy Monday that included training sessions with a group of counselors and mental health providers.
The goal of the team is to impart their expertise to those in El Paso who are still learning to heal in the wake of the August 3rd Walmart mass shooting.
The team is especially well equipped to talk about post-traumatic stress as their home nation has been dealing with dozens of recent rocket attacks launched into crowded neighborhoods as well as other other sporadic attacks organized by nearby terrorist groups.
“The Israeli people have developed a lot of models to work with and to do interventions in crisis and I think what we came here to do is to share that experience," said clinical psychologist Vanessa Bielorai.
However, it is a two-way street as those special visitors teach their techniques while also hearing about the upsetting memories and trauma that El Paso residents still carry with them from that dark day.
“It does provide us with confidence of saying we were there and we did the best we could and if anything like this happens again we know we will be out there so just having them and their expert level skills is really neat," said Crisis Intervention Team lead therapist Lupita Pena.
To arrange the week long visit, the Emergence Health Network teamed up with the El Paso Office of Emergency Management and the Jewish Federation of Greater El Paso to arrange the training sessions.
