Today we walked along the “peace wall” in the Shankill Road area of Northern Ireland. This experience provided a strong illustration of just how divided the communities in Northern Ireland still are. There is such an emphasis on the need for change within society and among community organizations dealing with ‘at risk’ youth, yet the people hold strong opposing views on the creation of a truly integrated community. As long as the people of Northern Ireland are resistant to changing the way they think and hold onto the history of the troubles and political battles, the possibility of a greater change in community interest organizations is nonexistent.

In meeting with members of community serving organizations, the lack of communication and collaboration with other agencies was identified as a hindrance in the larger societal goal of creating change to impact youth. It was stated that the upcoming budget cuts will force such collaboration and consolidation of resources, which was viewed as a “good thing”. The fact that the people of Northern Ireland are merely “waiting” for a drastic economic downfall to unite them is beyond unfortunate.

This experience has opened my eyes to how the field of IO can contribute to the larger societal aim of Northern Ireland: uniting the people to serve the community. Organizations can be restructured to enhance inter-agency communication and promote collaboration on mutually exclusive goals. In essence, it is not about the money or self service. I want to use my skills to help other communities and cultures in need of systemic, formalized models in order to make sense of their highly uncertain and unstructured environments. This experience made me realize this personal goal and has driven me to bring allow others to “see the light” as well, and I will be forever grateful for that.

 -Meg Ryan

In these last few days we have really come together as a group, connecting deeply while grappling with questions of hope/hopelessness, effectiveness as a therapist, and personal reactions to witnessing stories of trauma. Our process group every evening has been a very powerful, invaluable experience for me. We are learning to sit with each others’ pain and be alright with not having the answers or trying to fix or take away the struggle. This is precisely what we have been doing in our interviews with bereaved families. We have been entering their stories, sitting with them, reflecting back, and ultimately demonstrating that we are listening and understanding. Although going into it last week I struggled with not ‘intervening’ in the way I had learned in my courses, I have realized that this is the most powerful intervention of all: not assuming the role of an expert who can alleviate pain but rather being with the person and carrying their pain with them for a moment…allowing the person to share their story. Dr. G remarked today that many of our reactions throughout the weeks were similar to the reactions of the people we were talking to; that we had entered their system and were thinking and feeling like them. He also shared with us that our listening and empathizing was truly a gift to these families because their hope in young therapists/doctors may have been reignited…hope that was crushed and turned into bitter resentment and helplessness when the mental health system failed them so despicably. There is much work to be done to better the healthcare system’s treatment of suicide, but we feel that we have made a contribution along with PIPS in the right direction. I have been very proud of our school’s focus on community psychology. It is clear that change must happen on a systemic community level before individual therapy can be useful. Our approach and relationships with the community have been helping break the stigmas they hold about therapists. We have done so much incredible work! To top it off, it’s been a “great crack”…you’ll have to look that one up ; )

~Emily Prelevic

Full immersion is required in order to build an accurate and comprehensive sense of cultural awareness. Not only has our group been welcomed and integraded within the community and lives of the people here in Northern Ireland, we have also become active members of the PIPS programmes organization. In just one week the group has met the founder, staff, and volunteer populations of PIPS, as well as attended their suicide prevention training program, and gained first-hand experience interacting with the  client base (individuals and families touched by suicide). Through this experience, PIPS has asked the group to provide feedback on what we see within the organization. This is where full immersion is reached.

Today we conducted a focus group to begin exploring the question presented to us from PIPS: HOW DO WE BECOME SAFER? We utilized the concept of “mind mapping” to collectively brainstorm what was meant by the term SAFE. This process allowed us to identify and exhaust anything and everything that impacts the degree of safety experienced by PIPS. In addition, this exercise helps to pull a vast array of ideas from multiple people in order to gain a truly organic representation of the issue at hand: SAFETY.

The group then proceeded to identify who the “we” represented in the organization’s question, “how to we become safer?” Four main stakeholder groups were established: PIPS staff and volunteers, clients  (individuals and families seeking help), the community at large, and outside investors (government and funding organizations). Our group was split up into smaller groups so that 2-3 people represented each stakeholder. The following questions were then posed and explored from each stakeholders perspective: 1) what hazards are you currently facing?, 2) how are these hazards harming you?, 3) what is currently being done to alleviate the harm caused?, and 4) what more can be done to reduce/minimize the harm associated with these hazards?

This exercise allowed the group to analyze how various populations are affected by the culture of Northern Ireland as well as the organizational culture of PIPS programmes. The opportunity to go, “back to basics” in terms of aligning the organization’s mission, vision, and goals with how they are actually operating was also explored in this exercise.

In sum, the fact that PIPS programmes has extended their arms to not only say welcome, but also to ask for our help is incredibly powerful. Full immersion requires a great deal of trust. The fact that we have begun to establish this trust with PIPS in just a week’s time speaks loudly. Loudly of the culture here in Northern Ireland, the culture within the PIPS organization, and dedication of us to building an all-encompassing foundation for cultural awareness.

Cheers,

Meg Ryan