The night before leaving

In the breathtaking way that everything seems to be happening these days--likely to you, as well, and asking different things of us than we ever expected--I am leaving for China at the break of dawn tomorrow, June 27th, 2008.

It is expected that I will come with Power Point Program in hand, to address an assembly of government minsters, doctors, social workers, teachers in Beijing who are looking for "best practices" in the world of critical stress incident management. Their quest, I imagine, is largely as a result of the devastating earthquakes and floods that have hit Sichuan and killed some 70,000 people, displacing an unimaginable 15 million human beings.

I have been invited because I co-authored a book (with Judith Acosta) called The Worst Is Over: What To Say When Every Moment Counts, and because we have developed a protocol called Verbal First Aid, how to speak in medical emergences and crises to change the trajectory of recovery. Dr. Helena Guo encountered the book and tracked me down, always having in her mind such a conference. Beyond that, she wants me to visit the site, train crisis counselors who must deal with distraught survivors, and more.

So, with great expectations, and even greater hopes, I pack my bags, leave peanut butter for my loving, starving artist husband, the poet Harry Youtt, and take off. I will write as I can. Feel free to express yourself with aid, comfort, wisdom, or humor.

Blessings,
Judith