Previous 2016 Presenter Bios
International Conference on
Refugee Crisis in Europe and the Middle East:
“Sharing Tools for Humanitarian Response”
November 1-3, 2017 ~ Freiburg, Germany
Tuesday, November 1
CONFERENCE OPENING PROGRAM
Site: Merchant’s Hall
Münsterplatz 24, Freiburg, Germany
3:00 pm – 9:00 pm
3:00 – 3:30 pm
Greeting and Announcements:
Wolfgang Roth, PhD, Friends of Asylum Freiburg
is a Psychologist (Diploma) and was a Professor at the University of Education, Freiburg until 2004. In 1976 he founded “Südwind-Freiburg e.V., a NGO – working with migrations (children, parents, teachers), was CEO for 30 years , and since 2012 has been Honorary Chairman. He is actively engaged in several NGO’s working with migrations and is a member of Freundeskreis Asyl Freiburg, which is the partnering NGO in organizing the conference. He has engaged in several research-projects and publications about migration, integration, education, and socialization.
Ulrich von Kirchbach, Mayor
is Mayor of the city of Freiburg for social affairs, and is responsible for the maintenance of refugees and asylum seekers and there integration.
3:30 – 5:00 pm
Perspective on Refugee Situation and Humanitarian Responses in Middle East:
Steve Olweean, MA
is founding Director of Common Bond Institute, co-founder & President of International Humanistic Psychology Association (IHPA), & past President of Association for Humanistic Psychology. He has written & presented on concepts of communal trauma, The OTHER, & dynamics of belief systems. Founder of International Conference on “Engaging The Other;” International Conference on Religion, Conflict, & Peace; International Conference on Transforming Conflict; International Conference on Practical Models for Peace, International Conference on Transgenerational Trauma, & the Global Network for the Study of Transgenerational Trauma. Co-founder of International Conference on Conflict Resolution. He is a therapist with an MA in Clinical Psychology with treatment focus on abuse recovery of victims & perpetrators, trauma recovery, & healing negative belief systems. He developed the Catastrophic Trauma Recovery (CTR) model for treating large populations of trauma victims, and is co-coordinator and core training faculty of CBI’s innovative Social Health Care (SHC) training and treatment program based on it for local capacity building to treat communal trauma. He is 2011 Recipient of the Charlotte and Karl Bühler Award from the American Psychological Assoc. for outstanding contribution to Humanistic Psychology internationally, and recognized for his life long work in a chapter devoted to his role with CBI in the “The New Humanitarians.”
Email: SOlweean@aol.com Web: www.cbiworld.org and www.cbiworld.org/home/about-us-2/speakers/
Ayat Nashwan, PhD,
has a PhD in Social Work from the University of Tennessee, USA, and is Assistant Professor at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan. Having primary research interests in social work practice with Arab American, Muslim and Middle Eastern immigrant communities, Nashwan feels compelled to offer culturally bound solutions for the service gap experienced by these individuals and mainstream practitioners. She believes that effective interventions can only be achieved with the knowledge of existing cultural and societal tools for resilience. Ayat is a core member of Common Bond Institute’s Social Health Care local psychosocial team in Jordan.
Email: anashwan@vols.utk.edu
5:30 – 7:00 pm
Perspective on Refugee Situation and Humanitarian Responses in Germany:
Hatice Hagar, MA
was born in Turkey and studied social sciences (MA) in Germany. Over the last 10 years she has worked as project manager in the municipality of Freiburg in diversity management with a focus in education programs. For the last year she has been a regional council member in team Intercultural competency, with a focus on education programs, women and children in camps, violence prevention, activities, employment, and self-organization. She is also assistant lecturer at Catholic University of Freiburg, and prior to this was a scientist at the University of Freiburg in global studies.
Email: Hatice.Hagar@rpf.bwl.de
Antje Reinhard
Email: Antje.Reinhard@stadt.freiburg.de
7:30 – 8:30 pm
Roundtable:
Albert Scherr, PhD,
is a sociologist and Professor at the University of Education in Freiburg. His primary areas of work are in migration, discrimination, and right-wing-extremism. He is head of a research-project about the difficulties and benefits of the academic education of Sinti and Roma in Germany. He is a member of the network for basic investigations about the refugees, and a member of the circle of advisors for the government.
Wolfgang Roth, PhD,
Hatice Hagar, MA
was born in Turkey and studied social sciences (MA) in Germany. Over the last 10 years she has worked as project manager in the municipality of Freiburg in diversity management with a focus in education programs. For the last year she has been a regional council member in team Intercultural competency, with a focus on education programs, women and children in camps, violence prevention, activities, employment, and self-organization. She is also assistant lecturer at Catholic University of Freiburg, and prior to this was a scientist at the University of Freiburg in global studies.
Email: Hatice.Hagar@rpf.bwl.de
Steve Olweean, MA,
Eggert Blum
Grew up in Bremen, made his studies in German and Romance languages and literature in Marburg and Bremen. Worked as a Teacher, cook, culture manager. Since 1986 he has been a freelancer by the SWF/SWR – a reporter and feature-author in Konstanz and Freiburg. He is moderator and editor of the famous SWR 2 Forum with different subjects.
8:30 – 9:00 pm
Overview of Following 2-Day Working Conference, and Psycho-social Training:
Steve Olweean, MA
Wednesday, November 2
Site: Goethe Gymnasium
Holzmarkt 5, D 79098, Freiburg, Germany
10:00 am – 6:30 pm
_______________________________________________________
Brief Conference Check-In:
Setting the Frame for Working Together
10:00 – 10:15 am
________________________________________________
SESSION – A
10:15 – 11:15 am
Tanya Awad Ghorra, MBA
has a media background, an MBA in journalism, & MBA in Non-Violent Education and conflict resolution from AUNOHR (Academic Univ. for Non-violence & Human Rights). She took a challenge 2 years ago, & volunteered to create a non-violent communication & conflict resolution course in a private school for children aged 5 to 10. The school has since declared itself a non-violent one, & is in the process of implementing a mediation desk & extending the course to higher classes. She is also a trainer for teachers & NGOs where she introduces NVC & conflict resolution, often traveling to Egypt & other countries to do so. Tanya is an activist in her country of Lebanon, working on abolishing capital punishment & achieving permanent peace in civil society & civil marriage. She is often featured in the media for her work & increasingly enlisted by media, business, & even political parties to offer NVC programs & workshops to staff members, corporate managers, & the public. In August of 2012 she began the 1st weekly public education TV show on NVC in Lebanon that has since expanded to airing twice a week. Tanya is on the core training faculty of Common Bond Institute’s Social Health Care (SHC) training and treatment program.
Email: tanyaghorra@yahoo.com Blog: www.tanyaawad.blogspot.com/
________________________________________________
SESSION – B
11:15 am – 12:15 pm
Ghalia Alasha, PhD
holds Ph.D in psychology from Damascus University where she was also a lecturer. She has prepared many psychosocial service programs for refugees, including parenting, sexuality, and marital relations. She is working as a psychological therapist with Charete Organization in Amman, Jordan. Ghalia is part of Common Bond Institute’s Social Health Care local psychosocial team in Jordan.
Email: ghalia.psych@gmail.com
________________________________________________
SESSION – C
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Jane Gilbert M.A., M.Sc
C Psychol, AFBPsS is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist. Her career began as a Clinical Psychologist in the UK. She now specializes in the design and delivery of workshops/training on psychological self care for local and international staff, cross cultural mental health, and the assessment and evaluation of mental health programs. She has worked in many different countries including The Gambia, Uganda, Lesotho, Ghana, Jordan, Liberia, Turkey, Gaza and, most recently as Staff Welfare Officer for UNHCR in South Sudan.
Email: janegilbert@janegilbert.entadsl.com
________________________________________________
INTERACTIVE COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLE – E
3:00 – 4:30 pm
“Violence, Trauma, Displacement, and Gender”
Farha Abbasi, MD,
is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Michigan State University. She was awarded an American Psychiatric Association/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration Fellowship through which she originated and developed a Muslim Mental Health Conference, the first of its kind in the United States. She is widely known as a spokesperson for mental health issues in Muslim communities in the United States and has been interviewed locally and by national media. She developed and has operated the landmark Psychosocial Traning for Religious Leaders in the US for the past 10 years, receiving high recommedations from leading clergy and religious organizations. Farha represents Michigan State University in it’s partnership with Common Bond Institute on its psychosocial training and treatment programs.
Email: Farha.Abbasi@hc.msu.edu Web: www.psychiatry.msu.edu/index.html
Ayat Nashwan, PhD, (see Tuesday night Opening)
Ghalia Alasha, PhD, (see B)
Tanya Awad Ghorra, MBA, (see A)
Moderator: Steve Olweean, MA (see Tuesday night Opening)
________________________________________________
INTERACTIVE COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLE – F
4:45 – 6:15 pm
“Psycho-social and Whole-Person Approaches for Healing Individual and Communal Trauma”
Myron Eshowsky, MA,
has taught shamanism and its application to peace and healing internationally since 1986. He has published dozens of articles on the integration of shamanic methods into modern life including healthcare, mental health, prisons, gang work, healing revenge, and peacemaking. He worked for six years in a community mental health center as a shamanic healer. He is the first known shamanic healer to be covered by a health insurance company to provide soul retrieval work. He has a private practice in healing services, mediation, and organizational consultation in Madison, Wisconsin. Additionally, he is the author of Peace with Cancer: Shamanism as a Spiritual Approach to Healing. He is co-developer of Common Bond Institute’e Social Health Care (SHC) training and treatment program, one of the program co-coordinators, and on its core training faculty. He has presented numerous times in Common Bond Institute’s conferences in Russia, the US, and Jordan.
Email: myron@myroneshowsky.com Web: www.myroneshowsky.com
Regina Weiser, PhD,
has been a refugee herself. Her working career started with being teacher for 3 years, followed by working in clinics and consulting services. After she finished her education as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and trauma-therapist she conducted her own psychotherapeutic practice for 25 years. During this time she realized how important bodywork is tio healing. She wrote two books about integrating yoga in the trauma-healing-process. After Studying yoga therapy for 9 months in India she became a yoga teacher. She is a member of the “spiritual emergency network”, a network of psychotherapists, helping people who are traumatized through improper meditations or other spiritual exercises. She is a core member of Friends of Asylum in Freiburg, a volunteer organization committed to providing assistance and advocacy support to refugees and asylum seekers in Germany.
Email: reginaweiser@web.de Web: www.yoga-in-der-traumatherapie.de
Joachim Pfahl,
is a Trauma Yoga Therapist and Yoga and Meditation Teacher with 40 years of experience, including prison work in 4 prisons in Thailand inspired by the brother of the queen of Thailand and together with the interior ministry. For the last 5 years he has worked with officers, soldiers, and their relatives in the European headquarters of the British army near where he lives to give trauma sensitive Yoga/Meditation to active personal in Afghanistan with high stress or trauma symptoms. Together with Regina Weiser he is offering advanced trainings for yoga teachers, medical doctors, psychiatrists, etc. in trauma sensitive yoga and a 2 year Trauma yoga therapist training program.
Email: veda.inst.de@gmail.com
Moderator: Steve Olweean, MA (see Tuesday night Opening)
Thursday, November 3
9:30 am – 6:30 pm
_______________________________________________________
INTERACTIVE COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLE – G
9:30 – 11:00 am
“Self-Help Coping Skills For Vulnerable Refugee Communities Under Stress”
Ghalia Alasha, PhD (see B)
Tanya Awad Ghorra, MBA (see A)
Johanna Dangel
has been active in initiating activities and projects to assist refugees and asylum seekers in Freiburg.
Sophia Maier
has been active in initiating activities and projects to assist refugees and asylum seekers in Freiburg.
Moderator: Steve Olweean, MA (see Tuesday night Opening)
________________________________________________
INTERACTIVE COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLE – H
11:15 – 12:45 pm
“Models, Policies, and Resources for Effective Healing, Recovery, Resettlement, and Integration”
Helmut Kury, PhD,
is a Psychologist. He has been an assistant-professor and senior-professor, and has extended study and training as a therapist and forensic counselor. He is Director of the well regarded Criminal-Research-Institute of Niedersachsen, and has conducted many research-projects and publications in the field of youth-criminality, prevention, and resocialization
Hatice Hagar, MA (see Tuesday night Opening)
Myron Eshowsky, MA, (see Roundtable F)
Moderator: Steve Olweean, MA (see Tuesday night Opening)
________________________________________________
Brief Conference Check-In:
Preparing for Action Planning
12:45 – 1:00 pm
________________________________________________
Breakout Groups – I
Topical Dialogue and Action Planning
2:30 – 4:00 pm
________________________________________________
Reporting-In – Action Planning – Coalition Building – J
4:15 – 5:45 pm
________________________________________________
Summary – Outcomes – Next Steps – K
5:45 – 6:30 pm
~ Farewell Dinner Party ~
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
(a final time to break bread together)
Guidelines For Compassionate Dialogue:
The RC Conference strives to promote an inclusive, compassionate dialogue that honors different personal experiences, perspectives, and narratives, while allowing for better expressing and listening to each other as we work together toward understanding and harmony. Our intention is to create an open venue where we can engage meaningfully and invite in a public dialogue that brings our joint wisdom to bear in exploring sometimes difficult issues that effect us all. This is based on the premise that it does not require that we be the same to be appreciate of, at peace with, and secure in our relationships with each other; only that we be familiar enough with each others story to share the humanity and trustworthiness that resides in each of us.
We ask all participants to assist us by carrying and expressing this intent throughout the conference.
NonViolent Communication Guidelines (Adapted from Marshall Rosenberg):
Unique Assumptions—NVC begins by assuming that we are all compassionate by nature and that violent strategies—whether verbal or physical—are learned behaviors taught and supported by the prevailing culture. It also assumes that we all share the same, basic human needs, and that all actions are a strategy to meet one or more of these needs.
While NVC is much more than a communication model, the components below provide a structural concept of the process that leads to giving and receiving from the heart.
Honestly Expressing how I am and what I would like without using blame, criticism or demands
Empathically Receiving how another is and what he/she would like without hearing blame, criticism or demands
Whether expressing or receiving, NVC focuses our attention on four pieces of information:
1) Observations —Objectively describing what is going on without using evaluation, moralistic judgment, interpretation or diagnosis
2) Feelings —Saying how you feel (emotions and body sensations) about what you have observed without assigning blame
3) Needs —The basic human needs that are or not being met and are the source of feelings
4) Requests —Clear request for actions that can meet needs