Islands of Security: Promoting Resilience & Growth- Presentation for APA COVID taskforce IPV workgroup roundtable in collaboration with the International Whole Person workgroup. 21 January 2021 Adaptations of the MOVING MODEL to meet the challenges of pandamic will be described. The attachment framework for these MOVING ENCOUNTERS underscores the importance of creating a sense of safeness providing a secure base for exploration and for facilitating MOVING in relation to oneself, others and the world. .

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Islands of Security
Promoting
Resilience &
Growth
Eleanor Pardess, Ph.D.,
Reichman University, Israel
Presentation for APA COVID taskforce
IPV + international Whole Person
Approaches roundtable
21 January 2021

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The MOVING Model
“Our task is thus one of promoting conditions in
which the latent constructive forces come into
place.
I liken it to the job of a surgeon: he does not
mend bones, he tries to create conditions
which permit bones to mend themselves.“
(Bowlby, 1949, p.124).

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MOVING
Moving in relation to oneself,
others and the world.
RECONNECTING
To oneself and to one’s
resources, to community, to
nature and to life.
Grounding
Survival
Roots
Regeneration
The MOVING Model

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The MOVING Model
Building Islands of Security

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THE CHALLENGES
• Longing for a felt sense of connection is a primary
need, especially in face of threat. Isolation is inherently
traumatizing – priming helplessness
• Trauma can be understood as an attack on attachmen
relations, ‘an attack on the possibility of dialogue,
of sharing our experiences with an “other” who can
know about and receive this information’ (Lemma and Levy, 2004)
• The essence of traumatic experience is being afraid
and alone (Allen, 2011)
TRAUMA = AFRAID + ALONE

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The Response
Witnessing leading to an experience of
With-ness->
Sense of belonging & connection to shared
humanity->
Ali, D.A, Figley, C.R, Tedeschi R.G., Galarneau, D, Amara S. (2021) Shared
trauma, resilience, and growth: A roadmap toward transcultural
conceptualization. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and
Policy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTzWk_zo7Qg

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Transforming Trauma
• Mutual Vulnerability
• Humility
• Flexibility
• Creativity
• Compassion

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MOVING ENCOUNTERS In COVID-
Illustrations

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Re- membering conversations
MOVING ENCOUNTERS: Narrative

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Write or tell a brief story about…
Topic
A pleasant or an unpleasant experience
during work and its effect on the
relationship
Awareness of pleasant and unpleasant
sensations, feelings or thoughts
An experience of noticing and responding
to your own emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization, and low sense of
personal accomplishment
Burnout
An encounter that was meaningful to you;
what made it meaningful, what personal
capacities did you have that contributed to
the meaning
Meaning
A time when you effectively said “No!” or set
a clear boundary while maintaining a
supportive relationship
Boundaries or conflict management
A time when you faced choices about
balancing caring for yourself and caring for
others
Self-care
An encounter involving being present to
suffering: sadness, pain and uncertainty
Being with suffering
Adapted from Krasner et al. (2009). Association of an Educational Program in Mindful Communication
with burnout, empathy and attitudes among primary care physicians. JAMA. Vol. 302 (12) pp 1284-1293
MOVING ENCOUNTERS: Narrative

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MOVING Encounters in Nature
• Harnessing the
transformative power of
imagery
• Cultivating embodied
presence & nature
connectedness
• Enhancing trust in latent
constructive forces of growth
“There is hope for a tree;
If it is cut down it will renew itself”
JOB 14:7-9

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MOVING Encounters in Nature -Regeneration
The nature-based practices are designed to provide
a secure base for exploration
Nature provides endless opportunities to identify
survival skills and to observe cycles of life, change
and regeneration.

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MOVING ENCOUNTERS-Expressive Arts

14. The role of expressive arts in facing dissociation
There's No Such Thing as a Dragon [Jack Kent] - The value of expressive arts in meeting the challenges of dealing with “shut-
down” and dissociation

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Covid as a Transformative Opportunity
" What we are fighting for is that a moment of
transformation not be missed”
Eigen, 2002
The roots of resilience are to be found in the
felt sense of being held in the mind and heart of
an empathic, attuned, and self-possessed other.
–Fosha
UNDOING ALONENESS

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MOVING ENCOUNTERS for healthcare workers
• Traditionally self-care strategies emphasize
the value of “good professional boundaries”
and self-care strategies outside the
workplace.
• The MOVING Model programs for heathcare
teams and staff support go beyond self care
and focuses on cultivating emotional
availability, and presence through balancing
compassion for self and others into one’s
work & personal life

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CONCLUSIONS
• Fostering a sense of belonging (being
welcome and embraced) through
experiential practices & creativity
• Acknowledging that “we are NOT in the
same boat” and mutual vulnerability
opens new ways of connecting with
individuals and families, cultivating a sense
of shared humanity and growth through
diversity
• The findings highlight the value of creative
attachment-informed approaches in building
bridges between past, present and future
and cultivating shared resilience and growth
at the individual, family and community
levels

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WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER
However, in separate ‘boats’