Trauma Counseling Focus Group Overview
The resettlement arrangements for refugees from the North provided by the government and NGOs in South Korea are generous and comprehensive but do not include courses relating to emotional care and trauma. A majority of the refugees have experienced acute trauma. Most women experienced abuse in North Korea, and most women defectors were trafficked in some form, during their process of defection. Many were sold as wives to poor Chinese farmers, and when they finally escaped, they left children behind, from those relationships. Others were forced to work as prostitutes. Others were forced to work in other aspects of the sex industry.
To address the current needs of trauma victims today, and lay the foundation for future work in North Korea, the Trauma Counseling focus group is seeking to help the children and adults of defectors, address and recover from acute trauma, identify and understand personal purpose and gifting, and embrace forgiveness in order to move forward.
The resettlement arrangements for refugees/returners/defectors from the North provided by the government and NGOs in South Korea are generous and comprehensive but do not include courses relating to emotional care and trauma.
Complicating matters, counseling, is not generally accepted among these populations. Counseling is considered a solution for the ‘weak’, and is often seen as a disgrace, if one needs to go receive counseling. As such, there’s a need to create a culture of health, among the North Korean people. Changing culture, to accept counseling is an even bigger task.
Some of the existing projects going on include:
OperationSAFE Training – Trainers direct the OperationSAFE Psychological first-aid program for refugee children from North Korea so that they can recover from acute trauma, connect with local support networks and mental health, protection, and special needs support.
CorePurpose Training – over 100 trainers have been trained to provide the corePurpose teaching to refugees from North Korea so they can understand and embrace their unique, God-given purpose and gifting and grow in self-worth and dignity with a fresh view of the hope in their future, instead of maintaining a focus of living in the past. The training also motivates them to pursue application of their personal purpose and gifts to benefit their community.
corePurpose2.0 Training – almost 50 trainers have been trained to teach corePurpose2.0, for challenges such as how cultural identity impacts decisions and how vulnerability to influences can sabotage their purpose, quality of life, relationships, education, and career. corePurpose2.0 also addresses how unforgiveness impairs refugees’ ability to be free within context of self, family, vocation, and community. When the trainers/students have completed this course, they will be empowered to view trauma in terms of harvesting the gains of treasures, instead of viewing trauma as loss. Armed with a completed model outlining their purpose and how they will apply this, students will be released to engage in community life.
Persecuted Families Fund – The fund provides persecuted families with much needed financial support during desperate times of persecution, family loss, and relocation.
We invite you to use your skills to go among North Koreans, wherever they are, and expand access to counseling services, formally, and informally. They need your help! Who will go, if not you?!?