Meeting with a counselor can help people in crises to face their losses and fears. Rita Chung recalls the group's trip to Burma a week after Cyclone Nargis hit in 2008. One survivor was a man who had lost his wife and baby.
Ms. Chung said he held his baby very tightly when the waves came in. But when the water went back, he looked down and saw that the child was missing. She said he blamed himself for not holding tightly enough. But she said others in a group said to him, "It is not your fault. The water was so strong that it pulled up trees, and buildings were washed away."
The counselor said the group did an exercise in which the man held onto a stuffed animal while the others pulled very hard. The man came to understand that the storm was too strong for any man to hold onto a child. Ms. Chung said he was able to deal with some of his guilt, and began to heal.
The professors take a group of their students with them on those counseling trips. Involving their students in such activities, Rita Chung says, gives the next generation of counselors a new way to think about their work.
She says they will not just wait in an office for people in crisis to come to them. Instead, they will go out into the community and help wherever it is needed.
I’m Mario Ritter.
And I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.
See you next time on As It Is. If you would like to reach us, send an email to learningenglish@voanews.com. Or go to our website at learningenglish.voanews.com and click on “Contact Us.”
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25