Healing the mind to heal the body

Frightening images of the devastating Haitian earthquake have been flashing across TV screens in recent days. Experts have been cautioning against its traumatizing effects on survivors of the May 2008 quake in Sichuan province.

Recently, members of the China Earthquake Relief Project (CHERP) went back to Sichuan for the seventh time since July 2008 to check on both survivors and relief workers.

And last week, CHERP - which is funded by the United Family Hospitals, an international-standard healthcare organization in China - held a two-day conference in Beijing to share their experience of a new way of dealing with post-disaster trauma, called the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM), with the capital's medical, counseling and relief personnel.