Assisting people to heal from the trauma of war, disaster and poverty

Sexto Sol Executive Director, Tamara Brennan, Ph.D., is a socio-cultural psychologist with an interest in assisting land-based peoples to cope with and move beyond traumatic life events. The Sexto Sol Center was founded as a continuation of her work with refugees from Guatemala living in Motozintla, Chiapas.

In the 12 years that Sexto Sol has served the people in the Sierra Madre we have assisted populations in the process of recovering from traumaic life experiences. The refugees have returned to create new lives in Guatemala, yet troubling memories from their war experiences continue to haunt them. Two catastrophic hurricanes that so devastated lives in the region and the daily wear that poverty causes on people's well-being combine to cause people to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress. Every month, thousands of young central Americans try to make the dangerous journey to the U.S. to find work that does not exist in their home countries. Tragically, many suffer disfiguring accidents on the infamous "death train" which change their lives forever. Survivors live in a shelter in Tapachula, the coastal city bordering the Sierra in Mexcio. The men from the Mexican Immigration Service who rescue these young people suffer PTSD as well from witnessing great tragedy.

The Sexto Sol Center is committed to helping survivors of such challenges to heal so they can rebuild productive and joyful lives. This represents an expansion of our original mission to alleviate poverty and protect the environment but we believe that in order to improve the outer world, people must have inner calm and the emotional resources needed to meet normal challenges. With the emergence of new methods of assiting people to overcome trauma such as EFT, we are currently working to hone our skills to be better serve people recovering from life changing events.

Accupuncture for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan, 2006.

As a small organization Sexto Sol does not have the resources to help people rebuild their communities. We do have experience helping people deal with PTSD, and, the awareness that addressing the psychological and emotional suffering of survivors is an important part of recovery that is often left un-addressed by relief efforts. In order to help people have the energy rebuild their lives after Hurrican Stan, we focused on helping them pick up the pieces of their shattered faith in the world and finding the inner resources to continue on. See our other relief efforts: seeds for emergency food gardens and an international hat making project to cheer and warm children.

One of the new approaches uesful for healing trauma is the use of auricular (ear) acupuncture to reduce the distressing sypmtoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Soon after Hurricane Stan ravaged Chiapas (and the rest of Central America, Sexto Sol brought a team from Acupuncture International Brigade to provide two intensive training sessions for medical personnel at the Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social Hospital in Motozintla. The AIRW was formed by Dr. Maria Dolores Diaz in 1998 to respond to the devastating impact of Hurricane Mitch in her native Honduras. They employ her strategy of teaching local health care providers to treat the large population affected. In this way, a corp of peole is formed that can provide care to over time and to many, many people.

Over six days they trained 50 doctors, nurses, indigenous doctors, and health promoters to use auricular acupunture to treat PTSD. During the public clinics, teachers and trainees treated about 400 people. This included a public clinic in Bellisario an hour from Motozintla where damage from Stan was especially severe. It was a moving sight as over 80 people were treated in the central park as they sat in plastic chairs just a few feet from the highway. People have told us since that they note a significant difference as a result of the treatment.

We are eternally grateful to Maria Dolores Diaz, Ph.D., Lic. A., Della Estrada, Lic. A., Russell Klobas, Lic. A., and Susan Pistawka, Lic. A. for their solidarity with the people of Chiapas affected by Stan. This work was made possible by the generous response of Sexto Sol supporters who responded quickly to the opportunity to help survivors.

Dr. Brennan was interviewed on the public television news program soon after the training session. Later the same newscast aired a special segment filmed at Sexto Sol's office to promote this treatment for PTSD. We still hear from people who saw that program.

We are working to ascess the experiences of the people who used this technique to treat the affected population. Dr. Brennan has treated hundreds of survivors in remote communtiies since Stan hit the region. Two members of the Organización de Medicos Indígenas de la Sierra treated people in Chico Muselo and surrounding communities in the mountains. Miriam Stein, volunteer for Sexto Sol, treated former refugees at the Nuevo Bullaj community in Guatemala and was told they felt relief. Doctors and nurses trained have reported that their patients felt this treatment was important for their recovery.

We recieved a generous donation of needles from Helio Medical Supply in 2008 to make it possible to continue this work.