Intersections with Phil Allen, Jr.    

Episode: 034 “Cultivate Your Wellbeing”            

Airdate: September 29, 2021

Length: 57:48

Guests: Elaine Miller-Karas MSW, LCSW

Sometimes you just must sit at the feet of wisdom to listen and absorb. Elaine Miller-Karas in this episode provides that wisdom we need to learn how to respond to trauma or stressful situations and triggers. With a background in maternal child health, behavioral science, and social work, she shares years of experience helping others develop the skills and identifying the resources to cultivate wellbeing., not just individually, but more importantly, as a community. Adversity is not destiny.

It is through Elaine’s organization Trauma Resource Institute’s Community Resiliency Model (CRM) training that I was introduced to the important question, “What else is true?” Today there is much focus on trauma, but not quite as much on resiliency. This conversation should be empowering and encouraging as Elaine brings her hopeful and optimistic perspective to the table helping us tap into wellness despite the various traumas we face.

We are reminded continually of the resiliency within. She invites us to continue to be curious about the truth of the source and reality of our suffering, but also the truthful history of our resiliency.  

You can find more information on Elaine at www.traumaresourceinstitute.com/tri-staff or at www.resiliencywithin.com. Her podcast/radio show on The VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network can be heard on Apple Podcasts.

Facebook: Resiliency Within

Instagram: @resiliencywithin21  

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Phil Allen, Jr. is a Los Angeles-based author, poet, social justice activist, and filmmaker. Allen’s book Open Wounds explores the murder of Nate Allen—Phil Allen’s grandfather—in the Jim Crow era of South Carolina and how that traumatic event resonated through generations of his family. Open Wounds – which is based on the Allen-produced documentary of the same name – was published on February 9, 2021. Allen is a Ph.D. candidate studying Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA.