Healing after ‘Sendong’

After Tropical Storm “Sendong,” residents of Cagayan de Oro (CDO) were filled with conflicting emotions.

Disbelief that the tragedy happened in their area. Helplessness in stopping the floods. Anger at the illegal loggers, informal settlers, commercial reclamation, unresponsive government. Grief that families, friends, neighbors perished. Guilt that they survived.

Psychologists from the Ateneo de Manila University learned of the survivors’ feelings when they debriefed the victims. Debriefing was essential for survivors to start to make sense of what transpired.

The Ateneo team, headed by vice president for planning and administration Edna Franco and acting psychology department chair Melissa Macapagal, rushed to Xavier University (XU) right after Sendong to do crisis counseling and train personnel, in coordination with XU chaplain Fr. Eric Velandria, S.J.

If that was how the adults felt, what about the children?

Art therapy

In a crisis, adults can express their feelings and commiserate with each other. Kids are another matter. Scared and unable to express their emotions clearly, traumatized children may clam up, have nightmares, withdraw, become violent or lapse into depression.

But if they cannot speak, they can draw. Pioneered more than a century ago in the United States and Europe, art therapy has been the treatment of choice for children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Victims are encouraged to make art in response to experiences.

Art therapy is used not just to express pent-up emotions and promote coping skills, but also to increase a sense of stability and to establish social support.

The American Art Therapy Association says, “Art therapy uses the creative process of art-making to improve and enhance physical, mental and emotional well-being… The creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve insight. Art therapy integrates the fields of human development, visual art (such as drawing, painting), and the creative process with models of counseling and psychotherapy.”

Ateneo psychologists used art therapy to help Ondoy victims a few years back. They did the same thing with Sendong survivors.

More than 60 children, aged 3-14, were evacuated to XU covered courts during and after Sendong. Psychologist Liane Alampay designed the drawing and storytelling activities, as the team distributed crayons and coloring books to the kids.

“Some kids drew themselves on rooftops and trees,” said psychologist Regina Hechanova. “They drew dead bodies floating in the river. One girl simply put ‘XU’ on the paper. She wanted to study in XU to become a nurse to save people. Her three siblings are still missing.”

Some children drew a serene country scene, with mountains, rivers, flowers and butterflies. But then they shaded over the scene with brown crayons. “Gone,” they told Hechanova.

Resilience

Through drawing, many of the children were able to express what they felt. This was the first step to healing. “Children drew the horrors they experienced in the floods,” said psychologist Arsenio Alianan, Jr.

Psychologist Mendiola Teng-Calleja told her 10-year-old daughter Iskra Andrea what happened to the kids. Some children were so shocked by the floodwaters that even the sight of a glass of water made them fearful.

Iskra promptly drew a glass of water. “This is what the children saw and still see whenever they see water,” she said.

“Through the drawings, the children also demonstrated the resilience of their spirits,” Alianan said.

Despite everything, Pinoys came together once more. There were indefatigable volunteers, generous donors, rescued residents and pets, heroic rescues, miraculous tales of survival.

“The tragedy was only matched by the will of many to survive or to reach out to be of assistance to others with a greater need,” said Alianan.

The Ateneo team went to CDO as trainers, but ended up learning from the survivors. Calleja said, “It was a great helping and learning experience, which made me more ready and able to respond to similar situations in the days and years to come. I hope that more psychologists, through the Psychological Association of the Philippines, will be given the opportunity and will be willing to undergo ‘training the responders’ workshops so that we are prepared to respond quicker to crises.”

Other teams of psychologists continue to train volunteers, nongovernment organizations, government employees, XU grade school and high school staff, teachers, and retirees.

“We all hope that there will be no more Ondoys and Sendongs,” Calleja said, but that would not seem to be a realistic expectation.

We were also able to connect with key persons in Xavier University. Bo Peep met with Fr. Eric Velandria, who is heading the relief efforts of the institution. We also had lunch with the XU’s academic vice president, Dr. Lina Kwong, and discussed a more concrete plan for the XU community, as classes resumed this month.

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