More psychologists sought for traumatized ‘Yolanda’ victims

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

CLARK FREEPORT, Philippines — A psychologist on Tuesday said there have not been enough psychologists counseling families traumatized by storm surges spawned by last year’s supertyphoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan) in the Visayas.

Ma. Lourdes Carandang said local governments must find a way to get as many psychologists to ensure the full emotional healing of survivors, including those who have migrated to other provinces.

Psychologists from the private and public sectors have volunteered to serve the Visayas region, but more are needed, according to Carandang.

“We lack psychologists who work in disaster-stricken areas. In my estimate, if there are 400 psychologists in the Philippines, only 100 are helping out in Leyte and Samar,” she said.

Yolanda, according to government data, affected 591 towns and 57 cities in Eastern Visayas alone. More than 6,000 people were killed by drowning or hit by debris.

Carandang led a team here, which facilitated four counseling sessions for 15 families who left Leyte and took refuge in the homes of their relatives in Mabalacat City in Pampanga.

The intervention was coordinated with the Mabalacat City government, the Clark International Airport Corp., the Clark Development Corp. and the Chile-based funding institute Tiaxa.

Carandang observed that the recovery process for these families have been difficult because, she said, they have been adjusting to new environment without their usual support system from back home.

She said she and her group, the Institute for Children and Families, have counseled families who survived the Luzon 1990 earthquake that devastated Northern Luzon.

They also train counselors to be able to help more victims. “We had no name for [psycho-social interventions] back then. But then and now, [this part of counseling] usually comes last and draws the least attention. Food, shelter, rescue, repair of infrastructure come first but emotional healing must follow to help people recover immediately,” Carandang said.

According to her, psycho-social recovery depends on the intensity of the disaster and how fast leaders can build a caring community.

“The purpose of counseling should be to make them powerful, to renew their hope, to reframe their perspective,” she said.

Some of Carandang’s patients here said they planned to build better lives here in Clark.

Domingo and Laura Suyom, one of the couples in the sessions, said they would not be returning to Barangay Bisleg in Tanauan, Leyte, anytime soon.

They have tried to start a new life in Macapagal Village at the northern periphery of Clark, which is accessible to their seven children who settled in Mabalacat years before the disaster struck.

Another couple, who preferred to be identified as Lloyd and Jasmin, said they left Leyte, in the aftermath of Yolanda, together with their three children aged 8, 7 and 5.

The safety of their children and their return to normal life are their priorities, according to Jasmin, who drew a cloud and sun during the session to express her desire to rise from the disaster.

Concepcion Dacalos, 58, lost her 19-year-old daughter Charmaine when tall waves swamped Barangay 70 in Tacloban City. “If you live amid the ruins and sadness, sorrow eats you up so I decided to leave and continue life in Pampanga,” said Dacalos.

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