Volunteer External Gentle Reprocessing Mental Health Services in Belize
Dear External Gentle Reprocessing therapists,
Yoly Zentella has been going to Belize and working with orphans there for a number of years. After training in Gentle Reprocessing, she wishes to bring a group of you with her to work with the orphans and their traumas. After reading the following information, if you are interested in this adventure, please contact Yoly at yzentellnm@yahoo.com Thank you for taking the time to read this and hope some of you will feel drawn to participant.
Diane Spindler, Gentle Founder
An appeal to Gentle Reprocessing therapists
Abuse, neglect, abandonment, removal from home, loss of the family unit,
placement at an orphanage, and, watching siblings being adopted while they
themselves are left behind. These are the experiences of a group of children at
an orphanage in Belize, Central America.
Fortunately, these children are cared for both physically and emotionally by a
very caring staff, and live in a beautiful lush environment, surrounded by glorious weather for many months of the year. What they are lacking are basic, relevant and effective clinical services; services that will help to turn the tide of abuse and neglect, breaking a negative cycle in their future role as parents and positive, productive adults.
I recently volunteered clinical services at this facility. My goal was to assess a
number of children presenting behaviors of concern to the director and staff at
the facility. As I wrote the evaluations and made recommendations to the
director regarding future services, it became apparent to me that the External
Gentle Reprocessing method, used with children, was ideal for this population.
However, because the orphanage has no funding for clinical services, and state
mental health services are virtually not available to these children, such services
are in limbo.
These pressing circumstances bring me to asking you, Gentle Reprocessing
therapists, for your help. If any of you are interested in volunteering, preferably as a team, External Gentle Reprocessing services to these children, please contact
me. I am actively recruiting clinicians for this much needed service.
You can reach me at yzentellnm@yahoo.com
Please write in the e-mail’s subject matter volunteering appeal, so that your
message does not get discarded.
Below is information on the External Gentle Reprocessing method developed by
Diane Spindler, and on Liberty Children’s Home.
Thank you,
Yoly Zentella
Yoly Zentella, LPCC, PhD
5/19/2011
External Gentle Reprocessing
“Gentle Reprocessing™ is a therapeutic technique that releases the emotions
and body sensations through metaphors from traumatic events, thus neutralizing
the trauma itself so the client is no longer triggered. There are two approaches to
this; External and Internal Gentle Reprocessing. External Gentle Reprocessing™
was originally designed to use with young children, but has been found to work
well with fragile clients such as those who are energetically sensitive, DIDs, war
veterans, and resistant teenagers. It uses drawing and storytelling to release the
traumatic emotions. Internal Gentle Reprocessing™ works well with most other
clients and uses guided imagery to let go of the emotions and body sensations that keep traumas in the foreground for clients.”
For more information on the method and training check the website,
www.GentleReprocessing.com
Liberty Children’s Home
Director: Delfena Mitchell
Location:
Ladyville, Belize, Central America. The site is about a 30 minute bus ride to
Belize City
The airport is about 10 minutes away by vehicle. Please plan your arrival for a
week day as it makes it easier for a pickup from the airport to be arrange or you
can take a cab, which should cost you about $7.00 US.
Orphanage environment:
The beautiful campus is lush and tropical with many fruit trees such as bananas,
mangos, papayas, and coconut. There is lots of room for children to run and
play. On the five acres campus vegetables are grown and pigs and chickens are
raised. The children are housed in four separate buildings, and volunteers are
housed in their own separate building. The buildings are called “dorms” and are
built to withstand major hurricanes.
General Information:
There are approximately 300,000 people in Belize of mixed decent- African,
Spanish, Mayan, Carib, and British. Later settlers include Chinese, Lebanese,
North American, East Indian, Mennonite, and Europeans. The children at the
orphanage are of mixed decent and range from infant to 15 years old.
Language spoken:
English and Creole
Best time to go:
November through March are cooler months
Clothes:
Summer clothes, loose and cool. Cotton and linen are best. Long sleeves and
pants are recommended for protection from the sun by day and mosquitos by
night. A hat or umbrella and sunglasses are recommended as the sun is very
intense. Light rain protection and bathing suit and a pair of shorts are
recommended.
Bugs:
Lots, bring or plan to get bug spray.
Books:
If you love to read, bring your own books. Belize City has a department store
Brodies, that has an excellent but small selection of Belizean history and
literature books. Books can also be checked out at the local library. Foreigners
are required to leave a deposit.
Length of stay:
Upon arriving at Belize international airport, you will be given a 30 day visitor visa to stay in Belize. Visas are renewable at 30 days increments at the immigration office in Belize City. Ms. Mitchell will have details on this.
Shots:
Hepatitis A and Typhoid immunizations are recommended for all travelers to
Belize. We also recommend you update your tetanus-diptheria and Hepatitis B.
Malaria is not present in Belize City or in the off shore cayes (islands) but if you
plan to travel into other areas you may consider taking anti-malaria medication.
Contact your local travel medicine doc about the shots you will need. Do this
early, as some shots are given in series.
Volunteer accommodations:
Room and board are provided at the orphanage. The fee for room and board is
$100 US per week, unless otherwise stated by the Director.
There is a library on campus with internet service. SKYPE is not available in
Belize. There is also an internet café nearby with extended hours.
Phone Service:
You can activate a pre paid cell phone through SMART or Digicel by unlocking a
cell phone you bring with you or purchasing a local phone. Cell phones can be
used throughout Belize and you can make calls to the United States pretty
cheaply. You can purchase pre paid minutes in increments of $5, 10, 20, and 50,
from any grocery store or service station. You can also make calls to the United
States by purchasing a phone card.
Other Local Services:
There are two hotels in the vicinity of the orphanage, however living at the
orphanage is recommend, as it gives you a chance to interact with the children
and staff, and is relatively inexpensive.
There are several shops, including a supermarket, bakery and laundromat on the
Northern Highway, about a 10-15 minute walk from the orphanage.
The bus into Belize City and other southern and northern destinations can be
taken on the Northern Highway. The bus is fast and cheap.
There is also cab service available should you need it. Ask Ms. Mitchell for
numbers.