Pacific Clinics therapists Provide Trauma Therapy Services

* * May 12 Marks 1-Year Anniversary of Catastrophic Event * *

ARCADIA, Calif. –May 5, 2009-Four mental health clinicians from Arcadia-based Pacific Clinics’ Asian Pacific Family Center traveled to China just a few weeks after the devastating earthquake centered in Sichuan province May 12, 2008. Three of those individuals provided services in the most devastated areas and the fourth in two major cities in Northern China where the quake was also strongly felt.

On the anniversary of this catastrophic event, these clinicians feel that many adults and children, though surviving, still need more help than just the rebuilding of structures and services to regain a satisfactory level of emotional and mental stability. Many have committed suicide and suicide rates have been growing as the recovery process slowly progresses. All four clinicians have plans to return to China in the next few months for further work with the people there.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009, is the first anniversary of the disastrous earthquake. The quake registered 8.0 on the Richter Scale and was centered in Wenchuan County near Sichuan’s capital, Chengdu. With a three-minute duration and occurring mid-morning, it is estimated to be the 19th deadliest of all time, killing at least 69,000 and injuring about 375,000. Approximately 18,000 people are still missing and the quake left a staggering 4.8 million homeless.

Strong aftershocks were felt for weeks afterward, with many residents living on the streets in tents rather than trust returning to homes and buildings that remained standing. Especially sad, many of the dead and injured were children, as 7,000 schools collapsed in the area. Some relief and rescue workers trying to help were killed in landslides and related accidents, and the road, bridge and communications damage made the recovery process even more difficult. The central government of China dedicated much money, and sent in food, water and other resources to address the crisis, and later added some sturdy temporary housing units.

Pacific Clinics Staff Available for Interviews – Many High Quality Photographs Are Available from Their Encounters

Stephen Wong, MS, Mental Health Therapist
Adult Mental Health Services/Wellness Program
Pacific Clinics Asian Pacific Family Center, Rosemead
A parent of two children, Mr. Wong was greatly moved by stories about death and trauma to children. A new employee at APFC he took unpaid leave for the trip, which his direct supervisor, Ms. J. Choi (see below) was glad to be able to allow him. He was unable to secure passage to the area with a U.S.-based non-governmental organization, so traveled as a visitor. He linked up with a church contact in a city near Chengdu for help with entry into quake areas and with language translation (English & Mandarin to Szechuan). When Mr. Wong was in the area, he began counseling 500 chemical factory workers whose plant had been 90% demolished and families that had lost children and other relatives. He worked with children traumatized by seeing their schoolmates and sometimes their siblings perish.

Jennifer Lin and Stella Tam
Parenting Specialists
Pacific Clinics Asian Pacific Family Center
Ms. Lin and Ms. Tam traveled to other critically affected areas in Wenchuan County with a group of mental health professionals led by a Chinese-born psychiatrist who had been teaching in New York. Beichuan was one of the cities hardest hit by the earthquake, with 80% of its buildings collapsed and as many as 5,000 dead and 10,000 injured. They report that adequate mental health services are scarce in many parts of China, with most mental health personnel just having graduated from a short training course to become “licensed” as therapists. Besides providing care to the refugees, Ms. Lin and Ms. Tam participated in a workshop to help train some of these newly-certified and inexperienced mental health workers.

Jeanette Choi, LCSW, MFT
Adult Mental Health Services/Wellness Program
Pacific Clinics Asian Pacific Family Center Adult MHS/Wellness Program
Ms. Choi traveled to China three times in 2008 to provide counseling to local residents having anxiety about the earthquake, which was strongly felt in the north as well.

About Pacific Clinics
Based in Arcadia, Calif., Pacific Clinics is a private, non-profit community behavioral healthcare agency providing a variety of high quality outpatient services through its 80 locations in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties. Founded in 1926 as Pasadena Child Guidance Clinic, the organization has expanded services across the decades to address the mental and behavioral health concerns of families and individuals of all ages. Through its dedicated staff, consumers, family members, volunteers and benefactors, Pacific Clinics provides treatment, prevention, early intervention, program development and evaluation, research, training, public education and advocacy, frequently in partnership with other social services organizations.