Transcripts of the opening addresses by the 1st Chairperson of the Group, Dr Shamil Wanigaratne at the 1st Psychological Impact of Trauma Conference held in Colombo in 1996

Professor Kodagoda, Professor Fernando and other distinguished guests and participants it is indeed a great honour and a priviledge to be here. I too share Professor Kodagoda’s sadness that Padmal De Silva is not here. I am sure he will participate in future events.

I could never bring my self to call my self an ‘expatriate’ - I am sure I fit the definition. To be separated from one’s own country for whatever reason is ‘traumatic’. On top of that to watch from far a continuing violent conflict in your country is more painful. You may say it cannot be more painful than being here. I am sure you are right.

This is not a symposium on expatriate psychology - but it is relevant here to say that the phenomenon of expatriate anxiety or “Guilt” motivate people into helping behaviours that may be sometimes misguided and counterproductive to the country and the individuals concerned. I hope this initiative is not such an enterprise.

As a clinical psychologist and one few Sri Lankans belonging to my profession thoughts of finding ways of channelling my skills and the resources I have access to, to help Sri Lanka is a constant feature in my mind. I know I am not alone in having such feelings. The bomb blast on the 31st of January with almost simultaneous broadcast of pictures of the carnage, around the world acted as a critical incident to put these thoughts into action. I contacted two other Sri Lankan clinical psychologists I know Padmal de Silva and Mrs Saraswathi Devi Coomaraswamy who was also one of my teachers. They expressed very similar feelings and wanted to help and do something at that time. I discussed my initial thoughts with Professor Nalaka Mendis on the telephone on a couple of occasions and his response was encouraging. Then through a colleague and friend who is a psychiatrist I was introduced to Dr Athula Sumathipala. This was indeed a meeting of minds. From our initial discussions it became very clear that we have been thinking along the same lines about post traumatic stress and Sri Lanka for a while and now was the time for action. This initiative and the U.K. Working Group is a result of our initial discussion and close collaboration. Dr Sumathipala is a person of tremendous courage, enthusiasm and energy. He has worked tirelessly on this initiative, with serious expense to his health. Nevertheless I am delighted he decided to make the trip and be here.

The objectives of the London group are out-lined in the report of the first meeting that is included in your conference pack. I hope you get a chance to read it and are able to give us feedback. If I am to sum up, our aims is to find a way of channelling skills and resources to facilitate and complement activity that is taking place in Sri Lanka, to ameliorate to adverse psychological effects of trauma.

The West has the resources to carry out research and to develop and evaluate new interventions. The professionals and workers here have the experience of working with trauma victims with less than ideal resources. This must create a condition for mutual learning and co-operation. I have had discussions with world authorities on psychological aspects of trauma both psychologist and psychiatrists, who has worked with trauma victims, from the Vietnam and Falkland wars to Oklahoma bombing in the U.S.A and the Kings cross fire in the U.K and they have expressed great enthusiasm to share their experience with us and learn from the Sri Lanka situation.

I work in a Hospital Trust and Medical School in the UK, which has a National Traumatic Stress Centre. I have received a great deal of support from them for this initiative and they have pledged to support it in the future. The Camden and Islington Trust Stress Clinic has supported this symposium by sending one of its staff, Dr Anna Doney to participate in it.

For a moment I would like to leave empirically based cognitive-behavioural psychology, which I was trained in, to venture into psychodynamic or even Freudian psychology - to talk about ‘caring’. I would like to assume that all those who are here are ‘carers’ and are here because they ‘care’ about the distress that traumatic events cause in your patients.

Some of you must know exactly why you find your self as a carer - for some the reasons may be hidden in the unconscious. Questioning your motivation for why you do the work you do is a healthy activity. If you can get at your unconscious motivation it is even better.

The point I am making here is that we are all meeting some of our own needs in the caring work we do. I am not saying this in a negative way. If we are clear about what motivates us, whether they are altruistic or selfish - we can be more effective.

During the past few months I have asked my self some very hard questions - exploring my motivations for involvement in this project. This at time has been very painful.

I am sure I speak for Athula and the U.K working group and for professor Fernando, Dr Hanwella and the Sri Lanka working group, that the positive intentions of getting the help of those who need it most far out ways any negative or self seeking intentions that may prevail.

‘Trauma’ is a Greek work meaning to ‘pierce’ or ‘cut through’ where some thing once intact has been breached. The psychology of it is that in some intense or violent way the protective layer that surrounds the mind is ruptured. Freud (1920) described as ‘traumatic’ any excitation from the outside which is powerful enough to break through the protective shield.

We have all experienced this from time to time and coped. Some professionals are trained to build up a protective shield to enable them to carry out their work objectively. Those who work with trauma victims or traumatised patients finds this shield essential to survive the horror they see, hear and work with. Sometimes this shield becomes too tough and as a result we become less than human. This could be a sign of ‘burn out’ in our work. In the U.K when I run workshops I always make the point that workshops are therapy for the therapists. I hope those attending the workshops will use it for that purpose. I hope that we will be able to create a safe atmosphere that you will be able to let down the ‘protective shield’ and share your experiences. It is indeed dedication to attend workshops on Saturday and Sunday this I haven’t experienced in the U.K.

The psychology of trauma is closely bound up with the psychology of memory. Martin Fine and Rachel Tribe will explore this in their presentations. Much of psychological interventions are about processing or reprocessing memories of trauma.

I am mentioning it here because it is a challenge to all of us to process the memories of what we have seen and experienced in this conflict and be objective. May a peaceful settlement be upon us soon! After ‘peace’ the ‘war against memory’ begins!

We have so far talked only of the negative aspects of trauma. It must be said that traumatic experiences does not always have negative consequences. For some, traumatic events have been a turning point in their lives, leading to transformation and growth. I have seen this in my clinic practice and it has given me hope. This is very important and here I go back to being a cognitive psychologist. As carers if we are not able to hold ‘optimistic beliefs’, it is difficult to instil hope in people we are trying to help.

I think I should end here and before I do so I would like to thank people who have made this symposium possible. This is a dangerous thing because so many people were involved and I am bound to forget someone. I normally forget to thank my wife and get into trouble. I would like to thank Professor Ravindra Fernando for making this symposium possible, Dr Hanwella for his hard work and the Centre for Private Sector Development. I would like to thank the London Working Group, Rachel Tribe, Martin Fine and Anna Doney for giving their time so generously and for participating in this symposium.

Action for Sri Lanka a newly formed voluntary group for humanitarian aid for Sri Lanka helped to raise fund for this and hope they would continue in their efforts for future work.

Those who have helped sponsorship, Air Lanka, Trans Asia Hotels, Central Finance Company, Bank of Ceylon, National Development Bank, Standard Chartered Bank.

And finally all of you have taken the trouble to attend.

Thank you.