A Chance to Talk

<v Val Zavala>Hi, I'm Val Zavala. We've all been in a crisis in the last few weeks, so KCET, UCLA, USC and Cal State University, Long Beach have joined with a host of groups, including the Black Social Workers Association, Trabajadores de la Raza and the Korean-American Social Worker Association to provide this unique opportunity. It gives you a chance to talk. You know, experiencing the destruction of our neighborhoods and communities causes a wide range of emotions: anger, confusion, compassion and even despair. Whatever you're feeling, you don't have to be alone. Behind me on the phones are trained counselors who are here to assess your emotional needs and listen to your concerns. As your public television station, we're offering our phone banks to a pool of volunteer counselors from the Los Angeles community. So anytime in the next hour call the number is 213-669-5000. And if you know of a friend or a family member who would benefit from this service and they speak only Korean or Spanish, there are Korean and Spanish speaking counselors available. All conversations are confidential. Once again, the number is 213-669-5000. For KCET, I'm Val Zavala. <v Val Zavala>Hi, I'm Val Zavala. We've all been in a crisis in the last few weeks, so KCET, UCLA, USC and Cal State University, Long Beach have joined with a host of groups, including the Black Social Workers Association, Trabajadores de la Raza, and the Korean-American Social Worker Association to provide this unique opportunity. It gives you a chance to talk. You know, experiencing the destruction of our neighborhoods and communities causes a wide range of emotions: anger, confusion, compassion and even despair. Whatever your feeling, you don't have to be alone. Behind me on the phones are trained counselors who are here to assess your emotional needs and listen to your concerns. As your public television station, we're offering our phone banks to a pool of volunteer counselors from the Los Angeles community. So anytime in the next hour, give us a call. The number is 213-669-5000. And if you know of a friend or a family member who would benefit from this service and they speak only Korean or Spanish, there are Korean and Spanish speaking counselors available. All conversations are confidential. Once again, the number is 213-669-5000. And now I'd like to introduce Dr. Anna Smith. Dr. Smith is a psychiatrist with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and a former faculty member of the Drew Medical Center. Dr. Smith has vast experiencing, experience in recognizing and addressing a range of reactions that individuals have to critical events that occur in the community and how they can work toward improving lines of communication during times of stress and crisis. Dr. Smith, what are the kinds of reactions that you have seen people have as a result of the civil unrest?

<v Anna Smith>There are a variety of reactions. Some people have experienced tremendous rage. Others are having difficulty with sleep. There are some who cannot stop talking. There are some who are unable to say much of anything. There is some despair, some depression. There are others who have a great deal of optimism. With all of these reactions, it represents a part of a process of trying to deal individually and collectively with the explosively traumatic event that we as a city have just gone through. It becomes important to remember that this is a process, that it does not have to be over in a specified period of time. Some people are beginning to work through their reactions and feelings some have not started. For those who need some assistance and beginning their process, particularly, for those who feel stuck with a rage and anger in terms of their process, for those who have reactions and thoughts that are different from the people around them that they have not been able to express. It is extremely impor- important so that your process will flow, so that you can be a part of the healing, that you utilize any opportunity to keep your process going.

<v Val Zavala>Thank you very much, Dr. Smith. And once again, the number to call is 213-669-5000. For KCET, I'm Val Zavala.

<v Val Zavala>Hello, I'm Val Zavala. We've all been in a crisis in the last few weeks, so KCET, UCLA, USC and Cal State University, Long Beach have joined with a host of groups, including the Black Social Workers Association, Trabajadores de la Raza, and the Korean-American Social Workers Association to provide this unique opportunity. It gives you a chance to talk. Experiencing the destruction of our neighborhoods and communities causes a wide range of emotions: anger, confusion, compassion and despair. Whatever your feeling, you don't have to be alone. Behind me on the phones are trained counselors who are here to assess your emotional needs and listen to your concerns. As your public television station, we're offering our phone banks to a pool of volunteer counselors from the Los Angeles community. So anytime in the next hour call. The number is 213-669-5000. And if you know of a friend or family member who would benefit from this service and they speak only Korean or Spanish, there are Korean and Spanish speaking counselors available. All conversations are confidential. Once again, the number is 213-669-5000. And now I'd like to doc- introduce Miss Rose Montero. She is a licensed clinical social worker who has been practicing social work in the Los Angeles community for over 20 years, primarily in corrections, probation, health and mental health fields. She has a private practice in Los Angeles and was here during the Watts riots in the 60s. Miss Montero, you know the recent crisis has obviously increased racial tensions. What can people do, especially people who are biracialor bicultural? <v Rose Montero>I think that biracial people face, um, a very unique set of conflicts and experiences because they typically have parents who are racially and culturally different. And in a time of intense racial conflict, I think that they are oftentimes torn between these two people that they love very much, um, taking sides, seeing perhaps both sides of their family um, attacking one another or, um, being divided on the cause or the blame. Um, we know that oftentimes in the community, Amerasians or any group of people who have two sets of parents struggle with the whole issue of identity. And so in this really terrible time in our culture, once again, they are faced with confronting perhaps the idea of having a negative identity with one group, for example, if you're African-American, and, um, a positive identity with the other group. So I think that this is a time when they face really intense conflicts and their mixed heritage and lineage only causes this to be greatly aggravated.

<v Val Zavala>Thank you very much, Miss Mentero. And once again, the number for you to call is 213-669-5000 for KCET, I'm Val Zavala.

<v Val Zavala>Hi, I'm Val Zavala. We've all been in a crisis in the last few weeks, so KCET, UCLA, USC and Cal State University, Long Beach have joined with a host of groups, including the Black Social Workers Association. Trabajadores de la Raza, and the Korean-American Social Worker Association to provide this unique opportunity. It gives you a chance to talk. Experiencing the destruction of our neighborhoods and communities causes a wide range of emotions: anger, confusion, compassion and despair. Whatever you are feeling, you don't have to be alone. Behind me on the phones are trained counselors who are here to assess your emotional needs and listen to your concerns. As your public television station, we are offering our phone banks to a pool of volunteer counselors from the Los Angeles community. So anytime in the next hour, call. 213-669-5000 is the number. And if you know of a friend or family member who would benefit from this service, but they only speak Korean or Spanish, there are Korean and Spanish speaking counselors available. All conversations are confidential. Once again, the number is 213-669-5000. And now I'd like to introduce Deborah Choi. Ms. Choi is a psychiatric social worker with the Asian Pacific Family Center, Pacific Clinics and is also president of the Korean-American Social Workers Association. Ms. Choi has worked with families in the Asian Pacific community, primarily with parents of small children and adolescents. Miss Choi, what kind of impact has the recent unrest had on parents and how can they not only help themselves but help their young children? <v Deboarah Choi>The recent unrest impacted, I think, a lot of people, including you and me, to be shaken by that. Some um, people were not able to sleep for a couple days, were not able to go outside of um their house, and I think it's import- very important for parents to really take care of themselves at this point. Talk to your friends, maybe talk to church members or to call here at KCET to talk to somebody and deal with your emotional and difficult issues. So then you'll be available for your children, too, for them to open up and talk to you a little more freely and you'll be a little more available emotionally. Um, I think that'd be very important for parents do at this point. [speaking Korean]

<v Val Zavala>Thank you very much, Ms. Choi. And once again, the number to call is 213-669-5000. For KCET, I'm Val Zavala.

<v Val Zavala>Hi, I'm Val Zavala. We've all been in a crisis in the last few weeks, so KCET, UCLA, USC and Cal State University, Long Beach have joined with a host of groups, including the Black Social Workers Association, Trabajadores de la Raza, and the Korean-American Social Worker Association to provide this unique opportunity. You now have a chance to talk. You know, experiencing the discre-- the destruction of our neighborhoods and communities causes a wide range of emotions: anger, confusion, compassion, and even despair. Whatever you're feeling, you don't have to be alone. Behind me on the phones are trained counselors who are here to assess your emotional needs and to listen to your concerns. As your public television station, we're offering our phone banks to a pool of volunteer counselors from the Los Angeles community. So anytime in the next hour, call 213-669-5000. And if you know of a friend or family member who would benefit from this service and they only speak Spanish, there are Spanish speaking counselors available. All conversations are confidential. Once again, the number is 213-669-5000. And now I would like to introduce Mitchell Maki. Mr. Maki is a licensed clinical social worker and a field education faculty member at the UCLA School of Social Welfare. He has worked with social work students throughout the county and various community based organizations, and Mitchell has also been active in the coordination of this project with KCET. Mitchell, you know, you've seen individuals experience such a wide range of emotions, very strong emotions. What can people do about them? <v Mitchell Maki>You know, Val is very clear the people are experiencing the crisis in many different ways. Many people lost property, homes, businesses and even loved ones. And for those people, the tragedy is very evident. But also for the greater community, what was lost was a sense of security, a sense of well-being, a sense that everything is all well and good in Los Angeles. Now, there are many parts of the community that knew that was not the case. But for the greater part of the Southland, it's a rude awakening, a rude awakening that is a company now by feelings of anxiety, fear, depression and helplessness. It's important for people to realize that they are not alone with those feelings, but in fact, that those feelings are shared with many, many others. I think what people need to do at this point is reach out. Reach out and talk to family, to friends, to neighbors, to coworkers, and even to take advantage of a service such as KCET is offering where they can call in and talk with a trained volunteer, because even that added bit of support, an added bit of validation can go a long way in the recovery process.

<v Val Zavala>Thank you very much, Mr. Maki. And once again, the number to call is 213-669-5000. For KCET, I'm Val Zavala.

<v Val Zavala>Hello, I'm Val Zavala. We've all been through a crisis in the last few weeks, so KCET, UCLA, USC and Cal State University, Long Beach have joined with a host of groups, including the Black Social Workers Association, Trabajadores de la Raza, and the Korean-American Social Worker Association to provide you with this unique opportunity. You have a chance to call and talk. You know, experiencing the destruction of our neighborhoods and communities causes a wide range of emotions: anger, confusion, compassion and also despair. Whatever you are feeling, you don't have to be alone. Behind me on the phones are trained counselors who are here to assess your emotional needs and listen to your concerns. As your public television station, we are offering our phone banks to pool of volunteer counselors from the Los Angeles community. So anytime in the next hour, call 213-669-5000. And if you know of a friend or family member who would benefit from this service and they speak only Spanish, there are Spanish speaking counselors available. All conversations are confidential. Once again, the number is 213-669-5000. And now I'd like to introduce Dr. Vickie Mays. Dr. Mays is an associate professor at the UCLA Department of Psychology and is director of the Black Community AIDS Research and Education Project. She's been actively involved in the planning and implementation of this special project here at KCET. You know, Dr. Mays, what is it going to take to heal the kind of trauma that literally hundreds of thousands of people have gone through? <v Vickie Mays>I think when we talk about the issue of healing, I think it's very important to remember that does not mean to seal over. In the healing process, I think one of the most important things is we've got to talk. We've really got to talk about the things that we've experienced, the attitudes that have occurred as a result of things that have happened. They're very much out of the ordinary. So I think it's very important right now as we go through this whole notion of rebuilding Los Angeles that we think about it more as a transformation. And before we start laying bricks down and putting new buildings up, that we focus on the individual and the people that have been affected by this trauma. And part of what we need them to do is to think about calling, to talk about the issues. People have really been impacted by this, in ways in which they have been surprised by some people are angry, some people are frightened, some people are just upset, others are really mystified - how could this happen? You know, I've lived in this community all my life. How could this happen? And I think one of the ways that you can deal with a lot of that is by talking in terms of talking with people about the feelings that you're having, as well as trying to talk about the things that are upsetting you in this. Unless we hear that, we won't know how to rebuild Los Angeles.

<v Val Zavala>Thank you very much, Dr. Mays. And once again, the number to call is 213-6695000. For KCET, I'm Val Zavala.

<v Val Zavala>Hello, I'm Val Zavala. We've all been through a crisis in the last few weeks, so KCET, UCLA, USC and Cal State University, Long Beach have joined with a host of groups, including the Black Social Workers Association, Trabajadores de la Raza, and the Korean-American Social Worker Association to provide you with this unique opportunity. You have a chance to call and talk. Experiencing the destruction of our neighborhoods and communities causes a wide range of emotions: anger, confusion, compassion and even despair. Whatever you are feeling, you don't have to be alone. Behind me on the phones are trained counselors who are here to assess your emotional needs and listen to your concerns. As your public television station, we're offering our phone banks to a pool of volunteer counselors from the Los Angeles community. So anytime in the next hour, call 213-669-5000. And if you know of a friend or a family member who would benefit from this service and they speak only Korean or Spanish, there are Korean and Spanish speaking counselors available. All conversations are confidential. Once again, the number is 213-669-5000. And now I'd like to introduce Dr. Armando Morales. Dr. Morales is a professor of psychiatry, social work and biobehavioral sciences at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA. He has over 35 years of experience working with inner-city youth of all races and ethnicities. And he has specialized in police-community relations and community disorders. Dr. Morales has written a book on urban disorder entitled "I Am Bleeding." Dr. Morales, what impact has the recent crisis had on the youth of our communities and what can be done about it? <v Armando Morales>Well, urban riots are very similar to wars. There's heat, there's violence, there's death. And riots are extremely frightening to small children. They begin to cling to their parents and they begin to have nightmares. They're afraid to leave home. They're afraid to go to school. With teenagers, the effect is even more serious. Sometimes they suffer depression, they're nervous, they're suffering anxiety. And at times to cover up some of their fears, some teenagers become very angry and at times are very sensitive. They actually are like experiencing their raw nerves and they are very quick to retaliate to any type of insults or anyone that is disrespectful to them. So I would often urge youngsters, teenagers to be very careful, to think twice before they react and retaliate against anyone. This is a time to try to be calm. If they are having a lot of difficulty, then they'll have to contact people for help, primarily mental health agencies.

<v Val Zavala>Thank you very much, Dr. Morales. And once again, the number to call for the next hour is 213-669-5000. For KCET, I'm Val Zavala. Hello, I'm Val Zavala. We've all been through a crisis in the last few weeks, so KCET, UCLA, USC and Cal State University, Long Beach have joined with a host of groups, including the Black Social Workers Association, Trabajadores de la Raza, and the Korean-American Social Worker Association to provide this unique opportunity to give you a chance to talk. Experiencing the destruction of our neighborhoods and communities causes a wide range of emotions, anger, confusion, compassion and even despair. Whatever you're feeling, you don't have to be alone. Behind me on the phones are trained counselors who are here to assess your emotional needs and listen to your concerns. As your public television station, we are offering our phone banks to a pool of volunteer counselors from the Los Angeles community. So anytime the next hour call, the number is 213-669-5000. And if you know of a friend or a family member who would benefit from this service and they speak only Korean or Spanish, there are Korean and Spanish speaking counselors available. All conversations are confidential. Once again, the number is 213-669-5000. And I'd like to introduce Dr. Armando Morales. Dr. Morales is a professor of psych- psychiatry, social work and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA. <v Val Zavala>[El doctor Armando Morales es profesor de psiquiatría, trabajo social, y ciencias de comportamiento en el instituto neuropsiquiátrico de la universidad de California en Los Angeles. Tiene mas de treinta y cinco años de experiencia trabajando con jovenes de todas las razas y grupos etnicos dentro la ciudad. Se ha especializado en relaciones entre la comunidad y los policías y el desorden en la comunidad. El doctor Morales ha escrito un libro sobre el desorden urbano titulato "Estoy Sangrando." Doctor Morales, que ha sido el efecto de los disturbios urbanos en el, uh salud mental en los niños y los jovenes? ]

<v Armando Morales>Los disturbios urbanos salió muy traumático, muy terrible para toda la gente, pero particularmente para los niños y para los jovenes. Para los adolescentes ellos hay veces que comecen adolescent. This is a business people, commissioner. So Fiorillo seemed to master that on get a new low Salyers elect Gaza must get on this. This is a much at Rava. Even then we says that he was. I visit to move oratorios get in. Polyak respects sordidness. Who noticed in his case? Yellow's Holderness. Guess it GNN gave muscle. Mello's gulled may have been satelites course as he v.n, but that the gnomic depths in Plato's or authoress conflict. Oh, I see those hovan this low seniors suffering the symptoms guessed I'm gonna those goodness' that is to revealed Randol and glad to keep. para ayuda. Gracias. <v Val Zavala>Muchas gracias, doctor Morales. And once again for the next hour, the number to call is 213-669-5000. For KCET, I'm Val Zavala.

<v Val Zavala>Hi, I'm Val Zavala. We've all been in a crisis in the last few weeks, so KCET, UCLA, USC and Cal State University, Long Beach have joined with a host of groups, including the Black Social Workers Association, Trabajadores de la Raza, and the Korean-American Social Workers Association to provide this unique opportunity. It gives you a chance to talk. Experiencing the destruction of our neighborhoods and communities causes a wide range of emotions: anger, confusion, compassion, and despair. Whatever your feeling, you don't have to be alone. Behind me on the phones are trained counselors who are here to assess your emotional needs and listen to your concerns. As your public television station, we're offering our phone banks to a pool of volunteer counselors from the Los Angeles community. So anytime in the next hour, call 213-669-5000. And if you know of a friend or family member who would benefit from this service and they speak only Korean or Spanish, there are Korean and Spanish speaking counselors available. All conversations are confidential. Once again, the number is 213-669-5000. And now I'd like to introduce Rose Montero. Miss Montero is a licensed clinical social worker who has been practicing social work in the Los Angeles community for over 20 years, primarily in corrections, probation, health and mental health fields. She has a private practice in Los Angeles and was here during the Watts riots in the 60s. Miss Mentero, a lot of the people who saw a lot of the unrest firsthand were older citizens, members of the older generation who've been in their communities for years. Do the elderly experience this differently? <v Rose Montero>I think so. I don't want to stereotype elderly people as falling into one group, but- and there are poor, well, um, elderly and there are well-to-do elderly. But I think talking to those elderly who were in the midst of the community upheaval, they faced a particularly difficult set of circumstances. Um, the concept, I think, of ageism reflects that oftentimes our elderly are already isolated, alone, and services are not available to them, and they can't access the services in the same way that you or I could. So this leads, I think, to further feeling sometimes of isolation, um, and abandonment, um and I think that in this context, their symptoms may oftentimes be physical and they might show up at doctor's offices as opposed to counseling offices. But I think that we should be particularly aware that they, too, feel depression, although it presents itself differently. Again, in this physical context. So, the, the need to have assistance should be recognized and they should know that they, too, can reach out and get the help that's available to them.

<v Val Zavala>Thank you very much, Miss Mentero. And once again, the number for you to call is 213-669-5000. For KCET, I'm Val Zavala.

<v Val Zavala>Hello, I'm Val Zavala. We've all been in a crisis in the last few weeks, so KCET, UCLA, USC and Cal State University, Long Beach have joined with a host of groups, including the Black Social Workers Association, Trabajadores de la Raza, and the Korean-American Social Worker Association to provide you with this unique opportunity. We're giving you a chance to talk. You know, experiencing the destruction of our neighborhoods and communities causes a wide range of emotions: anger, confusion, compassion and despair. What ever you are feeling. You don't have to be alone. Now, behind the on the phones right now are trained counselors who are here to assess your emotional needs and to listen to your concerns. As your public television station, we're offering our phone banks to pool of volunteer counselors from the Los Angeles community. So anytime in the next hour, call 213-669-5000. And if you know of a friend or a family member who would benefit from this service and they speak only Korean or Spanish, there are Korean and Spanish speaking counselors available. All conversations are confidential. Once again, the number is 213-669-5000. And now I'd like to introduce Mitchell Maki. Mr. Maki is a licensed clinical social worker and a field education faculty member at the UCLA School of Social Welfare. He has worked with social work students throughout the county and various community-based organizations, and he's been very active in the coordination of this project here with KCET. You know, Mitchell, we've seen individuals respond to the violence in such intense emotions of all kinds. What can people do about that? <v Mitchell Maki>Yes, Val, it's clear that people are experiencing the crisis in many different ways. Many people lost businesses, homes, property and even loved ones, and for those individuals, it clearly is a tragic event. And I think also for the larger Southland, what was loss was a sense of security, a sense of safety, a sense that all is well and good in Los Angeles. I think many parts of the community knew that things were not all well and good, but for the larger part of the Southland, this is a rude awakening. It's a rude awakening that also is accompanied by feelings of anxiety, fear, frustration, helplessness and hopelessness. I think what's important is for people to realize that they are not alone with those feelings and that they need to reach out to others, others who share those same feelings. People need to talk with family, with friends, with coworkers and people in their own neighborhoods, and also to take advantage of the services such as KCET is provided where they can call in and talk to a trained counselor, someone who can give them that added bit of support or validation, because that little bit of that validation can go a long way in the recovery process.

<v Val Zavala>Thank you, Mr. Maki. Once again, that number is 213-669-5000. For KCET, I'm Val Zavala.

<v Val Zavala>Hello, I'm Val Zavala. We've all been through a crisis in the last few weeks, so KCET, UCLA, USC and Cal State University, Long Beach have joined with a host of groups, including the Black Social Workers Association, Trabajadores de la Raza, and the Korean-American Social Worker Association to provide you with this unique opportunity. You have a chance to call and talk. Experiencing the destruction of our neighborhoods and communities causes a wide range of emotions: anger, confusion, compassion and despair. Whatever you are feeling, you don't have to be alone. Behind me on the phones are trained counselors who are here to assess your emotional needs and to listen to your concerns. As your public television station, we are offering our phone banks to a pool of volunteer counselors from the Los Angeles community. So anytime in the next hour, call 213-669-5000. And if you know of a friend or family member who would benefit from this service and they only speak Spanish, there are Spanish speaking counselors available. All conversations are confidential. Once again, the number is 213-669-5000. And now I'd like to introduce Dr. Linda Poverny. Dr. Poverny is an assistant professor at the USC School of Social Work, and she directs the Staff, Faculty, Counseling, and Consultation Center. She's been in private practice for 12 years and has done extensive work with families in trauma. Dr. Poverny, what has the impact of these disturbances had on families and what can families do to cope with it? <v Linda Poverny>Well, the- this is this event has really sent shockwaves through families. And what has happened is that parents are trying to assimilate the information and deal with their own feelings and ideas, at the same time trying to reassure their children that they're going to be safe and that everything's going to be okay. Uh, many families with adolescents are trying to, um, talk with their, um, young adults and explain how the social disintegration occurred, um, and but what families really, I think have an opportunity to do under these conditions is really pull together and support one another, begin a dialog that oftentimes doesn't take place between the kinds of experiences that we've seen, their meanings, all the while reassuring the children in the family, no matter what age, that they are going to be safe, um, and that the parents will take care of them. Um, these inexplicable kinds of, um, experiences are, are very traumatic for young children in particular, um, and what appears to be irrational behavior, um oftentimes needs to be, um, dealt with openly and honestly with the expression of feelings.

<v Val Zavala>Thank you very much, Dr. Ver- Poverny. And once again, the number to call is 213-669-5000. Now, if you're calling and the phones are busy, just jot down the number and try again a little bit later in the hour. Our counselors will be here through the hour. For KCET, I'm Val Zavala.

<v Speaker>Hello, I'm David Crippens. The recent crisis has affected all of us, and if you're someone who needs to speak to a trained emotional health counselor, KCET, together with leading area mental-health institutions and associations, wants to help. During the next hour, call 213-669-5000 to speak with a counselor who can assess your emotional needs and listen to your concerns. That's 213-669-5000 in the next hour.