[Read this entry in Spanish].

The document Beyond Survival. Improving intervention in Europe with Unaccompanied and Separated Migrant Children who fall through the protection system, that Pepa Horno, my colleague at Espirales Consultoría de Infancia, and me have written for UNICEF Spain and UNICEF France, has just been published, and it is available in two versions:

• Download the original version in English of Beyond Survival. Improving intervention in Europe with Unaccompanied and Separated Migrant Children who fall through the protection system.
• Download the translation into Spanish, Beyond survival. How to improve intervention with unaccompanied and separated migrant children who are left outside the protection system.

This is a technical publication that has to do with Child Protection, social intervention and human rights. In fact, we counted with the ideas and awareness of nearly a hundred professionals at an International Workshop in December 2019 in Madrid, that I co-facilitated (we explain more about it in our blog post in Espirales CI). However, it is also a very personal document for me.

On the one hand, Unaccompanied and Separated Migrant Children are very dear to me. I worked in Morocco for several years with children in street situation and I know of the difficulties there, what makes them risk their lives for the possibility of a better future. I also worked for several years in Madrid with at-risk youth, and many of them were unaccompanied migrant children, so I accompanied their steps in the difficulties of building a good future for themselves in Spain. And I still enjoy being able to speak with them in Moroccan Arabic, a language that I like very much. I hope that this document will help other professionals and the general public to have a compassionate regard to these children, and to care for their wellbeing. (More about my career path in my LinkedIn Profile).

On the other hand, this is currently a very sensitive issue, due to several factors. As main writer, I have used extensively Focusing with myself as a process to structure the ideas, and to find the adequate wording. The clues for more protective narratives need to come from an embodied awareness. I hope that this will bring clarity and also a deeper perspective to all this subject, with some of its intricacies made a bit more explicit.

In conclusion, it has been not only a professional challenge, but also a very personal process. I hope that you will enjoy it.

F. Javier Romeo

Last week the report was presented Arrive on time. Children, girls and adolescents at risk in Spain, which has been a satisfaction for me. Collect the results of the research we have carried out since Spiral Consulting Children in 2018 and 2019 for SOS Children's Villages of Spain. Although there is already one official blog entry for CI Spirals, I pick up the publications in which I also participate in this blog.

Two versions can be downloaded:

• The full report.
• The executive summary.

On a personal basis, I can say that taking care of the technical coordination of this research and carrying out the part that corresponded to me of data collection has brought me new learnings.

On the one hand, know new specific situations of child protection, and adolescents, risks they face and issues that need to be addressed.

For another, the importance of networking, seeing how municipalities that have internal coordination networks offer much better care to children, girls and adolescents who live in them and their families.

And third, the need to continue creating awareness in all the people involved:

• Municipalities and those responsible at the political level, so that they adequately prioritize a part of the population that, if not, has no resources other than what families can afford.
• Your professionals, especially in Social Services, so they can have a more conscious look at their work. In many cases with work overflow and lack of resources, but with a great commitment to the welfare of the population, a mindful look can help you better organize your care and resources, and to claim effectively what is necessary.
• The families, so that they can understand the difficulties and risks their sons and daughters face and can receive the help that is proposed to them.
• And children, and adolescents, so that they can be heard and given the prominence they deserve through the corresponding channels of participation.

And I end by thanking the entire research team for the collaborative work: Pepa Horno as general coordinator and Violeta Assiego, Itziar Fernandez, Golden Ferreres, Lourdes Juan and Santiago Míguez. It was an honor. And to Aldeas Infantiles SOS de España and its professionals for giving us this opportunity.

I hope that this investigation serves to shed light on all the work that we have pending to, as the title says, Arrive on time to take care of the children, girls and adolescents at risk.

F. Javier Romeo

Since the beginning of the pandemic, many children's organizations have struggled to create resources. From Spirales Consultoría de Infancia we have prepared several different materials.

In this blog post I want to share some videos that are also relevant to what I am sharing here, for many reasons.

1. They put forward messages that are clear and broad enough to discuss with children, girls and adolescents on the COVID-19 pandemic, so that they have clues about what is happening to them.
2. They propose a work on body awareness: from the model of the three intelligences to coming into contact with the breath, with the tension or with the different sensations. It is not Focusing, but aim for that sensitivity.
3. They are in Spanish, but also in French and Moroccan Arabic. I was excited to use in these videos these two languages ​​that have served me so much to communicate when I lived in Morocco and with migrant adolescents in Spain.

I leave you the videos below:

• Video “The three intelligences and rage”.

• Video “The three intelligences and fear”.

• Video “The three intelligences and asking for help”.

• Video “The three intelligences and sadness”.

I hope you find them interesting.

F. Javier Romeo

A few days ago I received the certificate as a volunteer from the telephone service of the Official College of Psychology of Madrid. In these moments of “new normal” It has been a reminder of the difficult moments of confinement, between March and May of this year 2020. And from the calm (provisional) actual, It seems like a good time to process what I have experienced. And I have four words to symbolize it: commitment, resistance, humility and conscience.

When the lockdown started my basic question was “How can I contribute?”. From Spirales Consultoría de Infancia we have received many requests that we have been able to attend to, but that will be the reason for another blog post. But, at the same time, there was another dimension, from volunteering, what did i want to offer. Between the many services and resources what did he offer Official College of Psychology of Madrid, Telephoning people who need it suited me very well. From there, I have felt honored to belong to this organization that has been close to the citizenry as far as its resources have allowed.. This for me has to do with psychology, apart from being my profession, also supposes a commitment personal towards the well-being of individuals and communities. We have seen the commitment of many people and many professional groups, and this has been ours: offer listening and support to those who need it.

The beginning of the telephone attention was intense for me. The calls weren't many, but long and complex. From mourning the death of people to serious mental health difficulties. And my admiration for the ability resistance of every person I cared for. I like to say “resilience”, that word that we like so much in psychology. But “resilience” it implies “to resist” and “remake”, and in a single phone call per person I only got to see the part of “to resist”. When I see the current relaxation in the face of sanitary measures, I remember each person that I attended, with your level of suffering, and I wonder how they will live it. Are they feeling the frustration that it was not done better at the time? Are they enjoying some rest and contact? My memory is with those people who have had such a bad time, and that they will have to find the strength to continue resisting and, hopefully, to reach resilience and rebuild.

All these experiences have awakened in me a lot humility. The coronavirus is generally being a call to conscience, that as human beings we consider how we are doing in the world and look for ways to improve. For me, as a psychologist, all these experiences are assuming a humility cure. There is so much suffering that I will not be able to attend, but whoever arrives, I arrive. There are people with so many difficulties in their mental health that I do not know how to accompany, and I have to continue training. And there are so many things to improve that sometimes I find it hopeless, but my commitment is to continue cultivating hope.

Y, once again, the experience has been for me a call to the consciousness. Faced with human suffering, it is necessary to be not only as a professional, but also as a person. Human contact, how much we have missed during confinement, it is a source of well-being (when it occurs in healthy relationships). The psychological care has been for me to be there present, with empathy and also with my vulnerability (but taking charge of what I live).

And all these experiences now bring me gratitude, both to COP Madrid, especially those who have led the process, as those who have had the courage to call and trust those who attended them. My appreciation to all those people for their courage.

And my best wishes for this new phase.

F. Javier Romeo

As a psychologist I divide my professional time between clinical practice accompanying people in their therapeutic process in Madrid and advice and training organizations related to the protection of children, and adolescents from Espirales Children Consulting. That's why I am pleased to present the manual Accompanying the wounds of the soul. Trauma in childhood and adolescence, I have prepared for the Regional Office of SOS Children's Villages in Latin America and the Caribbean.

For more details on this publication, its contents and other publications related to child protection, you can read this blog entry Espirales CI.

Two versions of the document:

• Accompanying the wounds of the soul. Trauma in childhood and adolescence, a single page (comfortable printer for printing and reading in mobile or tablet).
• Accompanying the wounds of the soul. Trauma in childhood and adolescence, a double page (to see on the big screen or for printing on printing).

In this blog I have only to add that the explanation of the trauma as a process is based on A process model (A Process Model) Eugene Gendlin de, and explanations of emotional blockages that have met the trainers and coordinators Focusing Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin. You can find citations to specific sources on pages 16-20 of the text.

I hope the good results.

F. Javier Romeo

Information about the Roundtable on Crossing Focusing and Nonviolent Communication (NVC) organized by The International Focusing Institute through its Membership Committee. As it is a past event the information is no longer available on TIFI’s website and has been edited accordingly.

presentation “The body and the four cardinal points: self-care for caregivers” in the Journeys 2019 of Madrid Association of Palliative Care “The challenge is to integrate: open to other views”.

Date: Thursday, 14 March 2019 a las 12:00.

Place: Aula Magna, Teaching pavilion, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón
C/ Ibiza, 43
Madrid

More information and registration on the website of the Journeys 2019 Madrid Association of Palliative Care.

[Entry updated 14 March 2019, date of the event].

“Discovery, Community and growth. Those are the words you choose my body to symbolize the full experience of the First National Meeting Focusing Open. Organized by the Spanish Institute Focusing and coordinated by the Sevillian team Experiential Space, The meeting took place 12 to the 15 October in the charming Andalusian city of Seville, in the south of Spain”.

So begins my article in which I describe my experience for the In-Focus, the newsletter of the International Institute Focusing November 2017. In the space acotaron I have tried to reflect the international community for focusing the activities that we have shared in the First National Open Meeting Focusing, while I also wanted to reflect, in the tradition of Focusing and Experiential Philosophy, what has been my experience. From here I want to express my appreciation to Focusing Spanish Institute for convening this fantastic event, to the Experiential Space team led by Francisco Sivianes by coordinate and each speaker and each participant has made it possible, It has been an unforgettable experience.

• Read article “Discovery, Community and Growth. The 1st Open National Focusing Conference in Seville” in the original English version.
• Read the article translated into Spanish with the title “Discovery, Community and growth: the First National Open Focusing in Seville, Spain”.

Presentando a Catherine Torpey, Executive Director of TIFI. Photo Francisco Sivianes.

I left for this blog more personal aspects, as I experienced the honor of Catherine Torpey able to present, who came to Seville to present the international dimension of International Focusing Institute (GIRLS) as Executive director of the same. For me, I collaborate with Committee Membership for more than a year ago, It is a satisfaction that community Focusing on Spain (also participants from other countries) you can see first hand to Catherine and all that makes the International Focusing Institute.

My workshop “Focusing for the prevention of violence”. Photo Francisco Sivianes.

It was also a privilege to provide my workshop “Focusing and experiential work with violence”, in which I could share with people from five different nationalities some of the keys to use bodily sensations and focusing process to identify violence in a more complete and create security in our lives, an introductory version of my workshop “Focusing, body and safety: Focusing for the prevention of violence”.

There are many more memories, as each of the workshops I attended, or general conference, or the people I met (new or deeper)… You can see more about the environment of the different moments in the photographs taken by Francisco Sivianes (Focusing trainer and director of Experiential Space): of Thursday 12 October, of viernes 13 October and sábado 14 October of 2017.

This presentation is also available by Rosa Galiano with photos of his, Francisco Sivianes and others and published in the International YouTube channel Focusing Institute:

He has been an inspiration and I hope that also inspire you.

F. Javier Romeo

Raise awareness of the body as a place of protection against violence is one of my key professional priorities. This workshop, “Focusing, body and safety: Focusing for the prevention of violence” I combine my job more than a decade dedicated to protecting children against various types of violence (the last eight years Spiral Consulting Children) with technical power Focusing, which it has helped me both personally and professionally.

Focusing may provide a new way to create security in our lives through the body. All people we want to be treated well, with respect and consideration. However, witness violence at various levels frequently. If we are also in contact with children, and adolescents, both in our families and from our work, we see many situations of violence and ask ourselves how to prevent it. This workshop is geared to work so vivencial an operational concept of violence with an experiential base from the body. So we can identify violence from our body while we can act more clearly and protective way in our lives and in our professional field.

This workshop is aimed at people interested in learning more about how to manage violence from a safe position within the body, both personally and professionally (social intervention specialists from psychology, psychotherapy, social work, educación…). Focusing prior knowledge they are not needed (although it will be an advantage). This workshop is a recognized monograph for obtaining the Diploma in Focusing of Focusing Spanish Institute.

Date: sábado 11 November 2017 of 10:00 a 14:00 and of 16:00 a 20:00 and Sunday 12 November 2017 of 10:00 a 14:00.

Place: Space “Spend this is your home”
C / Costa Brava, input C / La Masó 2, plant 1, local 8
28031 Madrid
(Metro Paco de Lucía, line 9; buses 133,134 and 178)

Price: 170 euros.

More information and registration Focusing Centro, organized training: focusingcentro@gmail.com

I hope that is of interest,

F. Javier Romeo

[Original entry 16 October 2017, actualizada a 12 November 2017, date formation].

It is my pleasure to offer my workshop “Focusing and experiential work with violence” inside of the First National Open Meeting Focusing organized by the Focusing Spanish Institute and practically coordinated by the team Experiential space of Sevilla. As shown in the presentation, “The first National Meeting Focusing Open to be held in Seville, the days 12, 13, 14 and 15 October 2017, and we invite you to participate, It is a space to encourage meeting between people who use Focusing in a professional field and personal life, or who want to know. A space that allows us to disseminate new experiences and applications in different fields Focusing: therapy, groups, educación ,Health, personal growth, spirituality etc.. A space, ultimately enabling exchange experiences and reflections on the experiential paradigm and Focusing”.

In therapeutic work, individual and group, in social work with different groups (especially children, adolescence and youth), we can see the effects of violence in their lives. This workshop's general objective is to work experientially the concept of violence in our lives as a first step to prevent, detect and intervene in situations of violence.

Date: sábado 14 October 2017, a las 16:30.

Place: Hotel NH Collection Sevilla
Avda. Diego Martinez Barrio, 8
41013 Sevilla

For more information and registration, Consult Open the website of the National Meeting Focusing in Seville 2017.

I hope that is of interest,

F. Javier Romeo

[Original entry 27 September 2017, actualizada a 14 October 2017, date of the workshop].