Resilience as Continuity: Healing Through Community Recovery
Resiliency Within
In this conversation, Maryam Zar reflects on resilience as an act of continuity—how individuals and communities carry memory, identity, and care forward after profound disruption. Drawing from her leadership in post-wildfire recovery and her partnership in Art for Healing and the Legacy Family project among other initiatives, Maryam explores how healing is supported when survivors are seen as keepers of story, connection, and meaning. She shares insights on the emotional toll of displacement, the importance of community-led recovery models, and the role of creative and practical structures...
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Resilience, Health, and Hope: Advancing the Beloved Community Across the Life Span
Resiliency Within
Dr. Rebecca Shasanmi Ellis joins Resiliency Within to explore how we can mobilize models of care that strengthen resilience, promote health equity, and advance Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of The Beloved Community across the life span. Drawing on her expertise as a community mental health nurse and a Community Resiliency Model (CRM)® Teacher, Dr. Ellis brings a grounded, systems-level perspective on how social and structural determinants of health shape individual and community well-being. She has taught nurses and other clinical, public health, and...
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Keeping Love Alive Amidst The Asteroids: Rebuilding Your Marriage After The Loss of a Child
Resiliency Within
The chronic illness of a child does not arrive gently. It comes like an asteroid—sudden and life-altering. In this episode, I am honored to be joined by Kelly Cervantes, author of The Luckiest, and her husband Miguel Cervantes, the acclaimed Broadway star of Hamilton, as they share their extraordinary journey through unimaginable loss—and enduring love. Kelly and Miguel open their hearts as they reflect on the life and death of their daughter, Adelaide, who lived with epilepsy and a rare neurodegenerative brain condition. As Adelaide’s terminal diagnosis unfolded,...
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Rebuilding your life—and finding yourself again—after losing a child.
Resiliency Within
After moving from a conservative Midwestern suburb to New York City to pursue an acting career, Kelly Cervantes never could have imagined what life had in store for her—or how much she would fundamentally change along the way. Now, in her memoir The Luckiest, Kelly shares the experiences that shaped who she is today—the pain of unrealized dreams, navigating her husband Miguel’s Broadway spotlight, fighting for their child’s life, finding purpose after loss, and rebuilding her life and marriage. Throughout her wildly unpredictable journey, she has reflected on the role luck...
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New Ground Offers Hope in a World Deeply Divided
Resiliency Within
As we begin 2026, Elaine Miller-Karas, the host of Resiliency Within, airs an encore podcast with Aziza Hasan, Executive Director, and Andrea Hodos, Associate Director of New Ground, a nonprofit dedicated to bridging divides and convening constructive conversations around challenging social issues. New Ground envisions what is possible in a world deeply divided which is as pertinent today as it was when first aired. They will share their wisdom on how New Ground envisions an America where Muslims and Jews are empowered to create lasting partnerships and engage in authentic communication and...
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Peace and Reconciliation During Challenging Times
Resiliency Within
On this Christmas Day, Resiliency Within will bring back the episode first aired in 2023 with Rev. Lesley Carroll. We can remember, "what else is true?" as we end 2025, which has been a year that has brought many challenges to our world community. Dr. Carroll is the former Prison Ombudsman of Northern Ireland and the current Assistant Commissioner for Investigations for the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery. She has dedicated her life to the pursuit of peace and reconciliation. To her, this mission is a lifelong calling. Her efforts...
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The Church's Call During a Disaster: Steadfast Love During Unsteady Times
Resiliency Within
Carla Cavlcanti and Kim Aasland will share how they help their respective churches live beyond their walls. They both believe in being a compassionate presence woven into the daily life of the neighborhoods they serve. There is the belief that "A truly missional church steps outside its sanctuary and into the streets, homes, and gathering places where people live, work, and struggle." They are called not only to preach love but to embody it—through presence, partnership, and practical support. During a disaster, this calling becomes even more urgent. Churches are often among the first to...
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Between Two Worlds
Resiliency Within
For four decades, Ellen Bassuk has navigated the worlds of psychiatry, advocacy, and motherhood—shaped by her son Daniel Schoonover’s lifelong struggle with mental illness, especially schizophrenia. Between Two Worlds is their deeply personal memoir, chronicling Daniel’s journey through a broken health care system, an ill-equipped educational system, and the parenting challenges that came with it. Ellen Bassuk and Daniel Schoonover, mother and son, will share their journey together. From early childhood, Daniel’s developmental milestones were atypical, leading to hospitalizations,...
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Larry Ward: A True Great Sound—Poetry as Spiritual Practice
Resiliency Within
Dr. Peggy Ward and Sister Peace join Resiliency Within to share the wisdom and poems of Dr. Larry Ward. In this conversation, Dr. Peggy Rowe-Ward reflects on the life and legacy of Dr. Larry Ward and his first poetry collection, Morning Night. She explores how Larry understood poetry—reading it, writing it, and living it—as a powerful form of spiritual practice. As a true great sound and one of the few Black Dharma teachers in his tradition, Larry was a trailblazer who bridged Buddhist and Christian lineages and broke through cultural and spiritual barriers with depth, humor, and clarity....
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Building Resilience To Trauma, 2nd Edition
Resiliency Within
Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, will discuss the second edition of her book, Building Resiliency to Trauma, with Dr. Michael Sapp, the CEO of the Trauma Resource Institute. During and after a traumatic experience, survivors experience a cascade of physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, relational, and spiritual responses that can make them feel unbalanced and threatened. The second edition of Building Resilience to Trauma explains common responses from a biological perspective, reframing the human experience from one of shame and pathology to one of hope and biology. Using two...
info_outlineIn a time of deep division, uncertainty, and crisis, Finding Light in the Darkness will explore how we can maintain our well-being, integrity, and hope.
Hosted by Elaine Miller-Karas, an internationally recognized trauma expert and resiliency advocate, she will illuminate practical strategies for navigating today’s complex social and political landscape.
Elaine hopes this episode will provide a beacon of light—insights on staying grounded, fostering compassion, and building resilience in the face of adversity.
Elaine is dedicated to empowering listeners to cultivate inner strength and create ripples of change for themselves, their families and their communities.
Join Resiliency Within as Elaine uncovers pathways to healing, unity, and action—because light can be found even in the darkest times.
*This encore episode was first broadcast February 4, 2025.
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About Elaine
Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, is a social worker, trauma therapist, author, lecturer, consultant, VoiceAmerica podcast host, Psychology Today blogger, and social entrepreneur.
She has been called an "ambassador of hope" in the fields of trauma therapy and community resiliency.
As a co-founder of the Trauma Resource Institute, Elaine serves as the Director of Innovation. She has led the development of the Trauma and Community Resiliency Models, which have left an indelible global footprint, impacting over 75 countries.
Her book, "Building Resiliency to Trauma: The Trauma and Community Resiliency Model, Second Edition (2023)," has been recognized by the United Nations and Taylor and Francis. She is a regular contributor to Psychology Today.
She has presented internationally at Oxford University's Skoll World Forum, the United Nations, Resiliency 2024, Medscape, Psychotherapy Networker, the Global Fund, the Carter Center, and the Centers for Disease Control.
Elaine believes in a world where every person is treated with dignity and our differences are acknowledged and respected.