I realize that this is a blog dedicated to providing 
information and inspiration for mental health professionals related to marketing a private practice. However, one of the benefits of owning a blog is that you can make up the rules (and the exceptions) as you go. This seemed like a valuable time to make one of those exceptions.
One of the online discussion lists that I subscribe to, CESNET-L, is a listserv concerning counselor education and supervision. It is a wealth of resources and diverse voices for anyone interested in all aspects of counseling. The following was posted on Monday, August 06, 2012 to CESNET-L and it is with the author’s permission that I am sharing her email and the resources that she provided related to the recent shootings within the Sikh community in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
Please help circulate this blog post and these resources so that others may learn of the Sikh community’s concerns and also the resources available to them. Thank you.
________________
From: Anneliese Singh [asingh@UGA.EDU]
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2012 5:50 PM
To: CESNET-L@LISTSERV.KENT.EDU
Subject: Sikh counseling and psychological perspectives on Oak Creek, WI shootingDear Colleagues,
As many of you may already know, there has been an attack on the Sikh Gurdwara (place of worship) and its members in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. As members of the Sikh community, we would like to offer helpful resources about Sikhs for counselors, psychologists, social workers, and other helping professionals. These resources (listed below) range from websites that deliver basic information about Sikhs to scholarship that may be used to strengthen cultural competence in working with Sikh individuals and communities.
The basic tenets of Sikhism include belief in one God, respect for all people, including respect for all other religions as we respect our own, service to humanity, standing against injustice, and sharing resources with others. Sikh men and women have uncut hair and men are recognizable by their turbans and beards. In fact, 99% of people wearing turbans in the U.S. are Sikhs. Sikh boys wear a patka (a bandana-like head covering) before they begin wearing turbans. Some Sikh women also wear turbans. Because of these clear visible identifiers as religious minorities, they have been targets of both overt and covert prejudice and discrimination. A tragedy such as the one in Oak Creek can re-traumatize individuals and underscore their vulnerability. (It is important to note that not all Sikhs have these visible identifiers, and yet may still have oppressive experiences).
We would also like to challenge the Islamaphobia that is often related to the hate violence Sikhs experience. For instance, when the media reports on terrible tragedies – such as what happened to the Oak Creek Sikh Gurdwara – reporters endeavor to distinguish those of the Sikh faith from those of the Muslim faith (“These Sikhs were ‘mistaken’ for being Muslim.”). We find the method the media uses to distinguish Sikhs from Muslims in this manner extremely troubling, as there is no religious community of color that is deserving of hate violence and Islamaphobia is unacceptable in our society.
Below, we have listed websites for five national Sikh organizations that are involved in education, advocacy, and the fight for social justice. These sites provide information on issues that the Sikh community faces, as well as ways in which these issues are being addressed. Next, we provide a sample list of journal articles for education and cultural competence development with this community. As our community mourns our tragic losses, we encourage you to take time to discuss the complexity of hate violence towards Sikh people and communities, as well as the way Muslims, Arab Americans, and other groups of color experience microaggressions and macroaggressions in the United States. Please see Community United Against Violence and Southern Poverty Law Center for more information on challenging hate violence in your communities.
Sat Siri Akal (a Sikh greeting),
Muninder Kaur Ahluwalia Anneliese A. Singh
(muninder.ahluwalia@montclair.edu<mailto:muninder.ahluwalia@montclair.edu>) (asingh@uga.edu<mailto:asingh@uga.edu>)Websites on the Sikh Faith
Sikh CoalitionSALDEF (Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund)
Articles about Sikh Communities and Counseling
Ahluwalia, M. K., & Pellettiere, L. A. (2010). Sikh men post-9/11: Misidentification, discrimination, and coping. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 1 (4), 303-314.Ahluwalia, M. K., & Zaman, N. K. (2009). Counseling Muslims and Sikhs in a post-9/11 world. In J. G. Ponterotto, M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, and C. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of Multicultural Counseling (3rd ed., pp. 467-478). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Kapur, P. (2010). Sharing identity through dress: The case of Sikh women. Psychological Studies, 55(2), 101-107.
Mand, K. (2006). Gender, ethnicity, and social relations in the narratives of elderly Sikh men and women. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 29(6), 1057-1071.
Sandhu, J. S. (2004). The Sikh model of the person, suffering, and healing: Implications for counselors. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, 26(1), 33-46.
Sandhu, J. S. (2005). A Sikh perspective on life-stress: Implications for counseling. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 39(1), 40-51.
Additional Resources
The American Counseling Association has Disaster Resources for CounselorsThe American Psychological Association Disaster Response Network updated their consumer website, the Psychology Help Center to highlight the article “Managing Your Distress in the Aftermath of a Shooting.” Below are some additional mass shooting resources that they provided.
APA – Psychology Help Center:
Red Cross:
NYU Child Study Center:
CNN:
SAMHSA:
PTSD Research Quarterly:
Please feel free to contact either of us if you need any additional information.
Take care~
Anneliese
Anneliese A. Singh, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
President, Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
Department of Counseling & Human Development Services
The University of Georgia
402 Aderhold Hall
Athens, GA 30602-7142
404.849.8186 (cell)
706.542.4130 (fax)Put into the world what you wish were there. ~ Pauline Rose Clance
A better day is coming. On a quiet day I can hear her breathing.
~ Arundhati RoyIf you want to see the heroic, look at those who can love in return for hatred. If you want to see the brave, look for those who can forgive. ~ The Bhagavad Gita”
If you know of other resources available to the Sikh community, I hope you will take a moment to share them with us below.
Tamara, thank you so much for posting this up. Counselors must advocate and educate others. I hope that this can help someone. (It is good to be able to make the rules).
I’m happy to do so, Bryan! My understanding is that each one of the major disciplines in mental health now recognizes and requires active involvement in issues of social justice. It’s such a simple thing to pass information along that can support communities and individuals that have been both marginalized and victimized.
Sending prayers for all of those who have been affected by the violence in Oak Creek, Wisconsin and in Aurora, Colorado, too!
Hi Tamara. I also have felt the urge, at times, to post on my blog about world events and have done so a couple of times. I definitely feel the butterfly effect in motion when I am in my office doing work that I hope has a positive influence on my patient and that this gets passed on to the outer world. It is part of what makes the work meaningful to me.
From what you have offered here, it seems that you have great feeling about this tragic event. I have been a Kundalini Yoga student for 20 years in a class taught by Sikhs. They are some of the sweetest people I have ever known in my life. They weave some philosophy into the yoga class experience which I always appreciate, they never push their religion and they are loving and welcoming to all comers. The setting for this class is public, an evening adult school so they don’t get paid much at all; it is an act of service, a way of sharing.
I also live in a diverse neighborhood where there are a number of Sikhs living who are actually from India. Since we have a homeowners association here, we have to decide things together. It has been very difficult to say the least. The cultural differences seem almost insurmountable.
My point is that people of the Sikh religion are people, just like the members of any church-some are wonderful some are not so wonderful. If you read about the Sikh religion, as I have, you will find it to be beautiful in its tenets. So, again, similar to many spiritual quests, there are all levels of development in the people who are trying it move along.
As for senseless, random violence-which, unfortunately, we have seen happen in our country more than a few times, it is just so sad. Let’s all try to be more aware of noticing any person who crosses our path who seems to have violent ideas, lethal language, or hatred that it seems they may act on.
And, in the meantime, we can each be an individual promoter of peace.
Hi, Paula! Welcome back! It’s been a while since I’ve found your voice here.
As for that great feeling about this tragic event . . . well . . . yes and no. It’s such a simple thing to post information and resources that someone else took the time to gather and share. It amounted to sharing a little online real estate.
I do have a real passion for any group that is marginalized in any way.While I can intellectually understand how our own ignorance and fears fuel the artificial lines we draw to partition off “us” from “them,” my spirit and my faith don’t get it . . . at all! Nor do I see any place for violence as a “solution” for anything . . . ever. And, I’m sure to some that that sounds naive and idealistic. Those labels aren’t particularly bothersome to me.
However, to the best of my knowledge, I don’t know anyone who identifies as Sikh. In fact, what I know about the religion is what I read in the email that I shared. I suppose though that that is exactly my point . . . . I don’t need to know really anything about their faith and religious practices . . . nor do I need to know anyone who identifies as Sikh in order to feel compassion for this community who has been victimized. People are people. In truth – at least my truth – as long as any individual is vulnerable to this type of attack, we are all vulnerable to this type of attack.
Thank you for sharing your own experience with those who identify as Sikhs and taking the time to acknowledge the senselessness of this attack on the Oak Creek community. Like you, I believe it is one more wake up call to therapists, in particular, to be alert and be responsible to the signs of potential violence and also to actively seek out activities that support peace and justice. I think, though, Paula, it’s important to go even further to address those micro-aggressions that we and others habitually overlook rather than waiting for the bigger and obvious signs. In our own homes and schools . . . in our places of work and worship . . . every moment of the day . . . if we each only ask ourselves “Am I acting in service to promoting peace?” I wonder how different our world might be.
Ooops, so sorry! I suppose you’ve found one of my soapboxes! It’s such an important conversation that we need to be having with everyone . . . . Thanks, Paula, for following my blog and being part of the solution and part of our community here! Blessings to you on your journey!
Hey, Paula – I meant to tell you . . . If you would like a “little me” picture to accompany your comments, check out this quick tutorial. It’s really easy and it helps us build community here and helps you get connected elsewhere as you comment on other blogs, too!