Ideas worth spreading

Mental health care that disrupts cycles of violence

1,647,909 views |

Celina de Sola |

TED2022

• April 2022

In Latin American countries like El Salvador, homicide rates are alarmingly high thanks in large part to a vicious cycle of violence -- people don't have a chance to heal from recurrent individual and collective trauma. With her team at Glasswing International, de Sola is hoping to break this cycle by equipping government employees like teachers and police officers with the skills and knowledge they need to provide mental health care to those who need it most. Their goal: to transform more than 2,000 frontline institutions in 25 of the highest risk municipalities in Central America with community-based approaches to mental health support, reaching nearly 10 million people along the way. (This ambitious plan is a part of the Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change.)

In Latin American countries like El Salvador, homicide rates are alarmingly high thanks in large part to a vicious cycle of violence -- people don't have a chance to heal from recurrent individual and collective trauma. With her team at Glasswing International, de Sola is hoping to break this cycle by equipping government employees like teachers and police officers with the skills and knowledge they need to provide mental health care to those who need it most. Their goal: to transform more than 2,000 frontline institutions in 25 of the highest risk municipalities in Central America with community-based approaches to mental health support, reaching nearly 10 million people along the way. (This ambitious plan is a part of the Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change.)

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about Glasswing International's plan build critical mental health support and access in Central America's Northern Triangle.

About the speaker

Celina de Sola

Local changemaker

See speaker profile

At Glasswing International, Celina de Sola works to address the root causes and consequences of poverty and violence.

Bessel van der Kolk | Penguin Publishing Group, 2015 | Book

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

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Man's Search for Meaning

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Theodore J. Corbin, John A. Rich et al. | Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 2011 | Article

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This article helped us understand that addressing psychological trauma and it’s psychosocial impact on victims of interpersonal violence in hospital emergency settings could break the cycles of violence we experience in the region.

John A. Rich | Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011 | Book

Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men

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FRONTLINE PBS | YouTube, 2019 | Watch

"A Class Divided"

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Learn more

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Learn more about Glasswing International's plan build critical mental health support and access in Central America's Northern Triangle.