Who We Are
Mental health is critically important for everyone at every stage of life. Due to the needs and the shortage of mental health professionals in Madagascar, I came to the US in 2011 to study clinical psychology. After having visited at least 20 countries in the world, I realized that mental health is as much as a universal need as physical health. Mental health begins before birth given that children’s brains start developing in utero. Parents, rather than the government or the church, play a crucial role in their child’s healthy development, preparing them for successful lives. However, parents may have their own trauma and/or mental illness. We, as a family, have devoted our time and careers to prevent or even eradicate trauma all the
way from the womb and expose every form of trauma and domestic or gender-based violence that has been unrecognized and goes unnoticed. We have been creating awareness to the public among the Malagasy people through psychoeducation, publication, mass media, and workshops. We desire to help combat domestic violence by informing nationals on how domestic violence and trauma, when unrecognized and untreated, negatively affects health and well-being throughout one’s life span.
We all have heard of Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as physical, verbal, and emotional abuse, which are frequent in childhood, and constitute a massive stressor with long-lasting adverse effects on the brain, and on mental and physical health. As an author of seven books in Malagasy, my native language, I plan to write many more books in English and Malagasy to launch public awareness and help people develop their parenting skills and overcome ACEs. Hence, we also have a heart for parents and individuals in America.
Charles, my husband, provides psychoeducation and helps with technology and any technical work. Joy, my oldest daughter, provides psychoeducation as well as works as a psychotherapist at OSF Medical Group in Peoria, IL. David, my son-in law, works with the Academy for Autism in Peoria, IL. Judith, my younger daughter, helps with technology and web design; and Samy, my brother helps with neurochemistry and neurophysics to complement our psychological knowledge of the brain.
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- Faramalala Ravaoarimanga
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