E24 - Humanitarian Applications of TRE: Disaster Response & Finding Local Champions with Sae Kani

In 2004, photojournalist Sae Kani was dropped by a US helicopter into Aceh, Indonesia, days after the tsunami erased entire villages. She walked, photographed, interviewed — and felt nothing. It was only back home, diagnosed with PTSD, that she began to understand what disaster leaves in the body. Two decades of humanitarian work later, she is still answering the question that experience planted: why is trauma care the piece disaster response keeps leaving out?In this episode, Alex sits down with Sae to trace that arc: from development studies in London and photojournalism in East Timor and post-tsunami Aceh; through ten years building disaster-preparedness education in Indonesia — including materials for children with disabilities that were showcased at the UN; to discovering Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE®) in 2012 and recognizing "the missing piece" of her aid work; the decision after the 2015 Nepal earthquake to quit her job, sell everything, and teach at a nun school in Kathmandu; the hard lessons about why quick international responses don't last; and the community facilitator model now bearing fruit in Nepal and Vietnam — where a war veteran's forty-year phantom pain finally released, and his voice reached the government in Hanoi.Sae Kani, also known as Khalida, holds bachelor's and master's degrees in International Development from SOAS, University of London, and spent 13 years working across disaster-affected regions in Asia. She discovered TRE® in 2012 while supporting recovery efforts after the Great East Japan Earthquake, became a certified provider in 2013, and spent a year in Nepal after the 2015 earthquake providing trauma care and training local therapists. Since 2016 she has been the representative of TRE for ALL Japan, and as an internationally certified TRE® trainer she conducts workshops in five Asian countries and works with clients across Europe and the Americas. She lives in Yamanakako Village, Yamanashi Prefecture, at the foot of Mount Fuji.⏱ KEY HIGHLIGHTS0:00 - Welcome & introductions 3:24 - A childhood pull toward the world's hardest places5:34 - Photojournalism: asylum seekers, East Timor & the stories behind the scenes 9:47 - Flying into Aceh after the 2004 tsunami 11:52 - "When I was there, I felt nothing" — coming home with PTSD 14:34 - A careful recovery: rest, meditation & 10,000 photographs 17:50 - The Yogyakarta earthquake & a decade in humanitarian aid 19:43 - Disaster-preparedness education for children with disabilities 27:27 - Discovering TRE®: the missing piece of aid work 28:54 - Aceh ten years later: new buildings, unhealed scars 35:29 - "Joan, we are going there" — the Nepal decision 40:46 - Learning from failure: why quick responses don't stay 41:56 - Jamuna's decade with survivors of trafficking 48:33 - Why standard certification can't reach the grassroots 53:11 - The Vietnam disability project: phantom pain & a trip to Hanoi 1:07:18 - "There is no shortcut" — support, not supervision 1:09:44 - What's next for Sae: subtle body, meditation & couples work 1:14:23 - Closing reflections🔗 RESOURCES & LINKSConnect with Sae Kani — internationally certified TRE® certification trainer based in Yamanashi, Japan, and representative of TRE for ALL Japan: https://www.saekani.com/englishAlso mentioned: Dr. David Berceli (creator of TRE®), Joan McDonald (TRE® trainer and Sae's partner in the Nepal project), Tsoknyi Rinpoche (whose nun school invited them to Nepal), Jamuna (community facilitator in Nepal), and TRE for All. (Full links in the internal notes below.)🔗 Join our live weekly classes → https://neurogenic-integration.com/webshop/#classes 🎓 Explore our Online TRE® Certification → https://neurogenic-integration.com/webshop/#cert📍 FIND US ONLINE Neurogenic Integration: https://neurogenic-integration.com/  Instagram: @neurogenicintegration