ATOP MeaningfulWorld and ABSA partner for mission in Armenia and Georgia

We join forces to nurture sustainable collaboration with Armenia for trauma healing, human rights education, transforming domestic, horizontal, collective and generational trauma, nurturing emotional intelligence, establishing Psi Chi honor societies, nurturing mindful leadership with transparency and inclusion and nurturing heroism.  

MeaningfulWorld, partnering with the Armenian Behavioral Science Association, will travel to Armenia and Georgia for a Humanitarian Outreach Mission for health, well-being and nurturing sustainable partnership (as per United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, #17). Dr. Ani Kalayjian initiated and led the first outreach mission immediately after the devastating earthquake in 1988; since then, we have continued to volunteer consistently in Armenia with over 27 missions. Our team will be composed of Dr. Ani Kalayjian and Prof. Harold Takooshian. In 2021, we helped establish the Psi Chi chapter in Yerevan State University (YSU) and plan to continue in other universities.  

Dr. Ani Kalayjian is a  psychology faculty at Meaningfulworld and Columbia University, a multicultural and multilingual psychotherapist, Genocide Prevention Scholar, International Humanitarian Outreach Administrator, integrative healer, author of 6 books, poet and United Nations representative. She is the International Ambassador of Psi Chi, was given the Outstanding Psychologist of the Year Award from American Psychological Association (2016, Trauma Division), a Humanitarian Award from the University of Missouri-Columbia (2014), the 2010 ANA Honorary Human Rights Award, the Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Long Island University (2001) which recognized her 30 years as a pioneering clinical researcher, professor, humanitarian and psycho-spiritual facilitator around the globe and at United Nations. Columbia University awarded her the 2025 Highest Medal of Honor and Distinguished Alumni of the Year (2007) awards. Dr. Kalayjian has led 114 humanitarian missions in 50  countries, 27 of which were in Armenia since the devastating earthquake. Her last mission in Armenia was in April 2024. She offers workshops on E.I. (emotional intelligence), trauma healing, generational transmission of trauma, the 7-step Integrative Healing Model, stress reduction, transforming horizontal violence, vagus nerve activation, tapping solutions and much more. 

Harold Takooshian, Ph.D., has been on the faculty of Fordham University since 1975, where he is  Professor of Psychology, Urban Studies and Organizational Leadership. He completed his Ph.D. in  Psychology in 1979 at CUNY with Stanley Milgram. He is a researcher, teacher and consultant whose work is described in Marquis’ Who’s Who in the World. As a co-founder and past-President of the APA  Division of International Psychology, he has served with the United Nations. He has taught at 12  universities in 6 nations, including two Senior Fulbrights to the USSR in 1987 (Russia, Armenia, Georgia)  and Russia in 2013 (Moscow, Petersburg, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Petrozavodsk). He is a co-founder and  Executive Officer of the Armenian Behavioral Science Association (ABSA) and Past-President and International Ambassador of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. Harold presents on psychology at the United Nations, international psychology, joining Psi Chi psychology honor society and adventures in social psychology with Zimbardo and Milgram. 

Our objectives are to transform the national wound of Artsakh, transform horizontal violence, nurture heroism and social psychology, continue suicide prevention awareness, continue ecological awareness, provide soul-surfing experiential sessions, teach the 7-step Integrative Healing Model, nurture sustainable partnerships, teach human rights education and the United Nations’ SDGs. While in Armenia, we plan to conduct workshops at an international conference at Yerevan State University, at URARTU, Positive Psychology and the Pedagogical University, etc.  

After their last visit to Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2019, Drs. Kalayjian and Takooshian revisit Professor Nino  Javakhishvili at Ilia State University (https://iliauni.edu.ge/en) to meet students and speak about “new opportunities in international psychology” with the United Nations and Psi Chi Honor Society.  

The 7-Step Integrative Healing Model is a model in which traumatic or other negative experiences are assessed, identified, explored, described, released, processed and eventually reintegrated through meaning-making, body work and meditation. The model builds from the integration of multiple theories including: psychodynamic (Freud, 1910), interpersonal (Sullivan, 1953), humanistic (Frankl,  1962), electromagnetic field balancing (Dubro and Lapierre, 2002), forgiveness and reconciliation  (Kalayjian and Paloutzian, 2010), learning theory, flower essences, essential oils (Fesflowers.com), physical release (van der Kolk, 1993), Soul-Surfing (Kalayjian, 2010), prayers, TM meditation, etc.

Soul-Surfing integrates the 7-following steps: moving and stretching mindfully; using breath as fuel, food and medicine; visualizing the organs that we are impacting with each breath and physical movement; focusing on the colors at each energy center (chakra), which are rainbow colors; using essential oils to increase impact; using positive affirmations to set clear intentions; and quieting our mind with meditation and mindful inner connection 

Our mottos are: “When one helps another, both become stronger!” and “Shared sorrow is half sorrow, while shared joy is double joy!”

Website: https://meaningfulworld.com/

Phone: 1(201) 723-9578 

Emails: DrKalayjian@MeaningfulWorld.com, takoosh@aol.com, http://takooshian.socialpsychology.org