Police deliver trauma-healing USEFT session at SDK Sta. Yosefa after Flores quake

Labuan Bajo — Manggarai Barat Police held a psychosocial support and trauma recovery session using USEFT techniques for students at SDK Sta. Yosefa in Labuan Bajo on Monday, 7 September 2026, following a tectonic earthquake that struck the Flores region, according to the force’s local news outlet and regional media reports.

The programme aimed to help primary school children manage fear and anxiety as they returned to classroom routines after the quake. AKBP Christian Kadang, chief of Manggarai Barat Police, said the intervention combined trauma healing with Universal Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique (USEFT) to release excessive worry among students affected by the disaster.

Police accounts describe USEFT as a method that uses light tapping on points of the body, paired with simple positive affirmations, to reduce physical tension and anxiety. Officers guided the children through the tapping sequence while they repeated encouraging phrases designed to be easily understood at primary-school level.

The session for SDK Sta. Yosefa students began with interactive ice-breaking activities, educational games and group singing to create a relaxed atmosphere. Police also distributed small entertainment packages to help lift students’ mood before moving into the core therapy segment, according to the Manggarai Barat Police news service.

Safety lessons accompany trauma support

In addition to emotional support, the programme included basic earthquake-safety education. The traffic safety and community units of Manggarai Barat Police carried out a simple simulation on what students should do if an earthquake occurs during lessons, giving step-by-step guidance on self-protection inside the school building.

Police said the safety component was intended to provide practical advice and help students prepare for potential aftershocks while in class. Coverage of the event did not detail the earthquake’s magnitude or the number of aftershocks, but the wider series of police trauma-healing activities across Manggarai Barat was framed as part of recovery efforts after a damaging Flores quake.

Sr. Apoloris Imun, head of SDK Sta. Yosefa, thanked officers for visiting the school and stated that pupils who had previously been anxious and afraid appeared more cheerful and enthusiastic after the activities, according to police and independent media reports.

Manggarai Barat Police reported that around 100 students took part in the SDK Sta. Yosefa session, describing it as part of psychosocial outreach to primary schools affected by the earthquake. The force said it plans to extend similar trauma-recovery activities and safety education to other schools in its jurisdiction that were impacted by the disaster, though detailed schedules and school lists have not yet been publicly outlined.

Broader recovery efforts

The SDK Sta. Yosefa session forms one element of a wider set of trauma-healing and psychosocial support initiatives by Manggarai Barat Police and partners in areas hit by the Flores quake. Previous activities have included trauma healing for children in evacuation camps, patrol-based educational outings for young survivors in Labuan Bajo, and combined medical and psychosocial services at other schools and community centres.

Police statements emphasise the goal of restoring children’s sense of safety and enjoyment at school while reinforcing preparedness for future earthquakes. Reports do not specify whether licensed psychologists or clinical mental-health practitioners oversaw the SDK Sta. Yosefa session, but they note that police personnel and, in some other activities, visiting police psychology teams helped deliver the trauma-healing programmes.

Sources

• Tribrata News Manggarai Barat
• Tribrata News Polri
• Halokupang.com
• RRI Ende
• Okebajo.com
• Veritas Indonesia
• Headline.co.id