The Surfside Tragedy Impacts All of Us

Wellspring is like the rest of our community; we too have been profoundly affected by the Surfside building collapse and all of the collateral repercussions to our community and people’s lives.

Wellspring therapists specialize in trauma resolution therapy, but that doesn’t mean that we get a free pass when trauma hits our own lives. One of our staff has been directly affected by the Surfside tragedy, and our Wellspring team has initially reeled from the normal impact of a traumatic event – shock, fear, disorientation, anxiety, unsettling emotions, sleeplessness, and more. We are now practicing what we preach for our own self-care: talking, processing, debriefing, praying, loving and supporting each other.

I want to comment on this “normal response”, and why people feel so strongly about something like this. First, our empathy is a good sign of our humanity. When we see others suffering, we grieve for their pain. We feel their helplessness and ours as we watch and wait for recovery of many kinds. Second, we want to do something to help, and we do. First responders are working around the clock, money is pouring in for victims, and at Wellspring we are gearing up to provide free therapyfor the long-haul emotional recovery of those affected by this tragedy. We are all doing our part.

Many of us are also feeling trauma symptoms because we have vicarious trauma specific to this tragedy. Vicarious trauma is the experience of trauma symptoms that can result from being repeatedly exposed to other people’s trauma stories. This can come about by watching a lot of disturbing news. It is also possible when we somehow identify with the victims. For instance, any of the following connections could trigger trauma symptoms: living near Surfside, living in an old high-rise building, having a house on a beachfront, being a mother of a teenage daughter like the mother and daughter who survived the collapse, having lost a loved one of our own in a sudden way, having experienced another type of disaster such as an earthquake, and more.

The list could go on, but here are my points:

It is normal to have trauma symptoms from having experienced the trauma or from connecting with it personally, even if not as a direct victim.
The symptoms of trauma will subside if attended to well. We can recover; we can become more resilient in spite of and because of trauma; we can have Post Traumatic Growth!
Attending well to our trauma symptoms means giving ourselves grace for having them, moving toward them, talking about them instead of avoiding them, giving ourselves time and permission to feel and to grieve, and seeking social support and professional support as needed.
Because traumatic experiences call forth a physiological response in us to survive, traumatic memories tend to be more sensory than verbal. This means that recovery needs to get at the senses. Trauma-specialized therapy does this. Taking physical actions to regain control of yourself, to grieve, to express emotions, or to help, also aid in recovery.

Take a look at this list of some of the normal symptoms of having experienced a trauma and if you are dealing with any of them, take care of yourself today. We at Wellspring are working hard to do this for ourselves, and we are ready to be available for you as well.

Emotional (feelings)