How Can We Help Grieving Individuals in the Wake of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina?
Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the countless survivors of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina who have lost loved ones, their homes and possessions, and all that was familiar to them. This Trauma Response E-News provides practical information to assist in your work in supporting and counseling with survivors. Grief refers to the feelings that are precipitated by loss. The early reactions that we see in grieving individuals occur during a period of “Numbing.” Initially, the individual may present in shock. There may be a highly anxious, active response with an outburst of extremely intense distress or perhaps a seemingly stunned, emotionally-numb response. During this early phase, you may likely observe denial – an inability to acknowledge the impact of the event or perhaps, that the event has occurred. The individual may evidence dissociation, in which he may seem dazed and apathetic, and he may express feelings of unreality. It is not unusual for people to make statements such as, “I can’
