Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / How trauma counsellors are used after a tragedy like Tumbler Ridge shooting

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How trauma counsellors are used after a tragedy like Tumbler Ridge shooting · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: So many parents are trying to deal with what happened
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  Speaker 1: at that school, and the tumblr Ridge community is still
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  Speaker 1: grappling with the fallout of the school shooting that took
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  Speaker 1: multiple lives. So what kind of support does the community
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  Speaker 1: need to cope with this? For more and that we've
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  Speaker 1: reached Alison Jones and Vancouver. She's a registered clinical counselor
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  Speaker 1: and a child and family therapist. Thank you so much
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  Speaker 1: for making time for us today.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me in this very difficult time.
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  Speaker 2: And my heart goes out to everybody that has been impacted.
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  Speaker 2: And yes it is a day of mourning here, we're
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  Speaker 2: all feeling it now.
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  Speaker 1: Allison, we were listening in yesterday to the mayor of
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  Speaker 1: tumblr Ridge, to the premiere of British Columbia as well,
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  Speaker 1: as they talked about some of the supports that have
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  Speaker 1: come from elsewhere in BC to the community, and one
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  Speaker 1: of that was a call out for counselors and many
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  Speaker 1: were deployed to this community of tumblr Ridge to make
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  Speaker 1: sure there was enough support the people who need it
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  Speaker 1: the most. Right now, can you walk us through how
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  Speaker 1: that call out happens and how people, how counselors, how professionals.
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  Speaker 1: Then travel to Tumblerridge to be there.
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  Speaker 2: Well, there's a variety of ways in a variety of
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  Speaker 2: organizations that want to support this community, want to support
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  Speaker 2: these families and children, and so you know, part of
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  Speaker 2: it is coordinating that response. But like my understanding is
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  Speaker 2: that Northern Health has counselors coming in. There was a
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  Speaker 2: call out yesterday for the Association of Clinical Counselors for
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  Speaker 2: people that are willing or wanting to volunteer their time.
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  Speaker 2: And there's also resources through Criminal Victims Assistance, which provides
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  Speaker 2: counseling for people that have been victims of crimes as well.
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  Speaker 2: So there are people stepping up, and now it's a
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  Speaker 2: matter of coordinating it. And I think one of the
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  Speaker 2: things that's important to remember here is it's not just
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  Speaker 2: responding to the crisis right now. It's that there is
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  Speaker 2: going to need to be ongoing support for these children
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  Speaker 2: and these families and the people that are directly impacted
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  Speaker 2: by this. So from a counselor's point of view, it
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  Speaker 2: really is much like Dennis said right now, who my
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  Speaker 2: heart goes to him very much, is it is about
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  Speaker 2: being there, being present, holding space, listening, letting them speak,
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  Speaker 2: letting them be quiet, if they need to be, but
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  Speaker 2: letting them feeling connected to somebody else. So it's a process.
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  Speaker 2: There are ways to help people with post traumatic stress,
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  Speaker 2: and those things will come forward, but right now we're
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  Speaker 2: in the traumatic stress and it's just needing to be
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  Speaker 2: there and feel supported and understood.
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  Speaker 1: And now, Alison, I do want to dig deeper into
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  Speaker 1: what will be needed by these individuals. I want to
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  Speaker 1: ask you also in terms of the process. Once these
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  Speaker 1: counselors are deployed to the region, are they, for example,
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  Speaker 1: assigned to different families or to a location to be
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  Speaker 1: stationed there so that those requiring help can come to them,
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  Speaker 1: or are there cases that are particularly assigned to individuals
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  Speaker 1: so that they can offer those services knowing that they
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  Speaker 1: will be required the most for families, for example, who
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  Speaker 1: do have children who did not make it, or the
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  Speaker 1: educator who did not survive this shooting. How does that
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  Speaker 1: work to ensure that those who need help most.
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  Speaker 2: Get it well? Like I said, it's going to be
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  Speaker 2: a coordinated effort, and people are just it's so fresh
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  Speaker 2: and new. It's still in that process, and so there
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  Speaker 2: will It'll be through different supports, agencies, volunteers, but these
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  Speaker 2: all all be professional counselors, people who are trained in this,
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  Speaker 2: and they will be assigned cases. And one of the
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  Speaker 2: one of the good things we have now is even
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  Speaker 2: if somebody is there supporting you and they've come in
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  Speaker 2: to support you, that support can continue because we can
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  Speaker 2: provide our services online as well. So if somebody is
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  Speaker 2: connected and feels supported, it doesn't mean it's just for now.
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  Speaker 2: It can be ongoing, and we need to be really
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  Speaker 2: sensitive to that with children, because this will play out,
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  Speaker 2: the stress, this trauma will play out at different times,
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  Speaker 2: in different stages, at different ages.
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  Speaker 1: You know, we've been hearing from some officials to who
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  Speaker 1: have been saying this is irrepairable damage despite getting all
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  Speaker 1: the help and support, And it seems certainly like there
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  Speaker 1: is so much support descending on tumblr Ridge that will
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  Speaker 1: be available to individuals there, which has been the case
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  Speaker 1: we know in so many other incidents where there have
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  Speaker 1: been these traumatic scenarios that have unfolded. But is it
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  Speaker 1: irreparable damage? Is it something that will just live with
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  Speaker 1: the people who experience this for the rest of their life,
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  Speaker 1: whether that's in the form of anxiety or fear or
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  Speaker 1: other sort of ways that it might manifest itself.
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  Speaker 2: When you go through trauma of that level, it does
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  Speaker 2: become part of the fabric of your life. But I
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  Speaker 2: would I don't think I would call it irreparable damage
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  Speaker 2: in the sense that humans have had to deal with
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  Speaker 2: very difficult and traumatic things throughout history and it becomes
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  Speaker 2: part of our narrative, part of our story, part of
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  Speaker 2: our DNA in many ways literally and scientifically. But it
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  Speaker 2: is about carrying this together, carrying this pain together. It's
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  Speaker 2: not about just one person being traumatized or a community
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  Speaker 2: being traumatized. It's about having compassion and as a country,
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  Speaker 2: as a world, as a community, as a person, holding
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  Speaker 2: space for that other person and knowing that I have pain,
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  Speaker 2: you have pain. We can hold it together. And that's
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  Speaker 2: what compassion truly is. And one of the things I
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  Speaker 2: say is we can't be immune to compassion. We can't
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  Speaker 2: get so hurt that we turn away from it because
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  Speaker 2: it's too much, because the thing that heals us is
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  Speaker 2: turning towards each other and holding the pain together.
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  Speaker 1: Alison, I want to thank you so much for this conversation.
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  Speaker 1: We appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
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  Speaker 1: That is Alison Jones. She's a registered clinical counselor and
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: a child and family therapist. She joined us today from
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  Speaker 1: Vancouver and a reminder of course of the supports that
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: you can seek. If, of course you're watching this coverany
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: thank your mind as this story is impacting you. You
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: can of course call us a port line three one
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: zero six seven eight nine, or also there's the Kid's
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: Help phone line you see the number there, or you
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: can text connect to six eight six eight six eight,
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  Speaker 1: and if you are in crisis call nine eight eight.
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  Speaker 1: Stay with us. We're back in a moment.