Community Forum | Orlando Florida | a Life & Work Soulutions Event
The Newtown / Sandy Creek Crisis | How do we cope? Where do we go from here?
My Thoughts on the Newtown Crisis
by Dr. Melody Kipp
The morning of December 14 started out like any other Friday. I usually am off on Fridays or I work from home so the day starts off without all the rushing around to be at the office on time. I was really looking forward to this Friday as I had planned to do some Christmas shopping in the morning and then try to finish up studying my ministerial course on the Prison Epistles. I had “planned” for a normal day.
This day was not a normal day as we all know now. I turned on the television around lunchtime and heard the horrific and unbelievable news about many little children and some teachers being shot at their elementary school. The news reporters were offering information as they knew it. People were unsure if anyone was still in danger. The live news footage of the chaos and panic at Sandy Hook fueled the speculation on what happened and why.
As I began to try to wrap my mind around the words being spoken by the news anchor that a young man gunned down 20 or more innocent little children at their school, plus teachers and the principle my thoughts went to many different places. I was in shock and disbelief – no this can’t be happening! They must have it wrong. I then went to sadness and grief. My heart ached for the children who were killed, the parents of those children, the parents of the children still alive, the teachers, the emergency responders, then the rest of us. I ended up angry at yet another unspeakable crisis in our country.
I will be honest with you. I watched the television news coverage for only a short amount of time. I couldn’t bear to hear every detail over and over again. I knew enough for the moment so I decided to turn my TV off and go back to studying Paul’s letter to the Ephesian Church. I was able to temporarily block the thoughts about the massacre from my mind and focus on my studies to find some relief from the weight of the trauma.
At some point, I thought about the morning of September 11, 2001 when the day started off normal too. The day changed really quickly as I watched the second hi-jacked plane fly into the second Tower and heard about the planes flying into the Pentagon and into a field in Pennsylvania.
What happened on 9/11 and 12/14 are unspeakable, but they are reality. They go along with Columbine, Virgina Tech, Aurora, Colorado and many other cities and towns that are the backdrop to evil activities. How many days do we wake up and the day starts off normal, but doesn’t end that way? The day doesn’t go as planned. A crisis happens. Life changes.
I made a conscious effort on 12/14 to shut off the TV that day and the days that followed to limit being inundated by the “latest” sensational news coming out of Newtown. I was not at Sandy Hook or in Connecticut. I did not know any of the people who were killed or their families. Some may believe that I really shouldn’t be adversely affected by the carnage – after all, it was not about me. As a licensed mental health counselor practicing for 17 years, I know that we can be traumatized by incidents such as these. I am traumatized by Sandy Hook, how about you, your family, or someone you know?
I’m sure you have heard of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, often referred to as PTSD. People used to think this applied only to war veterans returning from combat duty; but we now know that anyone can have PTSD from experiencing a traumatic event.
As crisis becomes the “new normal” especially with the new technology and 24 hour news cycle, we are all exposed to everything that happens almost instantly and usually repeatedly complete with gory details and images for all of us to see and hear and experience as if we were right there experiencing it ourselves.
The American Counseling Association talks about a new response to these crises call Post-trauma/Disaster Response.
- Post-trauma/disaster stress can occur when people have been exposed to a traumatic event.
- A trauma event can be human-made, such as a car accident, school shooting, street violence, family violence, etc.
- There are also natural trauma events, such as tornados, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, fires, etc.
- Trauma events may impact people directly or indirectly.
- Indirect exposure may include seeing the disaster on television or hearing stories about others’ experiences, possibly including risk of physical harm or death.
- Regardless of how individuals experienced the trauma/disaster, it is during this time that people might experience intense fear, helplessness, and hopelessness that exceed normal coping skills.
We are gathered here, at this community forum, tonight to start a conversation about how we cope with “Crisis as Our New Normal” and “What is the Hope for the Future.” We are going to review some of the available resources for you and your family and friends and we are going to be available for questions from you.
Go to the Community Forum Resource Page
If you are reading this post before the January 17th Community Forum and would like to attend the event please see the event information below.
Where
Greeneway Church Auditorium,
3400 Hunter’s Creek Boulevard
Orlando Fl 32837
When
Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.
Open to the public, free of charge
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About the Author
Melody Kipp, PhD, LMHC is the President and CEO of Life & Work Soulutions, Inc. She holds an earned Doctorate degree in Psychology with a specialization in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Applied Psychology with a Clinical-Counseling emphasis. Dr. Kipp has been a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (MH5137) in the State of Florida since 1999 and is a State of Florida Qualified Clinical Supervisor for Mental Health Counselor Interns and Marriage & Family Therapy Interns. [...]
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