Speical Feature
person to person. Our thoughts truly do create our reality – what we think and what we say has a large affect on the outcome of that specific scenario. Some of our basic beliefs may be altered drastically, or drastically rein‐ forced. Any fears about ourselves or about our world come rushing to the surface. Through our experiences, trau‐ matic or not, we are constantly realign‐ ing our beliefs based on our experi‐ ences.
Mental and spiritual restoration is the cornerstone in any recovery. Physical injury, whether permanent or not, can be overcome in record time when one or both ¬mental or spiritual components ‐are in alignment. The time needed to regain the balance lost from a personal or community disaster depends on a series of factors begin‐ ning with the “before the incident” sta‐ tus. The stronger the mental and spiri‐ tual realm, the more resilient any one individual can be at times of great stress and those that may follow. For those in close proximity to the mentally and/or spiritually injured indi‐ vidual, the role is substantial. These individuals have a responsibility and a vested interest to be understanding, compassionate and most of all patient. Time may heal all wounds but patience and love can bring a cure that lasts a lifetime. Though it may seem difficult to fully grasp the magnitude that a loved one who has experienced trauma is going through, it is crucial that con‐ tinuous support and assurance be given and maintained during and throughout the full length of recovery. Thinking of another can be cure enough.
Many people will tend to not want to relive the event or series of events since it brings up such intense emo‐ tions. In these cases, it’s best to allow the person to discuss event aspects at their own rate based on their hopefully increased comfort level over time. Having support from the right people is essential. Individuals recovering from a traumatic event must surround them‐ selves with people who are willing to spend time listening or simply being with them possibly without saying any‐ thing. These supporting folks must also
38 EMS PRO Magazine
be willing to allow the individual to talk about the situation and their associat‐ ed emotions – often repeatedly ‐with‐ out judging their progress. Everyone moves at their own pace when pro‐ cessing emotions and digesting a trau‐ matic event.
There may come a time where seek‐ ing the assistance of a professional is warranted and incredibly helpful. Various types of professionals offer a valid sounding board for recovering individuals, helping to define a “nor‐ mal” process of recovery for the indi‐ vidual. People going through a rough recovery need to know what they are feeling ‐fear, frustration, lack of confi‐ dence, etc. ‐are completely normal – and in most cases temporary. Their changed behaviors as a result of the incident are also normal – that means they have learned from their experi‐ ence and are looking for ways to ensure the experience doesn’t happen again, or that they are prepared if, for some reason, it does.
What tends to grip folks after a trau‐ matic event is dealing with a different reality. We all have a specific belief of how our day is going to unfold, or how our lives will evolve; we have specific beliefs on aspects of the world in gen‐ eral, and we have specific beliefs of our own capability and responsibility. Experiencing a personal catastrophe questions, negates, or enforces each of those previously accepted beliefs. After an event, we tend to continuous‐ ly replay the scenario in our minds focusing on the contradiction of our previously held belief – whether we didn’t act a certain way, or something wasn’t supposed to happen this way, etc. This type of response enables us to redefine those said beliefs and letting go of them initially can be quite trying in and of itself.
Allowing each person to walk their own path to recovery is essential while providing continuous, ongoing support and responsibility as appropriate. Although it is quite common to wait until such a need arises to pay atten‐ tion to our overall health and well being, we can curtail the overall impact as well as the recovery time of a cata‐ strophic event if we already have a
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