Therapist Corner


"In the eye of the storm
You remain in control
And in the middle of the war
You guard my soul
You alone are the anchor
When my sails are torn
Your love surrounds me 
In the eye of the storm."
-Ryan Stevenson

Post Hurricane Stress and the Recovery Process by Gregory Hasek 

September was a month that brought both individual trauma and community trauma from hurricane Irma. From the weeks leading up to the hurricane to the weeks after, many have shared with me that September was a blur. From a trauma perspective, September was dissociated by many as a result of being in a constant state of survival mode. In this month's therapist corner I want to talk about the effect the hurricane might had on you, may be having on you now, and share some tools on the tools page that may be helpful for you in the recovery process from hurricane Irma. 

There are many parallels that the experience of going through a hurricane has to other traumas you may have experienced in your life. The weeks prior to hurricane Irma, there was the fear of the unknown while many of us watched on television where the storm was hitting across the Caribbean. We watched the pictures of the devastation on some of the islands such as Barbuda. We also watched that dreaded cone move from one side of the state to the other, all the while not knowing where exactly the eye would make landfall. The week prior, many chose to hit the highways and head north hoping to find a hotel in places like Georgia. There was also the stress of not knowing whether one would find gas. The gas stations around town were running out of gas and the shelves of the grocery stores were slowly becoming empty, especially when it came to water. In my visit the the gas station and stores the week prior, I could just see anxiety in people's eyes. I could see people beginning to panic. As a therapist, I began to wonder what impact the impending storm would have on the trauma that many were already carrying from other experiences in their lives. Like with other personal traumas, having no control and waiting for something bad to happen is not a good set up for psychological health. 

Those that stayed during the hurricane may have traumatic memories of hearing the sounds of the wind and the pounding rain, not knowing if they are going to be safe in their house and that their roof would not come off. Those that went to a shelter experienced their own kind of trauma in which thousands of people were put into buildings together all acting on their own "fight or flight mode". Usually when people are in this state they turn inward to survive themselves. This often doesn't encourage looking outside of oneself and having empathy for those around you. Sitting in a shelter not knowing what is going to be left of your house creates it's own anxiety. Those that hit the highway experienced their own stress of not knowing where they would get gas next or if they would have a hotel room to sleep in that night. They also lived with the fear of not knowing what might be left of their house when they headed back home with millions of others on interstate 75 heading south. 

After the hurricane there was the "shock stage" of seeing all the damage and going back to one's home to assess what needed to be addressed first. This may have included seeing whether one's roof was leaking or flooded waters outside entered into the home. For many this caused a continuation of being in survival mode, which led to taking action to protect one's house and do what needed to be done before there was more damage. This is especially true for men in how they are wired to provide and protect for their family. The following days without power and cell phone service at times, just added to a prolonged state of anxiety. I realize just reading this article might be stressful for you as a client. It's difficult to not relive something that was traumatic when you revisit the story of hurricane Irma or any other trauma you might revisit in counseling. 

We currently live with a lot of visual reminders of what happen just a month ago. The blue tarps on the roofs, the broken pool cages, the piles of debris everywhere, metal signs that were bent in half etc. These visual reminders are sometimes tough to look at because they bring back memories of what many of us experienced not long ago. 

If you are going through a hard time right now. I want to validate your pain and your emotions. This was a traumatic month for many people. Trauma has impacted our community, our families and individuals. As people come back out of survival mode, they find that emotions start to catch back up. It is normal to cry once these emotions catch up. I encourage you to talk with others and debrief with them about your experience of hurricane Irma. This is very helpful and can help in your healing process. PTSD symptoms tend to decrease when there is a time to debrief after a trauma. We know this from the experiences of 911. It is not good to keep it all inside to yourself. I encourage you to read some more ideas on the tools page that can help in your own recovery process. Let us know if we can do anything to help during this time.