New Hope
CE, November 30, 2001
Director
of New Hope & Psychologist with ChristianSoulCare.com
William ("Dr. Bill") Gaultiere, Ph.D.
(714)
971-4213, DrBill@CrystalCathedral.org
WELCOME
You're volunteer
service as a New Hope Counselor is more important than ever!
Trauma survivors from the terrorist attacks and other acts of
violence or disaster need a safe place to talk. People who are
lonely, depressed, or stressed during the holidays need your caring
comfort. And, as always, people who are suicidal or in crisis
need you to answer their call.
Every call
or chat won't feel life-impacting to you, but most shifts you'll
have at least one conversation that will leave you feeling,
"I'm glad I was here to answer that call." And no matter what
kind of calls you answer, remember that you're making yourself
available. Available for some stranger in crisis who needs
help. Available for God to use you to express His compassion
for those who are hurting. Thank you for your service and may
God bless you and your family this holiday season.
GOALS OF THIS
CLASS
1. Understand what
trauma is and how it affects people.
2. Learn how to help
trauma survivors be and feel S.A.F.E.
3. Practice using
basic New Hope Counseling skills with trauma survivors.
WHAT IS A CRISIS?
The
Chinese language uses symbols or pictures for words. Do you
know what their symbol for crisis is? It's a most insightful
and helpful concept. They take the symbols for danger and opportunity
and combine them.
A
crisis or a trauma is dangerous indeed. Over five thousand
people died in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Tens
of thousands, injured or frightened out of their minds, barely
escaped. War, abuse, robbery, being assaulted, losing a loved
one, natural disasters, and other traumas are dangerous indeed.
And
they're an opportunity. Of course, no one wants to experience
trauma, but when you do there are opportunities. As crisis
counselors we have to see this. We don't usually say this to
the one in pain, but we convey it through our caring, our hopefulness,
and our belief in the caller's/chatter's ability to get help
and to change. God uses crises in our lives to do his works
of healing, growth, relationship building, faith-lifting, and
equipping for service to others who are hurting.
You
can probably see this in your own life. Perhaps it's why you're
a New Hope Counselor!
TRAUMA
HITS US IN OUR BASIC NEEDS
Consider these
five basic needs and the hurtful, negative thinking patters that
trauma survivors may fall into:
1. Safety.
To live and to develop as people we need to be and feel safe.
Those who escaped from the world trade towers may have found
themselves thinking, "The world is unsafe. I won't be okay."
2. Trust.
We learn basic trust when we feel cared for in the beginning
of life or later through healing relationships. Those who have
been violated or traumatized may conclude, "People are untrustworthy."
3. Intimacy.
Soul to soul connection is what makes life fulfilling. Trauma
survivors may conclude, "I have to manage on my own."
4. Esteem.
To realize that we are valuable is essential to our relationships
and work. Victims may accept the message, "I am bad."
5. Competence/Control.
We all need to be productive, to steer our lives in a good direction.
Trauma survivors tend to feel a loss of control and may conclude,
"I can't do what I need to do for myself."
NORMAL
VS. TRAUMA SENSITIZED RESPONSES TO TRAUMA
Compared to
the average person, people who are trauma sensitized from previous
violations or disasters experience significantly higher arousal
(emotional upsetness) and cannot calm themselves down.
FIGHT VS. FLIGHT RESPONSE TO TRAUMA
There's
a time to be afraid and run and a time to be angry and fight
back. If you're in a burning building, fear is a good thing
and it's best to run! If you're attacked and you can do something
to protect yourself then you'll need some "fight" in you.
My
friend went to lunch with a co-worker and when walking back
to their office they witnessed a stranger shoot and kill a man
on the street right in front of them. My friend chased the
murder, tackled him, and confronted him, learning that the victim
and slept with the man's wife. He held the murderer until the
police came. My friend's co-worker was hiding behind a tree
and shaking. I think my friend was crazy! He endangered his
life and I'm not sure why. He should have hid behind the tree
with his co-worker.
When
it comes to recovering from trauma you want to rise to the challenge.
Trauma survivors who have the confidence (aggressive energy)
to face their nightmares, fears, and pain by talking about what
happened with a trusted friend and continuing on with their
life will fare better and recover quicker. Those who are more
fearful may have trouble functioning, develop PTSD, or panic
disorder. They may go on disability, avoid reminders of the
trauma or anything that frightens them, or overmedicate themselves.
POST
TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)
PTSD
is a mental disorder that is common among trauma survivors.
Being able to identify the basic symptoms of PTSD can help you
to offer needed understanding and referrals. A medical doctor
or psychologist diagnoses PTSD when the following symptoms are
present:
1. There's been a
real event that caused damage, or the threat of damage, to the
person. In other words, it would've caused intense fear, horror,
rage, or helplessness for anyone. So we're not talking about
worry, paranoia, or hallucinations.
2. One month or more
after the even the trauma is being re-experienced with flashbacks,
nightmares, triggers, panic, or emotional flooding.
3. They can't calm
themselves down. So they avoid the things they fear and try
to numb out their emotions. (See graph, "Normal vs. Trauma
Sensitized")
4. Their arousal
level is too high. The pain, fear, horror are unmanageable.
(See graph.)
HELP
TRAUMA SURVIVORS BE AND FEEL S.A.F.E.
1. Stabliize
situation and symptoms.
Assess
and respond to needs for physical safety, hospitalization, or
referral for medications or psychotherapy. A man who had been
abused as a child and had his father murdered was having dissociation
episodes and stress related seizures so I helped him identify
when he was susceptible to an episode or seizure and told him
not to drive and not to do his roofing work. If someone is
in an unsafe situation you can help them to go to safety or
to realize their limits.
The
callers/chatters need to be calm enough to talk about their
experience. They may need to pause and take some deep breaths.
Talking about their experience should help them to stabilize.
2. Arousal
needs to be decreased to manageable levels.
Trauma
survivors may be in pain or feel frightened, horrified, anxious,
distraught, or upset. They need support to calm down. By listening
and reflecting trauma survivor's feelings you can help them
to calm down.
Don't
push them to discuss painful areas! This could re-traumatize
them. Remember , the biggest mistake that New Hope Counselors
make is trying to do to much.
Instead,
be responsive to what they present. An incest survivor was
having flashbacks and painful memories of being abused by her
father. Her therapist pushed her to talk in detail about what
happened and to re-enact a troubling scene and she felt violated
by him all over again. That made it all the harder for her
to trust her new therapist and learn to receive comfort.
3. Focus on
caring for the traumatized self.
The
negative self-other messages discussed above need to be changed.
Compassion from a New Hope Counselor can begin this process.
Support groups and psychotherapy are important resources. Where
there was fear, trust needs to be developed. Where there's
grief, comfort needs to be received. Where there's false shame,
anger needs to be felt and mobilized. This happens as painful
memories are gently and gradually processed.
4. Empower
to prevent relapse.
Trauma
survivors need to re-establish their sense of self-control and
to feel empowered to overcome the effects of the trauma and
re-build their life. As a New Hope Counselor you can recognize
and affirm the caller's/chatter's strengths and progress. And
later in the conversation when you're collaborating on an action
step you can strategize and encourage mastery for future flashbacks
or traumatic events by teaching coping skills (e.g., calling
a friend, relaxation, limit setting, journaling, prayer).
REFERRAL
RESOURCES
Your
New Hope Referral guide is a comprehensive, national directory
of over 50 pages of phone numbers and websites, including referrals
for "Crisis Intervention" and "Suicidal." It's in the phone
room and on our public website, www.NewHopeNow.org.
FREE
RESOURCES FOR THE PUBLIC
Visit
www.NewHopeNow.org for self-help articles
by Dr. Bill. (These are free resources for callers and chatters.)
ADDITIONAL
NEW HOPE TRAINING
Visit
www.NewHopeNow.org/counselors,
for the "CE Notes" to past classes and many other training articles
by Dr. Bill. (At the site enter user name "counselor", password
"help4u", and domain "atlantis".) For instance, in the CE Manual
category "Crisis Intervention" you'll find the following:
1.
"How
to Respond to a Crisis" (Case Discussion)
2.
"The Crux of Crisis
Counseling: T.L.C. for S.O.S."
LET'S
PRACTICE!
Take
the CE Exam which includes a role
play.
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