Collective Trauma - How to Process and Move Toward Healing
Understanding Trauma, Part 1
Our society has experienced numerous traumatic experiences over the last several years alone. From COVID-19, to social and civil unrest, to natural disasters, and crime and violence on a rise in many places. Recently, our local communities have experienced terrible tragedies with a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee on March 27, 2023 where 6 victims were killed. Two Black Hawk helicopters crashed near Fort Campbell on March 29, 2023 where 9 of our soldiers lost their lives. And in the same week, dangerous tornadic storms swept through the south and midwest leaving behind miles of destruction and claiming dozens of lives.
Each of these have the potential to impact our lives and threaten our sense of safety. I’ve heard many people ask, how can we keep our kids safe? How do we stay safe in our own homes? What do we do when the safety we put in equipment or ourselves fails? These are hard questions and I don’t have the answers to all of them, but I can offer help and resources to deal with the mental and psychological impact of these experiences that can be severe and more pervasive than we might think.
“Psychological trauma occurs when an actual or perceived threat of danger overwhelms a person’s usual coping ability…should be based on the context and meaning of the (person’s) experience, not just on the event alone.” - Beverly James
Trauma occurs when we experience something (one time or on-going) that is beyond our ability to comprehend, cope with or emotionally manage. When fear, grief, loss are so great we are overwhelmed with these emotions and others. We might question ourselves, others and the world around us. Our sense of safety, security, and humanity is shaken. This can result in increased anxiety, depression, swings with emotion, anger, changes in sleep, appetite and heart rate. Each of these are common responses to trauma. When events impact a community such as the recent events in Nashville and Fort Campbell, there is a deep sense of collective trauma.
What is collective trauma?
Collective trauma is a psychological reaction to a traumatic event that affects a community/society. COVID was a global example of collective trauma. Whether you or a loved one contracted COVID-19 in the first months or not, our sense of safety was rocked. This includes the idea of assumptions and beliefs about ourselves, others and the world around us. Specifically, for many, trust in medicine, neighbors, family, leaders in our country were challenged with how people responded to COVID-19. Add the elements of uncertainty, fear and unthinkable numbers of lives lost, you’ve got one heck of a collective traumatic event!
The trauma doesn’t have to directly “happen to you” to feel the effects of trauma, to have trauma reactions. There can be traumatic impact for someone even if their child wasn’t at the school where the shooting took place. Or for someone who didn’t lose property in a natural disaster but was close by. Or, if you have been a victim of a natural disaster in the past, new events across the country can bring up your traumatic memories. It is part of a collective impact to see pain ,suffering and loss in our community. It is normal and natural to be impacted and experience personal trauma out of collective experiences.
How to heal - what to do when you identify trauma in your life:
Know that you are not alone! Individual trauma or collective trauma does not require you to suffer alone. In fact, the opposite is true, we heal through connection and sharing our experiences with others.
So, get connected! Reach out to friends and family. Talk with others in the community who share in the collective trauma. Call a close friend to talk, even if you don’t talk to them about all that you are feeling, just connecting with someone helps the mind and body find safety and calm.
Seek professional help. There are wonderful resources available to help you process through trauma. Sometimes we need help putting words to our experiences and emotions. The help of a trained therapist can provide a space to safely process through these hard emotions.
Limit your exposure to coverage of the events. Sometimes when we are affected by traumatic events such as what this part of the country has seen lately, the tragic school shooting in Nashville, the helicopters that crashed at Fort Campbell and the devastation from the storms and tornadoes, we can respond by becoming consumed with news coverage, social media. While I encourage you to be informed, pay attention to how this might be adding to your trauma state. When healing from trauma, we need to find safety again. By watching too much coverage of these events, we keep our central nervous system activated which tells our minds we are not safe. Sometimes we need a break from the information. Perhaps a break from social media. Give yourself permission to limit your exposure, it does not mean you care any less. It just means you are taking care of yourself in the process.
Remember, it is a process. Give yourself time to heal. Be kind to yourself in the process.
Our therapists have current availability, if you or someone you know would like to process recent events with a licensed professional. We’re giving away 4 sessions to military members or military spouses in Fort Campbell, and any staff, parents or family members of children at the The Covenant School.
