“I thought I’d get over this a whole lot faster.” You hear it all the time.
People are amazingly able to recover. Most of us get over traumatic experiences in a pretty short time, just as we heal from physical injuries and illnesses. After a shocking event, it often seems to take longer than we expect. The overwhelming majority of people bounce back in time, but still, it can be a surprise how long the discomfort seems to last.
When will they finally feel better? That is always the big question and it depends on the nature of the critical incident, on how deeply they were impacted, how they normally cope with adversity, and how hard they work to feel better sooner. Fortunately, people can do some things that actually seem to “speed up” the recovery process from a critical event.
The way to get started is to get started. There dozens of exercises, tips, and tools that people who have experienced a similar situation have found valuable. Some may seem ridiculously simple while others can be fairly challenging. The key to every one of them, though, is just to start trying them.
Bouncing back is up to the person. They are not responsible for the things that may have happened, but are responsible for how they respond to them. So encourage them to use these tools – knowing that sometimes they really may not feel like it. Recovery is an active process that only they can set in motion.
Remind them that:
- Doing even a tiny bit is better than doing nothing
- Allowing yourself time and being tolerant of your recovery
- Setting realistic goals to get done each day
- It’s also realistic to establish your idea of a new “normal”
What kinds of suggestions do you give people to help them get back to pre-incident functioning?
About the Author: Dennis Potter is a licensed social worker, certified addiction counselor and a Fellow, by the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. Dennis helped to form one of the first community based Crisis Response Teams in the country, and was a founding member of the Mid-West Michigan CISM Team and the Michigan Crisis Response Association. Since 1989, Dennis has helped to train many of the CISM teams in Michigan and in 24 other states.
Dennis has conducted or consulted on all manner of traumatic events for communities, businesses, schools, police, fire and emergency services personnel, the U S Post Office, and community mental health agencies. He is frequently called upon for consultation after particularly difficult events. In addition to his trauma response experience he has received training and supervision in Cognitive Therapy from the Beck Institute in Philadelphia, PA and participated in train the trainer courses in Motivational Interviewing. He is a national and international presenter and trainer. He has presented at the last 10 International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF) World Congresses and was awarded the ICISF Excellence in Training and Educations Award at the ICISF 2011 World Congress. He has provided motivational training to a variety of mental health, substance abuse agencies and businesses. In addition, he has provided training in both Latvia and Denmark.
