Treating Trauma After Tragedy

EITHERn August 28, Donald Surrett Jr. and Glenn Bennett were shot to death by a gunman at a Bend Safeway, and two others suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the attack. The initial damage caused by the shooter was followed by collective trauma felt by many in the Bend community.

Shoppers who were present and people shocked by the act of violence sought help from behavioral health services in the following days. An open invitation to counseling from Deschutes County Behavioral Health and the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Victim Advocate was offered at Pilot Butte High School on the Monday and Tuesday after the attack and at the Deschutes County Stabilization Center from Wednesday to the following Monday.

The Source Weekly spoke with Shannon Hodgen, a mental health counselor at Deschutes County Behavioral Health, after these sessions to learn about treating trauma, DCBH’s approach, and the immediate needs of the community in the wake of violence.

The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.

Weekly Source: I would start by asking what your typical day job is.

Shannon Hodgen: My typical job as a behavioral health specialist is seeing people and leading groups with clients. So on any given day, I see between four and six individual clients and then lead a group counseling session. And then there’s also lots and lots of documentation and administrative tasks on top of that. That is a typical day, this is not typical, but it is also what we do, what we prepare for.

SOUTHWEST: And how many people have used this service? And what are the immediate needs of people experiencing trauma?

SH: I was present at Pilot Butte High School, I was there on Monday and Tuesday. And I mean it was probably between 35 and 50 people those two days. And then the immediate needs of people experiencing trauma, I would say, is to have a safe and potentially confidential place to talk about what they saw, what they heard and what they did, and the whole experience without fear of exposing anyone else. to more trauma, and just trying to feel better in general. Because a lot of people are really struggling with a lot of things that were tangential and directly involved.

SOUTHWEST: And I want to ask about the range of people affected by this. Are there different approaches for people who may not have experienced trauma firsthand, but are nonetheless affected by it?

SH: I would say that, in general, this is getting into brain science, which I’m really interested in and appreciate. Trauma occurs in the same place in the brain for virtually all human beings. So my experience is that if you’ve been traumatized, you’ve been traumatized, whether it’s indirectly, generationally, or directly. So the first step to being in all that is to have a place that is comfortable, safe and where you can share your experience and get support. I think we initially approach everyone, pretty similarly, and just provide that supportive space and allow them to process.

SOUTHWEST: What informs the county’s approach to providing these services? And how are support staff trained to deal with it?

SH: We are using critical incident stress management skills. There is a group of us within the county that are trained in this specific intervention. So, we use that initially, and then there are kind of sub-interventions within that, which we’re using as well. One of those interventions and the one we’re using, I would say the most, the one I’ve seen the most, is called the SAFER-R model of crisis intervention with individuals. And that’s an acronym for Stabilize, Acknowledge Crisis, Facilitate Understanding and Normalization, Promote Effective Coping, and Recovery or Referral. So that’s pretty much what we’re using with people.

SOUTHWEST: What are the effects of someone not seeking help and, in these circumstances, having this trauma and not being able to use these types of services?

SH: The things that people talk to me about when they use services, obviously, because I’m in services, I hear that a lot of people feel really hyper vigilant in their homes, which means they’re super prepared. mode all the time. So, whether it’s in their homes, when they go to the supermarket, many people say they feel very resistant to doing normal daily tasks, like going to the store, or being in public, being in areas where there are many people. And they are uncomfortable. So, you know, there are a lot of things that people experience. But I’d say it’s probably the first. I hear people who have difficulty sleeping. I hear people have no appetite, or too much of an appetite, like some kind of lack of balance that they didn’t have before this happened. Those are the kind of big ones.

SOUTHWEST: This entire program began less than 24 hours after the traumatic event. How was this conceived and implemented so quickly?

SH: When we have a group of people trained in this critical incident stress management model, we are ready to deploy as soon as an incident occurs, whether that incident is something like what happened on Sunday night or it is anything other. incident type. So, you know, I think there are also some of us who recognize the fact that services would need to be rolled out pretty quickly. And so, there were a lot of people who stepped up and said, ‘Hey, you know, please put me where I’m needed.’ And we were ready to go.

SOUTHWEST: So wasn’t there some sort of strategy already in place, was this just a reaction to this happening?

SH: I would say there was, I think there is a plan for things like this. I am also fairly new to the county. And what I can say is that we had a quick response, as well as the quick engagement structure with her.

SOUTHWEST: What would you say to members of the community who have not reached out for support, but are still affected by this?

SH: What I would say first, is talk to someone. Human connection and communication with other human beings and finding community and shared experience is really important. Help with the processing of this event. And isolation doesn’t tend to be helpful. So I would say first and foremost reach out to another human being, a trusted human being who is a healthy support. The second thing I would say is if you can get to a place where you can relate to a therapist in the community, whether it’s Deschutes County or another helping professional, I would encourage them to do so. And there are so many ways to do that right now. You know, if they can bring a friend with them to high school, or come here or another counseling organization, and just see someone. I think the other thing I would say is that as the level of stress in your life increases, you need to take care of yourself as well. So, do things like take care of your body, get enough sleep, and if you can’t sleep, get some rest, drink water, eat foods that are healthy and nutritious for your body. And I would say most of all, connect with other human beings about the experience.

SOUTHWEST: The counseling available in middle school is a great first step for people who need help. But I assume there is some support in the medium and long term. And I wanted to see what the forward thinking is at Deschutes County Behavioral Health and if it’s about a specific program or just connecting with resources.

SH: This is what we call an initial response. There will be longer term responses that will last into the future regarding this incident. So, this is one of those times where we meet with short duration, high intensity people. And then as we start to see whether or not people can restore the balance, and continue to have issues, that’s where we would certainly make references. We would give them additional support, maybe connect them with a therapist here to continue working and make additional recommendations for people, for sure. I have no information on ongoing services specific to this incident at this time. But I know that we have been informed that this is the initial response and that there will be an ongoing response in the future.