Tag Archives: support
Caring for Yourself When Helping During or After an Emergency
A guide for volunteers and neighbors exposed to other people’s suffering When an emergency affects a community, people step forward to help. You may listen to someone’s story, witness injuries or destruction, provide food or transportation, search for belongings, or … Continue reading
Posted in Emergencies
Tagged care, disaster, Emergency, emergency preparedness, help, self-care, support
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How to Help Someone Right After an Emergency
People react to emergencies in all kinds of ways. Someone might break down crying, shut down completely, get restless or angry, or even seem surprisingly fine. Some of these reactions hit right away, while others show up hours or days … Continue reading
Posted in Emergencies
Tagged care, choices, Emergency, emergency preparedness, emergency response, helping, support, Trauma-Informed Care
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Grief Moves When the Body Is Allowed: Trauma Integration and the Power of Witnessing
I went into my craniosacral appointment without an agenda, not trying to make anything happen. I laid on the treatment table and my doctor cradled my head with his hands. Before long, I felt a huge wave of deep grief rise … Continue reading
Where Psychiatric Labels Fall Apart
Psychiatry puts forth the idea that a person is one thing, then something happens inside them, a kind of switch, and they become something else. As if so-called “mental illness” appears without context, history, or conditions that accumulate over time. … Continue reading
Posted in Mental Health
Tagged behavaioral health, capacity, Community, conditions, Mental Health, network, psychiatry, Psychology, resilience, support
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“Isn’t That How It Works?”
One of my doctors was telling me about his path into medicine. He attended a highly prestigious private school. He went on to say that there, he met a mentor who connected him with someone at Georgetown University. That relationship … Continue reading
Posted in Relationships
Tagged development, environment, mentors, network, opportunities, private school, privilege, stability, support
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Noticing Safety in the Small Moments We Overlook
Walking home from the community garden, I saw a young man coming toward me on my street. It was Independence Day weekend and there was a local event happening nearby, so there were more people around than usual, including people … Continue reading
Posted in Community
Tagged Community, connection, moment, Noticing, safety, stranger, support, well-being
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Resilience Isn’t Solo: The Neurobiology of Support
A recent visit with a new healthcare practitioner had a significantly negative impact. She was so out of sorts that she could not appropriately connect. That meant she could not take in what I said or understand what I needed. … Continue reading
Posted in Neurobiology
Tagged attunement, Medicine, overwhelm, practitioner, resilience, support
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Why One Safe Connection Affects Everything
In the past few months, I have enjoyed a noticeably improved quality of life. I don’t have to spend so much focus desperately trying to build connections. I have more energy for other things, like working in the garden and … Continue reading
Posted in PTSD, Uncategorized
Tagged connection, integrated relationships, integration, mutuality, recovery, relationships, support
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Victim Selection and the Structural Mechanics of Harm: Why Vulnerable People Are Chosen and Left Unprotected
Victimology examines patterns of harm and how systems respond to them. It shows that perpetrators rarely act randomly. They select targets who are vulnerable in ways that reduce risk to themselves and maximize the impact of the harm. Factors such … Continue reading
Posted in Abuse
Tagged accountability, Complaints, courts, harm, hospitals, justice, law, legal, Medicine, power dynamics, standard treatment, support, victim services, victimology
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The 20 Best Things You Can Say to a Person in Distress
Supportive language prioritizes validation, respect, and presence rather than minimizing, fixing, or forcing someone into a specific healing path. 1. “I believe you.” Validates their experience and counters disbelief. 2. “What happened to you was not your fault.” Removes blame … Continue reading