After a crisis like the Manchester bombing or London Bridge, the worst thing you can do is parachute a bunch of mental-health professionals in there to try and talk to young people about what had happened. It does harm, it prevents the person from coming to a natural accommodation. – Peter Fonagy, The Guardian
What is the essence or character of the kind of "good relationships" that help you assimilate or metabolize adversity? Mainly, reliable care, expressed through language, physical touch, food, space, and ritual. The idiosyncratic displays of these expressions may change from community to community, infused by cultural norms. What determines whether the way they are expressed is "right," is whether the survivor perceives any of these expressions as caring. Which means, the caregiver also must continually observe and adapt as needed.
They help provide the stepping stones known to foster healing and restoration:
- Nourishing food
- Hydration
- A shoulder to cry on
- A listening ear
- Validation
- Hospitable space to rest, sleep, and meditate or pray
- Movement
- Creative expressions, through fine art, photography, music, dance, or theater
- Community storytelling
- Community or family memorial
Talk therapy is only one, of many, important practices that communities can offer survivors across the long-term trajectory of healing after disaster. Unfortunately, too many communities today are relying on talk therapy as the only way to solve mental health challenges in their community. They miss the caring resources which may exist right in their midst. We can all do more to remind ourselves and those around us of how healing is not only, and cannot only be, a professional task. Rather, it is a communal task, in which talk therapy is one of many proven resources for healing.
What are some of the ways your community is resolving disaster, beyond only talk therapy? Share in the comments below.
To learn more about how your community can develop restorative strategies for healing after crises or disaster, explore the services we provide or contact us to discuss your specific circumstances.