Second Responder is an emerging term which often refers to trained professionals or trained volunteers who provide various forms of mental, emotional, or spiritual care. Examples of second responder care may include, and is not limited to:
This list, of course, does not exhaust the possibilities of care administered by second responders in response to critical incidents or disasters.
Following the critical role of first responders – including, law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics, and emergency room personnel – second responders provide a second and equally critical role in processes of healing after trauma. Second responders help survivors and those who experience vicarious traumatization of:
Second responders are keenly aware that this process of (re)membering after trauma comes slowly and not necessarily in a linear pattern, and they commit to companioning alongside survivors as they regain their healthy senses. Beginning with basic forms of hospitality and trustworthy companionship, and often through a Village of Care, second responders help survivors heal.
If you would like to learn more about how you or your organization can provide healthy forms of second responder outreach, contact us.
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Lighting a match should be a simple task.
One, two, three: A match meets the side of its box, a flick of the wrist, crisp crackly sounds, and the flame ignites. Yet, for some of us, lighting a match has become a deeply complex activity. The smell, the sound, the sight of burning light...it all proves too much.
It’s been two years since I woke up at 3 am to a neighbor furiously banging on my door. It’s been two years since I stepped outside with her, to look up at the mountains fully aflame, coming towards our neighborhood. It’s been two years since I ran back inside a pitch-black house and woke everyone up to flee. It’s only been two years and yet I am forever changed by the events of the Tubbs Fire which consumed parts of Santa Rosa in October 2017. Suddenly, things that once seemed mundane and simple, evolved into triggers. I became disconcerted when I saw the color orange, watched hazy sunsets, heard sirens in the distant, and inhaled the smoke from beach bonfires. In the months to come, I would be evacuated several more times from my college campus due to the Thomas Fire and Montecito Debris Flow. I would grow tired and it would become hard even to do one of the most simple tasks: to light a match. I would also come to understand much more of the incredible paradox of human fragility and strength. It was out of weakness many survivors learned the unparalleled strength of togetherness - of learning we are not alone.
When I first began college, I knew I had a keen interest in studying the human story. History, literature, cultural studies, sociology, psychology, even anatomy - if people were involved, I was there. The more I learned, the more the nature of human resilience captured both my heart and my mind. How do humans keep going, amidst struggle and turmoil? What causes someone to try, try, try again? Which factors need to be in place for a person to be resilient despite circumstances? How can we empower people? How can we inspire hope? And so a psychology major was born. Shortly thereafter, my studies quickly collided with my life. I was living right in the middle of two collective trauma stories, where both my home and school communities experienced roads diverging, and both communities faced the hard choice to take the road less traveled. In each case, we had to choose to wake up every day and have hope. We had to choose to keep persisting. We had to choose to lean into uncomfortable spaces, become vulnerable, engage with grief, and heal. We had to choose to remake the meaning of lighting a match. Last Christmas, I made candles for my friends, family, and professors as gifts. The meaning behind a candle, behind lighting a match, was reborn. As members of my faith gathered to celebrate the gift of Emmanuel (The Christian recognition God is with us), I wanted those around me to remember this gift of withness as well. I wanted them to see light, life, warmth, hope, and togetherness at the sight of that little flame. This August I began my fourth year at Westmont College. As a senior psychology major, I have the unique opportunity to take our Capstone Senior Psychology Practicum course. Under the guidance of faculty, twelve seniors have embarked on the journey to put our education to practice. Swapping textbooks for hands-on learning, we each have been partnered with a local Santa Barbara psychological professional. Last year, I watched my dear friend Eva Pauley grow as a student, leader, and comforter as she worked as a religious studies intern for ICTG. When I first began my search for my supervisor, Dr. Kate Wiebe the Executive Director of ICTG, was the first name on my list. Now several months later, I have completed my first month as a psychology practicum student at ICTG. I’ve already learned so much in such a short span of time, particularly about ways in which trauma not only impacts individuals but also impacts groups and the spirit of a community. I am amazed by the dedication of the ICTG staff to work together to empower leaders and communities faced with great challenges. Over the next three months, I will be focusing on these questions: How can communities foster resilience after they experience a collective trauma? What steps have local communities taken towards providing emotional, spiritual, and mental support? What has worked and where is there room for growth and innovation? I look forward to learning more from this gifted team of individuals, and the survivors and responders we serve. Most of all, I look forward to engaging in this opportunity to continue sharing the gift of togetherness.
Did you know you can give a financial gift to help support ICTG's unique learning-serving internships? ICTG interns receive one-on-one coaching and complete projects related to their community leadership interests. Help support our internship program and donate today!
Where an incident occurs matters, particularly when the incident is disastrous. Whether due to natural circumstances, human-caused violence, or a massive technological failure, the incident affects survivors differently depending on where it happens. When an incident occurs among a group which shares a sense of belonging, whether because of work, education, or faith, survivors have a reason other than only their shared experience of the incident to come back together again. And in coming back together again, they must figure out what it means to conduct their mission again in the aftermath of what has happened. When an incident occurs in a more open and public setting, such as a park, a concert arena, a festival, or a retail area, survivors often belong to a wide range of groups and they do not necessarily have a reason to come back together again other than their shared history. The attention that second responders – including therapists, volunteer caregivers, chaplains, and faith leaders – give to this distinction can help expedite healing. A few things to keep in mind in providing care after disasters in public settings: 1. Survivors benefit greatly from gathering repeatedly with people with whom they feel a sense of belonging. This may include gathering with fellow survivors, while also gathering with family, friends, and coworkers. The challenge with gathering with family, friends, and coworkers, though, is that many of them struggle to understand what the survivor is going through if they did not also experience it. In these cases, it can help for friends, family, and coworkers to continue to listen well and value how the survivor they care about expresses what she or he is experiencing. It is not a matter of knowing what to say, but continuing to express a commitment to be present and care. 2. How does your organization attend to survivors' needs? Enough incidents have occurred in recent years that, likely, your business, nonprofit, school, or congregation has survivors or will have survivors in the coming years as they graduate, move, or find new work. Mental, emotional, and spiritual healing after disaster often takes years. Without forcing survivors to share their stories, consider ways your organization assumes the possibility that employees, students, customers, or congregants, may be survivors of disaster and may be somewhere in the midst of their long-term recovery process. For example, for employees, does your organization accommodate time off for survivors to attend survivors' gatherings for healing, which many survivors find helpful for their healing process? Or, does your school consider trauma-informed education practices when preparing syllabi or lesson plans? Or, does your house of worship provide opportunity for prayer, lament, or ministry related to long-term healing? 3. How does your caregiving practice accommodate long-term healing processes? Within the context of survivors often needing years to process through their mental, emotional, or spiritual health challenges following disaster, in what ways do you practice or are you developing methods for long-term caregiving? This may include practicing a mindset that helps you remain present to how survivors may be "in the midst" of healing. This may include providing a form of long-term therapy. This may include creating lesson plans or congregational calendar plans which keep in mind certain dates on the calendar that may be meaningful to survivors. These are just a few examples. How are you or is your organization accommodating the needs of survivors of disaster? What practices do you find work best? Share your tips in the comments below.
[SANTA BARBARA, CA, July 29] — ICTG welcomes Renee Carmichael as Communications Director.
“Nonprofit leaders are always on the lookout for those remarkable individuals who don’t just share passion for mission,” says the Institute’s Executive Director Rev. Dr. Kate Wiebe. “They bring strong skills, self-initiative, and creative ingenuity to seeking solutions to complex challenges. Renee is one of those gifted individuals.” Renee began part time with ICTG in an interim role to assess communication practices and strategize a growth plan. Her work also included helping with the 1/9 Montecito Debris Flow memorial event Raising Our Light in Montecito. She created a digital program, eliminating waste at the event, assisted the planning group with marketing, and also designed the Raising Our Light logo. “The work of ICTG, which Renee will oversee as Communication Director, focuses on streamlining internal and external messaging in ways that people coming through chaos can easily understand,” said Wiebe. Renee brings over a decade of successful communications experience ranging from startups to corporations. Beginning her career in an integrated communications team, and most recently working in visual communications as a designer and art director, Renee felt drawn to using the skills she has gained in these arenas to develop models for community care after crises. “This is a very skilled and dedicated group. It’s been inspiring to watch ICTG locally, in the Santa Barbara area, and nationally as we’ve seen a truly unprecedented string of disasters unfold,” said Renee. “I’m honored to be a part of this important work.” About ICTG Through the generosity of individuals, families, and granting organizations, the Institute for Collective Trauma and Growth (ICTG), a 501(c)(3) organization, provides education, coaching, and therapeutic services for leaders to address long-term care needs after disaster. # # # For questions, contact Renee Carmichael, Communications Director at [email protected]. This is the second blog in a series by ICTG intern Eva Pauley. Read her first blog here. In my previous blog post, I shared a little of my own experiences as a student at Westmont College last year during the Thomas Fire and 1/9 Debris Flow. During the fall semester, I conducted a series of interviews at Westmont on the ranging experiences of these events among representatives from Residence Life (including Resident Assistants and Residence Directors), Campus Life, Situational Response Team members, and the Campus Pastor’s Office. I chose these representatives to interview because I was interested in the interactive, or intersecting, perspectives of students and the adults directly involved with the non-academic aspects of college during times of emergency or disaster. While conducting interviews, the basic question I posed was: Based on where you are particularly situated at Westmont, what was your experience of the Thomas Fire and 1/9 Debris Flow? Foundationally, I hoped to gain more insight toward eventually answering the following subsequent questions:
I interviewed 22 people across various departments at Westmont. I was grateful for the willingness of people within the community to have these conversations as well as their honesty through their experiences during these conversations. I was surprised by the difference in understanding of events by students and staff. After the debris flow, the distress of the students was mostly related to the evacuations and disruptions to the semester, while for many of the faculty it was related to personal loss. In general students experienced the events secondarily. Many of the professors and other faculty were more closely connected to these events. For example, according to a counseling center staff member, the most common concern cited by students who sought counseling services following the Thomas Fire and 1/9 Debris Flow was: how can I sit here studying while people down the road are looking for their loved ones? One student said that: “Homework kind of felt pointless.” One RA said, “For residents it was hardest on their focus for school. How am I supposed to study for a test with evacuations? The importance of school seemed to go down with the devastation.” Throughout the course of the research, I narrowed my focus to student care rather than institutional resilience. I discovered a lack of resources for higher education institutional responses to collective trauma. Due to recent fires in Southern California, we see increasing importance of institutional awareness and preparedness for trauma. Further research is important for developing best practices when caring for students and providing resources for self care and communal care in the midst of increasing disasters. I believe that additional study on this topic at different college campuses who have recently experienced different traumatic events would be meaningful. Those within the Westmont community experienced a wide range of responses related to the events, as is to be expected with an event of this nature. Different members of the community gave various insights into how they coped and encouraged others throughout the course of the difficulties. The following are a list of tips I compiled for college students to practice care before, during, and after emergencies, evacuations, or disasters based on my initial investigation. Calm: Practicing healthy routines will help sustain you and counter any excessive reactions to threat. Considering creating a transitional barrier between work and sleep by reading, watching a show, doing yoga, or journaling. Based on this investigation and other studies, survivors often report how faithful routines helped them to orient themselves and feel peace amid the chaos of disaster. Consider continuing devotional practices, including studying Scripture, prayer, and worship. Ordinary self-care practices especially prove vital in times of emergency or disaster. Consider continuing in healthful routines including eating balanced meals, exercising, and creating intentional times to rest. Connect : Survivors often vacillate between feeling desires to isolate, and that no one else really can understand what they are going through, or desires to connect with others. While connection should never be forced, it is important to keep seeking out and offer opportunities for connection with others throughout the immediate and long-term trajectory of disaster response. Consider ways you can practice being with people without having to have answers. Survivors often report that the caring presence of another person meant more to them than information they shared. Consider ways you can continue to check in on those around you, listen to their experiences, and point them toward helpful next steps based on what they report they need. Communicate : Communicating what has happened helps individuals and groups heal, and involves both communicating what has been lost as well as what goodness has gone on amid the chaos. Consider ways to express gratitude to those who are working hard. If you find you are experiencing reactions to stress that feel disturbing or worrisome for any reason, consider talking with a professional through counseling. Consider ways to write or create a work of art about what you are experiencing - for example, keep a journal, create a prayer of lament and/or thanksgiving, or make a musical response. Interested in learning more trauma-informed best practices? Visit the ICTG training menu to purchase ICTG’s most popular resource guides, assessments, modules, seminars, and more. You can support ICTG internships and educational opportunities for students like Eva by making a financial contribution today. Your support helps prepare emerging leaders for tomorrow's demands. Thank you for your generosity!
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ICTG BLOGFrom 2012-2020, this blog space explored the changing landscape of long-term care. This website serves as a historical mark of work the Institute conducted prior to 2022. This website is no longer updated.
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