Rude Awakenings
I was part of a domestic disturbance yesterday morning. I did not start the disturbance, nor was I a big part of the situation, but I called the police and got things going. The girls next door started screaming. Apparently their mother was under the influence of something and attacked her boyfriend. When I saw them, he was trying to throw her out of the apartment, she was scratching him, and the girls were screaming! I called 9-1-1 and reported the disturbance.
In the end, the mother was taken away in the back of a cruiser. When the police arrived, she didn't show any emotional affect and simply asked for a chance to smoke a cigarette. The kids were picked up by their dad, and the police informed the man that the woman was not allowed back at the apartment without a police escort.
Great!
As I was sitting in my apartment somewhere between panic and hysteria, I started thinking about my clients.
I work with kids with psychiatric diagnoses in addition to developmental and intellectual diagnoses. The situation that I witnessed this morning was just a small taste of the lives that my clients have lived already. They often come to my facility with histories that include police involvement, assault and battery, post-traumatic stress, and experiences that no child should ever have to live through - EVER!
As a therapist, I have become more and more interested in Trauma-Sensitive Care. I cannot fully understand what is going on in the lives of my clients since I have not experienced the type of trauma that they have, but I am becoming more conscious of how I need to approach my students when they are in the grasp of their memories and experiences. I heard a good article on NPR about veterans with PTSD working with other veterans through meditation and relaxation scripts. The most important part for me was a statement by a Vietnam vet who was able to understand what a vet from Afghanistan was going through and who talked the vet in the middle of reliving his personal crisis back into his present situation. There was something so powerful about hearing their connection - similar events and experiences - that resonated with me on a very deep level.
There will always be a part of me that cannot connect with my clients. For this fact I am truly grateful and truly sorry at the same time.
On this day after Thanksgiving, I am truly thankful for being loved and part of a strong family. I am thankful that my situations have been free of trauma, and I mourn for the people in the world who have not been as free from pain, abuse, and trauma as I have been in my life.
This morning, I woke to bronchitis and quiet in the hallways. I am not sure what will happen from yesterday's events, but I hope that the kids will be safe with their father and the woman will get some treatment for her own issues. I anticipate that they will be leaving the complex soon...
In the end, the mother was taken away in the back of a cruiser. When the police arrived, she didn't show any emotional affect and simply asked for a chance to smoke a cigarette. The kids were picked up by their dad, and the police informed the man that the woman was not allowed back at the apartment without a police escort.
Great!
As I was sitting in my apartment somewhere between panic and hysteria, I started thinking about my clients.
I work with kids with psychiatric diagnoses in addition to developmental and intellectual diagnoses. The situation that I witnessed this morning was just a small taste of the lives that my clients have lived already. They often come to my facility with histories that include police involvement, assault and battery, post-traumatic stress, and experiences that no child should ever have to live through - EVER!
As a therapist, I have become more and more interested in Trauma-Sensitive Care. I cannot fully understand what is going on in the lives of my clients since I have not experienced the type of trauma that they have, but I am becoming more conscious of how I need to approach my students when they are in the grasp of their memories and experiences. I heard a good article on NPR about veterans with PTSD working with other veterans through meditation and relaxation scripts. The most important part for me was a statement by a Vietnam vet who was able to understand what a vet from Afghanistan was going through and who talked the vet in the middle of reliving his personal crisis back into his present situation. There was something so powerful about hearing their connection - similar events and experiences - that resonated with me on a very deep level.
There will always be a part of me that cannot connect with my clients. For this fact I am truly grateful and truly sorry at the same time.
On this day after Thanksgiving, I am truly thankful for being loved and part of a strong family. I am thankful that my situations have been free of trauma, and I mourn for the people in the world who have not been as free from pain, abuse, and trauma as I have been in my life.
This morning, I woke to bronchitis and quiet in the hallways. I am not sure what will happen from yesterday's events, but I hope that the kids will be safe with their father and the woman will get some treatment for her own issues. I anticipate that they will be leaving the complex soon...
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