Experiencing a natural disaster like a wildfire can be profoundly traumatic, impacting individuals and communities on multiple levels. Unlike other forms of trauma, disaster trauma often involves the loss of homes, cherished possessions, and a sense of safety within familiar surroundings. This loss of physical and emotional security can significantly complicate the healing process.

A crucial aspect of trauma recovery is establishing a sense of safety and grounding. When individuals are displaced, lose their homes, or return to a community scarred by environmental devastation, this foundation of safety is disrupted, creating additional challenges in navigating the recovery journey.

Beyond the immediate trauma, survivors often face ongoing stressors related to accessing resources and rebuilding their lives. Navigating complex systems like FEMA, insurance providers, and construction processes can be overwhelming, especially while simultaneously coping with trauma symptoms. These practical challenges can compound the emotional distress experienced by survivors.

It’s important to understand that a range of emotional, physical, and cognitive reactions are normal following a disaster. Some common symptoms include:

Therapy for individuals who have experienced natural disasters shares core principles with general trauma treatment but requires specific adaptations to address the unique challenges survivors face. These challenges often include displacement, loss of community, and a profound disruption of their sense of safety and stability. My approach prioritizes establishing a foundation of stability and fostering a sense of meaning amidst the chaos

I generally approach treatment in phases, recognizing that deep trauma processing is most effective when a client feels safe and grounded.

PHASE 1: STABILIZATION & RESOURCING

In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, the focus is on creating a sense of safety and stability, given the present circumstances. This phase may also take longer than anticipated due to setbacks and complications with reestablishing home. This phase emphasizes:

• Resource Identification and Mobilization:

  Supporting clients as they connect with essential resources such as housing, food, financial assistance, and support networks.

• Somatic Stabilization Techniques:

  Utilizing techniques to help clients regulate their nervous systems and manage physical symptoms of stress, such as grounding exercises, breathwork, and mindfulness practices. This may include engaging in restricted and adapted EMDR, such as guiding clients through Criticial Incident Desensitization (CID).

• Imagination and Visualization:

  Guiding clients in using their imagination to create safe spaces, heighten sense of strength, and visualize positive future outcomes.

• Meaning-Making: Exploring clients’ values and beliefs to help them find meaning and purpose in the face of loss and disruption. This may involve exploring themes of resilience, community, and connection to something larger than themselves.

PHASE 2: TRAUMA PROCESSING & INTEGRATION

Once clients have established a greater sense of stability, we can begin to address the traumatic memories and experiences more directly. This phase may incorporate:

• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR):

  A powerful therapy for processing traumatic memories and reducing distressing symptoms.

• Somatic Therapies: Body-oriented exercises and processing that helps clients release trapped trauma energy and restore a sense of safety in their bodies.

• Parts Work:

  Addressing internal conflicts and fragmented parts of the self that may have emerged as a result of the trauma.

• Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT):

  EFIT helps clients get in touch with their emotions and make sense of them, while using guided visualizations and imagination to reauthor interactions with themselves and others.

• Existential Therapy

  As an existential therapist, I accompany clients as they explore the complexities of their experiences, honor their pain, contemplate choice, and seek meaning in a world that can feel increasingly uncertain.

We are living in an increasingly uncertain and changing world,

but you do not have to navigate it alone.