NSU Horizons Fall 2018

THE UNSEEN NEED Once a taboo subject, emotional counseling for emergency responders and others in support services is finally being forced into the light. On the morning of February 14, death wore a familiar face. When Nikolas Cruz walked onto the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, he rejoined a student body of which he was once a member. The difference this day – he wasn’t there to turn in a homework assignment, take a test, or sit in a math class – he was there to inflict as much destruction as he could. In less than 10 minutes Cruz had executed one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. In the aftermath, grief counselors and other mental-health professionals worked tirelessly to help those affected by the deadly rampage. Those efforts have focused mainly on the student, faculty, and staff survivors, and on the families of the 17 killed. But there’s another group who witnessed the day’s devastation, a group who also need emotional support to manage traumatic stress: emergency responders and grief counselors. While the media and the nation are focused on the survivors and the relatives, few pay attention to the ongoing mental health needs of police, firefighters, EMTs, counselors, and others who put themselves on the frontlines for the victims and their families. “When people start talking about those who need assistance, there’s no mention of our first responders,” said Vincent Van Hasselt, Ph.D., a professor in Nova Southeastern University’s College of Psychology. “Why aren’t they part of the discussion?” Just minutes after Cruz fired the last round from his AR-15 assault-style rifle, the call went out for area grief counselors to mobilize – and that included a group from the College of Psychology and its mental health clinics. “The email requests started coming shortly after the incident asking us to be ready to go,” said Mike Quinones, clinical coordinator for NSU’s Trauma Resolution and Integration Program (TRIP). “I jumped online to learn as much as I could about the incident so I had a frame of reference when we headed to the scene.” The Red Cross requested the university’s counselors begin their work the next morning in the Resiliency Center that had been set up near the school. Quinones and the rest of the counseling team arrived to a flurry of activity. 9 NSU HORIZONS BY JOE DONZELLI continued on next page