NCTCA 2022

Overview No two individuals, families, workplaces or communities are exactly the same. Covid-19 and its variants have demonstrated how broad the range of responses are to the threat of illness and the aftermath of loss. Yet beyond the virus lay the larger social, emotional and traumatic responses to the effects of quarantine and other containment measures. We say in the Traumatic Event Systems Model (TES™) of Crisis and Trauma Response that “high-profile"" trauma does not usually create new dynamics in human systems but instead simply intensifies already existing dynamics in families, workplaces, communities, etc.” Therefore, as exposure to trauma increases, escalated family dynamics, relational dynamics, and social dynamics become evident. At the core of this presentation are insights into the mental health needs that have evolved throughout the pandemic as well as our growing understanding of how to better assess and intervene. These dynamic insights have relevance at all levels of our professional responsibilities ranging from self to systems that we are responsible for. Teaching Points: • Pre-Pandemic Functioning as a Predictor of Symptom Development (Open versus Closed Systems). • Impact of Media and Social Media (High-Profile Traumatic Events). • The “Trauma Response Continuum” for Individuals and Systems (Stress Response Continuum). • Overfunctioners and Underfunctioners. • Non-Death-Related Loss • Effects of Quarantine: The Impaired “Closeness-Distance Cycle” in Families. • The “Trauma-Violence Continuum” (Dr. Marleen Wong, USC and J. Kevin Cameron). • Words are Powerful: The Strategic Use of language. • Reasonable Expectations of Self and Systems. • The Essential and Universal Element for Recovery from Trauma. • Assessing Self and Others: BASIC-IR™.