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Things that Help after a Disaster

After experiencing a disaster, many are left with on-going disturbing thoughts, nightmares, troublesome feelings or uncomfortable body sensations that make it difficult to move forward in the healing process. It is normal to feel dissociated or disconnected in the beginning since it would be too much to grasp and cope with all at once. Healing is a process and there are things that can help us move forward.

Things that help:

  1. Eating regular, healthy meals (even if you don’t feel like it)​

  2. Drinking plenty of water instead of caffeinated or sugar drinks

  3. Getting enough rest or sleep

  4. Taking time to be present with family & friends; talking and listening

  5. Keeping a regular routine as much as possible

  6. Participating in religious or cultural practices

  7. Expressing feelings through journaling, art, music, dance, poetry, or storytelling 

  8. Learning new ways of calming your body to let it know it is safe again

  9. Focusing on hope 

Things that don't help:

  1. Spending large amounts of time watching images of the disaster

  2. Working too much

  3. Withdrawing from family, friends, your faith community or pleasant activities

  4. Numbing your pain with the use of alcohol and drugs

  5. Using addictions (shopping, gambling, video games, sex/porn, etc.) to cope

  6. Blaming others

  7. Eating too much or too little

  8. Violent or hurtful anger

  9. Excessive screen time

  10. Refusing to get or accept help

Sometimes, in spite of doing all the right things, the disturbing thoughts, feelings and body sensations won’t go away. The brain can falsely sense it is still in danger, which creates on-going symptoms. A history of other traumatic experiences can make healing seem even more difficult. 

Brainspotting is a very fast and effective therapy to help calm the nervous system and let the body & brain know you are safe again. Miraculously, we can find problematic body symptoms through our vision. Brainspotting helps to find and release stuck body symptoms, which then decreases negative thoughts, beliefs and emotions. This can often be done in 1-5 sessions.

Prepared by: Kathy Nussbaum, APRN
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