Spokane Fire: For those, like me, who are safe and want to help

We're starting to see footage of the damage from the fires in Spokane, and it's gut wrenching. These are our neighbors, or colleagues, our friends. We drive on these roads to go to EFT Externship at Whitworth. 

Beyond the obvious personal aspect of the fires, I am feeling my professional side called to help. I'm thinking of what people might need, what special tools I have to help, where I can be plugged in. 

Other therapists in other communities have walked this road when their neighborhoods burned, and we can learn from them. I am reminded of this, and I'm sharing it with you: there are two ways to help, 1) crisis response and 2) long term healing. The marathon of trauma recovery. The thing I do for and with people all the time.

Both crisis response and marathon healing are critically important. Whatever camp you fall into is good, because you are an important part of recovery.

There is going to be a massive crisis response. Our city, our state, our faith communities, our nonprofits are going to help. Our first responders started helping immediately. If you are a crisis response person, plug into these systems of support. There are programs that reimburse therapists for this type of work. Please use them to sustain yourself (in terms of community and in terms of money) while you hold space for people reeling from crisis!

But we know this volume of front line support is going to end. The news cycle will move onto other things. Funds will dry up. Systems will move on. And our community will still be here, grieving, although most people won't know to call it grief.

Insurance companies will stop covering certain neighborhoods for fire loss. Folks who have good fire insurance coverage now will realize they don't have clean up insurance, and they have to pay out of pocket to clean their toxic soil before they can rebuild. Folks who grew up in scarcity and spent decades building financial safety through steady mortgage payments, only to have it all threatened by a fire, are never going to feel as financially safe ever again. Couples are going to break up when they no longer have lawns to mow, evening routines to fall into, and family dinners to host, and don't know how to reach each other across that gap. This is where I feel most called to the sacred work of trauma, grief, and relationship. This is where I am uniquely positioned to help. 

So please, as our community assesses the damage and responds to this crisis, honor yourself in the kind of support you feel called to offer ... and know that, if you're someone (like me) who can do crisis response but actually loves the marathon recovery work more, you have powerful understanding and knowledge of how this type of trauma affects people long term. Naming that impact and holding space for it for people is a powerful gift you can give our community.