People impacted by Humboldt tragedy encouraged to talk

The Calgary Counselling Centre is encouraging people to talk to someone if they are feeling impacted by the Humboldt tragedy.

It comes ahead of a forum Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Calgary police headquarters, 5111 47th Street N.E., designed to help members of the community work through their grief.

People may not only be bothered by the crash, but it could also be bringing up other past traumas.

Registered Psychologist Maureen McWilliams says there’s such a thing as secondhand exposure, or vicarious trauma.

“Which is whereby even listening to the details of somebody else’s trauma can be traumatic for someone but its not necessarily as traumatic as the person who was involved in it.”

She says sometimes just being a listening post for someone you know is struggling is enough.

It’s good to listen to friends who may be feeling depressed or anxious, because it will take time to heal.

“Doing things like getting out, walking, going to the gym — burns off adrenaline — reaching out to others, try to maintain a normal schedule so you feel grounded. Common sense things are thins like eating healthy, do deep breathing,” said McWilliams.

If its affecting your job or your relationships you may need a counselling session, but in the meantime healthy distractions are also good.

“Just putting a deadline on how much time you’re actually going to spend talking about it,” McWilliams added.

If you do need some help, you can find more information at the Calgary Counselling Centre website.

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