Resiliency Center offers holiday coping tips for Oct. 1 survivors

With New Year’s Eve fireworks flying into the sky and people gathering for the holidays, the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center suggests that survivors of the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting will need extra support this holiday season and has offered holiday coping tips and virtual support groups.

The center offers free resources and support to anyone “affected by the 1 October attack, including survivors, family members of victims, responders, and those who assisted victims or witnessed the incident.”

Since April, the center has held weekly Route 91 virtual support groups of four to 10 people with a life coach or social worker. They discuss topics including anxiety, fear, intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, how to self-care without feeling selfish, positive self-talk and affirmations, and how to navigate life after the massacre.

“To have another survivor look at you and say, ‘I feel the same way,’ is so validating and important — makes you feel like you aren’t crazy,” Jill Winter, a survivor, said.

“The support and camaraderie you feel in the group is truly healing.”

This month, the support groups are discussing how to navigate emotional triggers during the holidays: noises from fireworks, coping with the death of a loved one, navigating flashbacks, and dealing with family members who don’t understand the grief or trauma survivors still experience.

“The mind can’t make sense of such a horrific event, but it truly wants to make sense of it,” said Alice Goldstein, life coach and group facilitator. “We want to create a safe place for ourselves so we can live in our own minds.”

With the holidays around the corner, the center suggests a handful of coping tips: talk about losses with loved ones who will listen and understand; balance solitude with social time; create a special tribute to loved ones a survivor has lost; focus on what’s important and what you can control; take walks or write in a journal when dealing with overwhelming emotions; change holiday traditions; and accept kindness and help from others.

Goldstein said dealing with friends and family who aren’t empathetic toward what the survivor went through is a common challenge. “Symptoms don’t just go away, and people don’t just get over these things,” Goldstein said. “It takes time, effort and loving support.”

Aside from virtual support groups, the center also offers virtual trauma-informed mindfulness meditation sessions.

“Everyone copes with tragedy and trauma at a different pace,” Terri Keener, Vegas Strong Resiliency Center behavioral health coordinator, said. “We want people to know that wherever you’re in your process, it’s OK. You don’t have to go through it alone.”

For free virtual support groups and additional resources see the center’s calendar.

Contact Mya Constantino at mconstantino@reviewjournal.com. Follow @searchingformya on Twitter.