FSU social work dean discusses Orlando shootings

James Clark

Counseling is critical in the aftermath of Orlando shootings

James Clark, dean of the College of Social Work at Florida State University, has been in Orlando where the state chapter of the National Association of Social Work is meeting. The setting puts him right in the middle of the aftermath of one of the worst cases of mass shootings in the country.

Beyond the criminal investigation, there is the huge responsibility to address the needs of the families affected by the 49 deaths.

Clark talked to the Tallahassee Democrat on the importance of creating a response network in such a case.

“My role thus far has been working with social work leadership who are supporting the responses on the ground,” he said. “The great challenge will be for institutions like universities to have a plan in place to continue to support survivors and families over the next several years as the traumatic losses cascade in the region.

“The LGBTQ community is especially struggling and needs strong connections for ongoing healing.”

Q: How did you get invited to lend your expertise in Orlando?  

A: I was not invited — I more or less jumped in after seeing events unfold on TV.  On Monday, I reached out to some colleagues in Orlando by phone to offer support, and to mostly to listen to people share their experiences. Our FSU College of Social Work Facebook Page also pushed out some trauma-informed resources from the National Center for Traumatic Stress Network.

https://www.facebook.com/fsu.csw/

Q: What has been your primary role so far?

A: I traveled to Orlando to represent the FSU College of Social Work at the NASW-Florida meeting.  While I was originally scheduled only to participate in the meeting, I became focused on supporting and talking with our alumni, friends and colleagues in the region about their reactions to the mass murder.

I also have connected people here to national experts and resources that can be helpful in the short and long-term. For example, I have been sharing an amazing app for Psychological First Aid, which is a protocol for helping survivors and also for self-care. Interested readers can download it on their smartphones at this link:

http://www.nctsn.org/content/pfa-mobile

Q: What are the greatest challenges for social workers, counselors, and others trying to help?

A:  There are many, but I’ll name two. The first challenge is developing a strategy for responding over the long term. There has been an immediate and significant outpouring of support and help from medical and behavioral health professionals — including the use of therapy pets to comfort people.

The community will be facing the cascade of losses over the next months and years, so developing sustainable, long-term responses will be crucial. I know that our wonderful social work colleagues at the University of Central Florida have already begun thinking about this.

A second challenge will be for the first-responders to cope with their stressful experiences in the aftermath. Today I spoke with a medical professional whose husband is a police officer that responded to the shooting. She is concerned that he is carrying a heavy burden—especially the memories of what he witnessed at the scene.

Another conversation with a sheriff’s deputy confirmed that many colleagues and family members of first responders are concerned about their internalized stress. Many people take days, weeks, or even months to feel the full impacts of these experiences and the professional community here will be challenged to support these courageous men and women as they deal with their memories.

Fortunately, the clinical research on first responders shows that the majority will recover and even learn important lessons from their experiences, especially those with supportive family, friends, and colleagues.

Q: Have you assisted in previous massive tragedies and if so, where, when?

A: I was a co-founder of the University of Kentucky Center on Trauma and Children, which is an amazing clinical and research center that works with traumatized children and their caregivers ( http://www.uky.edu/CTAC/)

During my years in Kentucky, I responded to school shootings, natural disaster, and even the aftermath of suicides and other sudden deaths in elementary, middle, and high-school communities.  When I was director of the social work school at the University of Cincinnati, I spent time on the radio educating the public about how to help children deal with the news of the Sandy Hook mass murder.

Q: How does this one compare?

A: It’s difficult to compare these events since the losses are overwhelming each time. It is more than counting the number of casualties, although this is one dimension.

Mass murder is a particularly devastating and traumatic event because it cascades throughout entire communities for decades, affecting scores of people for each life lost. The deaths of those small children in the Sandy Hook shooting haunts me almost every day, and the loss of so many of Orlando’s young people who are the same ages of my own children and of my students is equally disturbing.

Clinical responses are crucial, but we need enlightened social policy changes as well.  These events can never be eliminated from our society but there are proven ways of reducing their frequency and lethality.

Q: What shooting-related issues are expected to be addressed at the meeting of social workers?

A: I know that the social work education leadership will be discussing strategies to help our students and communities, and I am sure there will be other conference sessions where these issues will now be explored even if originally this kind of material was not on the schedule.

You can bet that at a large gathering of social workers there will be ongoing discussions in the hallways and over meals between sessions too.  We have effective NASW leaders and members, so I expect that we will be seeing important initiatives emerge over the next weeks. Certainly, the NASW Facebook page lays out the Florida social work profession’s commitment to robust and ongoing responses:  https://www.facebook.com/nasw.florida/posts/496869190505651.

Contact senior writer Byron Dobson at bdobson@tallahassee.com or Twitter @byrondobson.

Original article available on the Tallahassee Democrat website here.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016 - 12:33 PM
Last updated: Thu, 03/28/2024 - 04:16 PM