As I was asked to write a brief article for PTSD awareness month, I internally grappled with what I wanted to convey. As an African American clinician serving clients in the midst of racial injustice, social unrest, and a global pandemic, I found it challenging to be both carefully informative yet concise.

Though the societal problems we have collectively faced have been increasingly challenging within recent years, the past few months have shed light on many existing vulnerabilities and inequalities across social, economic, and racial lines. Many people that have rarely if ever faced trauma on an individual level, have undoubtedly witnessed it on a collective scale. The words “I can’t breathe” have taken on new meaning in the wake of both increasing infections of the novel Coronavirus and the deaths of unarmed African Americans faced with unfathomable police brutality.

In essence, these issues have become etched in our psyches and have caused us to view our lives and normal routines in vastly different ways. Daily life for so many people has been unexpectedly shifted due to social distancing, imposed curfews, and having to navigate Zoom, Google Duo, and other video conferencing platforms to communicate with those we care about.

The nearly 19-year long War in Afghanistan, the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, the COVID-19 pandemic, countless mass shootings, an opioid epidemic, an economic recession, and increasing severe weather due to climate change are all pressing issues that have taken a toll on our collective consciousness nationally and internationally. All of these concerns either directly or indirectly impact us on multiple levels - emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, socially, vocationally, and financially. However, the emotional and psychological toll can be much greater and acutely traumatic for some.

Trauma is a powerful emotional response to experiencing or witnessing a distressing event such as war, abuse, a natural disaster, an accident, or the sudden loss of a loved one. When describing it to my clients, I often liken trauma to an open psychological or emotional wound that continues to cause pain and duress until it is thoroughly examined and healed. More specifically, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that follows direct or indirect exposure to an overwhelming, shocking, distressing, or life-threatening event. The main features are intrusive thoughts including flashbacks and nightmares, avoidance of trauma reminders, hyperarousal, and negative thoughts, feelings, and internal beliefs.

In clinical practice when working with individual clients, trauma treatment usually begins with psychoeducation followed by deep breathing, grounding and other relaxation exercises. On a collective level, with mezzo and macro social work practice in mind, in order for true healing to take place, adequately educating people about trauma and the aforementioned pertinent issues is imperative. Also, a collective mindful way for us to engage in honest dialogue without avoidance, pose the hard questions for exploration, release our frustrations, manage the stress we have experienced, and finally breathe unhindered, must also be a part of the strategic treatment plan of action if we want to see true recovery in the wake of our collective PTSD symptoms.

At the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Cape Fear Valley in Fayetteville, NC, we provide several evidence-based practices (EBPs) to treat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related disorders to include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy, and Prolonged Exposure (PE). Since joining the organization in August 2017, it’s been my privilege and honor to be a part of this clinical team of professionals that provides this high quality treatment to Veterans and their family members. To learn more about Cohen Clinic services, click here.