Recent Natural Disasters
The Counseling Center is available to offer emotional support to UIC students whose families and friends may have been directly impacted by this late summer’s catastrophic natural disasters in the U.S. and elsewhere. In addition to calling or stopping by the Counseling Center to make an appointment or using our InTouch Hotline, we also offer the following relevant resources for emotional support and resilience building:
The American Psychological Association Help Center offers sound advice for those coping either from afar or more directly with this late summer’s hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and earthquakes: http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/disaster-articles.aspx
Among those materials is this relevant excerpt:
“While millions face the direct impact of the storms and flames, countless others face emotional responses as they look on with both worry and sympathy. Dealing with hurricanes from afar produces traumatic distress even for those not directly affected. Maintaining a sense of perspective, acknowledging your feelings and looking for ways to help in the recovery effort can be effective tools for coping. The same advice holds for distress caused by distant earthquakes; read the article for information on how psychologists can help.
Of course, waters will eventually recede, and fires will eventually die out. But it’s important to deal with the emotional aftermath. Recovering emotionally from disaster involves providing time to adjust, seeking support from loved ones and sharing your experiences.”