Health professionals help residents unpack feelings of dread and uncertainty post-Helene

In the immediate aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, many Western North Carolina residents began surveying the destruction of homes and businesses and scrambling to ensure neighbors and family members were OK. 

And while the floodwaters have receded and cleanup efforts have begun, mental health professionals know that the impacts of witnessing or experiencing natural disasters can linger, causing people to feel disoriented or at a loss of what to do or how to help themselves or others.

Crystal Nero, a licensed clinical mental health counselor who owns Mending Roots Healing Center in West Asheville, says that the psychological toll of natural disasters such as Helene can manifest in a myriad of ways and effects can last long after the traumatizing event.

“I think [mental health] is the forgotten aspect of a disaster,” says Nero, who has worked as a counselor for 10 years. “It is easy to get boots on the ground and to know that we have to move trees or debris. But it’s another thing to know that everyone has been impacted and is suffering and actually how to help with that suffering.”

WNC residents today may be experiencing a range of emotions and mental health conditions, such as survivor’s guilt, anxiety, overwhelm or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), says Nero. But, she adds, they don’t have to experience these emotions alone.

Nero is one of hundreds of area mental health providers, bodyworkers, acupuncturists and more who are offering free or discounted services and support groups to community members, volunteers and emergency service workers impacted by Helene. 

“As we come out of the shock phase — we’re still uncovering what exists and what doesn’t exist — but after that, people may begin to slip into grief. One thing I know about grief is it can become isolating,” says Nero. “And so when we heal collectively, we have better opportunities to manage things like PTSD.”

Mental health first aid

Following any traumatic event, Nero says that people may experience a sense of dread or uncertainty. Some people may also find it difficult to concentrate or make decisions.

In the immediate aftermath of the storm, Nero and several other therapists employed at her practice created a pop-up site outside their office in West Asheville to offer free mental health counseling. Ethan Chandler, a clinical social worker and addiction specialist who works as a therapist at the clinic, was among the organizers and therapists providing what he calls mental health first aid.

“Mental health first aid is like a community-level intervention of recognizing like the signs or the symptoms that someone might be developing a mental health issue that could develop into something really serious. Sometimes it’s addressing when someone is actively in a crisis, helping to get them support where they can be the safest,” says Chandler. “It’s pretty practical, it’s pretty brief, compared with regular therapy sessions.”

Chandler says that on the busiest day of the pop-up, volunteer therapists from the clinic saw about 12 people, many of whom were experiencing conflicting emotions such as gratitude, frustration, anger and guilt. Others, he says, simply needed to share their experience with an empathetic presence. 

“Something that really stuck out for me was that there were some people who seemed like they needed someone to bear witness with them in their grief, rather than try to make their grief go away or try to make their grief different,” says Chandler. “They just needed somebody there to understand that they were grieving and offer an ear to listen.”

While she is no longer operating the pop-up, Nero says that her practice now offers a six-week drop-in support group for anyone needing mental health support or interested in being with other community members. The group meets 5:30-7 p.m. Mondays at 577 Haywood Road in West Asheville. 

“It’s just one more way that we can offer support right now,” says Nero. “You can come to one, or you can come to all of them. We will share some skills and also offer some connective time to share and process some of the grief that’s happening for all of us.”

Mind-body connection

Trauma, anxiety and PTSD can also manifest in the body, says Arash Bains, who owns a bodywork studio in downtown Asheville. He and his co-founder, Myan Armbruster, a massage therapist, say that massage and bodywork can help improve mood, alleviate stress and help soothe people’s nervous systems as they process disaster-related trauma. 

“Massage and bodywork are caring about the whole person and their nervous system and focusing mental, spiritual, emotional, state, not just their physical state,” says Armbruster.

Bains and Armbruster are among hundreds of massage therapists offering discounted bodywork services for WNC residents, along with free massage for emergency service workers. So far, Bains and Armbruster have given 30 emergency workers complimentary massages.

“In the early days after the storm, you see all of these ambulances going 24/7. You see firefighters, these line workers, and you know they’re working tirelessly. You know they’re not getting any sleep,” says Bains. “And that kind of service for us as a community, for us who don’t have those abilities or don’t work in those fields, like we are indebted to those people. And so it was just a natural thing for us to do.” 

Bains adds that for those experiencing anxiety or fear about losing work or housing, counting on friends, family and others in the community can help reduce isolation. 

“Coming from my personal journey here, I got so stressed about the business, about my personal life, about the community. It was so hard to see this place where I’ve spent so much time falling in love with and connected to be destroyed like it is,” Bains explains. “I’ve learned that the No. 1 thing has been really leaning on other people — leaning on my friends, family and just anyone in the community. Now is the time to be kind and to really show up for each other.”

Helping the helpers

The desire to help Helene volunteers and emergency workers avoid storm-related burnout is what motivates Andrew Nugent-Head. Nugent-Head founded the nonprofit Association for Traditional Studies and works as the chief practitioner at the Alternative Clinic, which uses herbs, acupuncture and other Eastern medicines to treat patients. 

The clinic has offered pro bono work for police and firefighters since its inception but ramped up its efforts to also help volunteers since Helene. 

“As a nonprofit clinic, we have been doing nonprofit and pro bono work for 30 years,” says Nugent-Head. “Our mission has always been to help as many people as possible and to be as affordable as possible, given the costs of living in Asheville.”

When World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that provides food relief worldwide, set up next door to the Alternative Clinic in downtown Asheville, Nugent-Head knew exactly what he needed to do.

“What people don’t realize is that these [World Central Kitchen volunteers] are committed to their mission. They’re there at 6 in the morning, and their day ends at 9 p.m. They wake up, and they do it all over again,” he explains. 

He says that the clinic has provided $16,000 in treatments for volunteers and plans to continue offering pro bono work for police and firefighters and lower-cost services for the community at large. 

“One of the volunteers said it best: ‘By week three, we are usually tired, injured, grumpy, short-tempered,’” says Nugent-Head. “But now, a lot of them are discovering that they’re going to leave Asheville healthier because they came.”