Wellness roundup: Emergency trauma team helps parents, children process Helene

The Asheville Waldorf School expanded its education into teaching parents and children about trauma in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene. Collaborating with an international team of 14 volunteers from Mexico and Germany, the school offered a series of workshops Oct. 28-31, wherein parents learned how to identify trauma in their children and how to help mitigate its effects.

The children learned how to process their experiences, guided by the team that knows about the importance of addressing those thoughts and feelings in the beginning stages of their traumatization. The program was developed by the German group Friends of Waldorf Education, which points out on its website that it’s much harder to organize long-term assistance later, when symptoms caused by trauma and reaction formations are already chronic.

“We advertised the series as interventions for the children, but the parents stayed when they brought their children [and] had their own programs that paralleled [the work we did with the children],” says Elizabeth McKay, a teacher at the Asheville experiential academy that integrates the arts into education.

Events were held at the school, the Peri Social House in Black Mountain, Asheville’s St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and the Asheville Yoga Center. Teachers and volunteers — led by Bernd Ruf, co-founder of the Free Waldorf School in Karlsruhe, Germany — helped children ranging from toddlers to high schoolers minimize the long-term effects of Helene-induced trauma through art, play and music.

Sessions ranged in size from 20-100 participants and were aimed at creating a sense of community, emphasizing the importance of being together after the disaster, says McKay.

“[Symptoms of trauma] that parents can recognize in their children include regression to earlier-age behaviors like needing to sleep in their parents’ bed again or not wanting to leave the home for activities that used to be fun for them,” McKay says.

Ruf teaches that there are windows where responses to trauma, such as shock, are normal.

“Things like being more irritable, angry, or crying – all of that is a normal part of trauma response,” McKay says. But if a response goes on too long, parents should be concerned and consider consulting mental health professionals, she says.

Talking about their feelings at their own pace can help children, McKay says.

Ruf uses music, singing and dancing to help children overcome trauma. Singing moves one’s breath readily through the body, movement and dance integrate emotions back into the body, and making art reestablishes a sense of control over their environment.

“Bernd says just give the children crayons and let them just draw. Don’t give them prompts to draw something from the storm,” McKay says.

“Rhythm is also important, because body rhythms get disturbed after a shock,” McKay says. “Making sure children go to bed and get up at the same time reestablishes body rhythms. Walking is helpful because we’re surrounding ourselves with beauty and aesthetics. That helps us to bring order back to the soul.”

Parents can take heart that people are resilient when it comes to moving through natural disasters, McKay says.

Ruf has been heading emergency education crisis interventions in war and disaster zones since 2006 in Lebanon, China, the Gaza Strip, Indonesia, Haiti, Kyrgyzstan, Japan and Kenya.

“He said that the difference between the trauma in a natural disaster versus a man-made disaster is significant. When a natural disaster happens, about 75% of people can move through it without needing extra help,” McKay says.

“But in human-made events like war, only 50% of people can move through that. If trauma happens with a close family member, it’s 100%. That’s just not something anybody can move through without additional support,” McKay says.

More information is at avl.mx/e9x.

In other news

• The Center for Native Health (CNH) received two grants to support relief and rebuilding in Western North Carolina post-Helene. With a $20,000 grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and a $25,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, CNH is providing front-line supplies and critical assistance to impacted communities. CNH also plans to use funding to support river and waterway cleanup. “This grant funding reaffirms CNH’s commitment to the health, safety and well-being of Indigenous families and surrounding communities in Western North Carolina,” says Trey Adcock, executive director, in a CNH press release. “We are deeply grateful to our funders, whose support is instrumental in helping us restore and strengthen our communities after this disaster.” More information is at avl.mx/e9l.
• The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services is providing one-time disaster supplement benefits to help households already receiving Food and Nutrition Services in 23 counties impacted by Tropical Storm Helene. There is no action participants need to take to receive the benefit, which has been automatically loaded onto participants’ Electronic Benefit Transfer cards and are now available for use. The total benefit of more than $16 million has been issued to 68,000 households and 135,000 people in Western North Carolina. The benefit totals $292 for an individual, $975 for a family of four and $1,536 for a family of seven. More information at avl.mx/e9s.
• David Sweat is the new director of Buncombe County Health and Human Services (HHS). Sweat brings more than 30 years’ experience in public health to the post, most recently as Mecklenburg County’s COVID response unit director. Sweat says his immediate focus will be balancing ongoing programs and services with continued recovery efforts from Tropical Storm Helene. “We want the agencies within the HHS portfolio to work together in an integrated way to promote the health and well-being of all Buncombe County residents, whether that involves disease prevention, health promotion, emergency assistance, economic support, mental health services, community paramedicine, or social work services, we want to make sure these programs are working optimally,” he says.  More information is at avl.mx/e9z.

Save the date

• A group of local health practitioners host the Madison County Wellness Day on Sunday, Nov. 24, 10 a.m.—4 p.m. at the Prama Wellness Center, 161 Wellness Way, Marshall. The inaugural monthly event,  organized by the Prama Institute, offers community members essential wellness services free of charge, including acupuncture, massage therapy, counseling, herbalism, yoga, meditation and more. A free vegetarian and vegan lunch will be served. “We believe that healing is a community effort,” says Ramesh Bjonnes, event organizer. “Our goal is to provide accessible wellness resources that can help individuals cope with the emotional and physical impacts of Hurricane Helene and beyond.” More information is at avl.mx/ea9.