The London Bombings, One Year On.
It is nearly a year since the London bombings, but for the survivors the smallest things - the smell of burning, laughter, being late - still trigger traumas.
This article shows yet again the need for community outreach, such as survivor networks and information meetings, to ensure that people get information about sources of help and can work through issues such as survivor guilt and other things making them feel they do not deserve to get help.
Please note that the views expressed about debriefing are from a very specific viewpoint as much of the research actually researched properly conducted group debriefing which was never intended for direct survivors and was not much used in the UK until the early 1990's, several years after the King's Cross Fire.
Also remember that many counsellors who are not psychiatrists and psychologists do specialise in trauma so would not be like the one mentioned in the article and do know what to do about 'stuck' emotions and how to ensure that difficult emotions are left hidden until the client has the capacity to deal with them.
If only the London Assembly could have learnt from the experience of Ufton Nervet - and actually all other previous disasters. These lessons about how people who are not physically injured get ignored have not yet been learned though the learning has been there for years. Unfortunately, this subject has become the preserve of people in white coats and those with a wider view of the issues are disregarded.
Read the article here.