Beyond trauma.
I have sat by the bedside of my family members in ICU,
And I've stood at the other end of the bed in a group of clinicians during bedside rounds.
Both are difficult and challenging in different ways.
The isolation of critical care is challenging in the best of times.
During the pandemic,
I've reflected on my life work,
Both in direct medical,
Frontline,
As a clinician,
And as a therapist working in health care.
During the time that I worked in critical care,
I started writing a book,
A book for caregivers.
I haven't finished that piece of work.
It's challenging and difficult,
And it's interwoven with my own personal trauma.
I started writing to process my own stuff,
And the process helped.
Each day working as a frontline worker in critical care is highly charged,
And clinicians bond.
My work in this area was brief,
And I would go on to other specialized units to learn,
Grow,
And hone my skills.
The time working in critical care as a clinician would have a lasting impact.
So would my time as a caregiver.
I believe that these experiences offer me a unique perspective working with patients as a therapist.
You see,
The body recovers far faster than the brain,
And the psychological and emotional healing usually only begins once a patient is discharged back to the world.
The IC unit is a trauma unto itself.
Let's face it.
There is no patient handbook for trauma.
There are discharge papers,
Medications,
Rehab,
And therapy.
This,
Perhaps the greatest gift that we can offer,
Is getting real.
For there are so many things that we as clinicians and family members don't talk about because of our own fear and discomfort.
What I do believe is that difficult conversations are important conversations.
Following a traumatic event,
People are changed,
And life as one knows it will never be the same.
I've experienced this loss firsthand with a family member and working with patients and clients accepting loss as they accept and adapt and move on.
Healing.
Humans are incredibly resilient.
We are hardwired to adapt,
Adjust,
Learn,
And grow.
We can learn new things.
We can heal emotionally,
Psychologically,
As well as physically,
Socially,
And spiritually.
How does this healing happen?
It happens when we begin to speak our truth,
When we open up and get in touch with ourselves,
And then with others.
The world in lockdown can be compared to an IC unit with all of the world's inhabitants safely secured,
Waiting.
The patients in hospital with the virus and the clinicians working to heal the patients are also feeling and experiencing a unique isolation that they've never experienced before.
These are all new challenges.
And a different type of isolation.
When we come out of this,
We may experience waves of shock,
Anger,
Anxiety,
Depression.
And no one has prepared us for this.
Today,
Let's make a start,
One in which we can get in touch with our own feelings.
We can offer ourselves some compassion,
Love,
Understanding,
First for ourselves,
Our neighbors,
The community,
And the world.
The world is one,
And we are experiencing one global pandemic.
And we can learn,
Grow,
And transcend,
Working towards living harmoniously with ourselves and with others.
Namaste,
Dear friends.
May you be well.
