Mental Health Partners is addressing the need for long-term counseling for Table Mesa survivors

People who survive mass shootings often have a need for long-term counseling, an unfortunate reality that has become all-too-evident to mental health providers throughout the U.S.

That’s why Mental Health Partners (MHP) plans to continue providing counseling and other support services to the Boulder community as long as there’s a need.

“We know from other mass casualty events in the United States that many survivors say that recovery and healing is a lengthy and difficult process,” said Kevin Braney, MHP Incident Commander Table Mesa Incident. “While there is often significant support immediately following an event, the sad reality is that the long-term needs of survivors are often forgotten. This will not happen in Boulder. We have been serving the Boulder and Broomfield communities for more than 60 years and we plan on being here for everyone who has been impacted by this tragedy now and in the future.”

A report by the American Psychological Association says most mass shooting survivors show resilience, but some will need access to long-term counseling programs for depression, anxiety, substance abuse and PTSD – post-traumatic stress disorder.

Evidence of the need for long-term care comes from survivors themselves.

For example, after the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, students there said they felt rushed to return to normal.

“When it comes down to it, our trauma was quickly swept aside because they wanted everything to return to normal,” survivor Lex Michael wrote on Twitter. “We literally went back a week after it happened.”

Two Stoneman Douglas students took their own lives just after the one-year anniversary of the shooting. At least one of the students, Sydney Aiello, had been diagnosed with PTSD.

The National Center for PTSD estimates that 28 percent of mass shooting survivors develop PTSD.

When East Carolina University associate professor of psychology Heather Littleton studied student adjustment after the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, she found that “rates of elevated PTSD symptoms persisted among survivors one-year post-shooting. This was consistent with the reports of local mental health providers, who noted an influx of survivors who sought treatment as time went on – after community focus and media attention had shifted – compared with those seeking help in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.”

So, it’s critical that survivors have access to ongoing mental health support and, equally important, is that they feel connected to their communities.

That belief is also borne out by Heather Dearman, whose cousin was permanently disabled in the July 2012 mass shooting at Aurora’s Century 16 movie theater.

“We learned that it takes a community to heal a community,” Ms. Dearman said. “Even today, if someone needs help they can call Aurora Mental Health and they will offer them free services. So, it’s important that people have access to long-term services because things will trigger people, even 10 years later.”

Mental Health Partners is providing support to the community at the #BoulderStrong Resource Center, and through its hotline and walk-in crisis center.

The 24/7 hotline number is 844-493-TALK (8255); the 24/7 crisis center is at 3180 Airport Road, Boulder.

“Although some survivors may not feel the need for help right now, sometimes just knowing that help is available if and when it’s needed is a comfort,” Braney said. “We want survivors to know that we’re here for the long haul.”

In addition to no-cost counseling for those most affected, MHP and the #BoulderStrong Resource Center are working to provide a wide array of free health and wellness services.