I, as a counselor, am feeling very helpless as families of a few migrants in my area are very distressed. Two of these families lost a family member recently. I have started to feel that I can hardly provide any help in concrete terms while this is what is needed. I am feeling down, lost and out and questioning the value of the role I can play. What to do?

Questions › Category: Feeling sad and down › I, as a counselor, am feeling very helpless as families of a few migrants in my area are very distressed. Two of these families lost a family member recently. I have started to feel that I can hardly provide any help in concrete terms while this is what is needed. I am feeling down, lost and out and questioning the value of the role I can play. What to do?
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Natasha asked 3 years ago
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Dr. Rajkumari, Dept. of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS Expert answered 3 years ago
Facilitate the trauma recovery process by helping the families recognize the loss, react to the separation, help in recollecting and re-experiencing the relationship with the deceased, readjusting with the new reality. Please understand that it would take time to  reinvest in a future meaningfully. Allow them to share their struggles and successes and it can serve as a tool for the group to deepen the processing of grief. Helping them to recognize feelings, emotions associated with loss helps in modulating the intensity of emotions which, in-turn, could reduce destabilisation. Pandemics disrupt our sense of reality and order. Vicarious traumatization could be intense, hence please seek comfort and help from other colleagues, take care of yourself physically and emotionally and stay connected. Although the counsellor may not be in a position to provide tangible help,  this does not diminish the value of your role as a psychological support provider. You can play an important role in reducing emotional discomfort to varying extent, and in helping people to draw upon their own internal and external resources.