How Uvalde families are coping with trauma after the elementary school massacre

Geoff Bennett:

As the city of Tulsa begins to grieve its losses, hundreds of mourners in the community of Uvalde, Texas have been coming together for the funerals of those who were killed in last week's shooting.

Amna Nawaz is back with more on how that community is coping.

Amna Nawaz:

Geoff, it has been just over a week since the shooting in Uvalde, but families and community members are just beginning to navigate their grief.

Counselors and mental health services are making themselves available to the community to help cope with the trauma and the loss.

Joining me now to talk about her work in Uvalde and best practices for those dealing with this tragedy is CEO and clinical director of San Antonio Counseling and Behavioral Center, Dr. Martha Livingston.

Dr. Livingston, welcome to the "NewsHour." Thank you for joining us.

You and I met in Uvalde when you had just arrived with colleagues from San Antonio. You set up shop a number of clinics and basically said, anyone who needs our help, we are here, come on in.

So, give me a sense. During your time on the ground there, who came to see you? What were they sharing with you?

Dr. Martha Livingston, San Antonio Counseling and Behavioral Center: Yes, we felt the need, compelled to go down there, being only an hour-and-a-half away, and having the ability to — as a therapist, to help people going through this crisis.

We actually linked up with the pediatrician from that community, the only pediatrician in town. And he allowed us to use his clinic as a safe space. So people were able to come in, whether it was first responders, siblings of some of the victims, and family members.

Amna Nawaz:

And what kind of things were they sharing with you? I imagine, in those early days, there's a lot of shock. So what do people say when they come to you?

Dr. Martha Livingston:

Yes, well, they — they came from different perspectives in terms of, like, their involvement.

Either they were in the school, some of the children, some of the relatives, even some of — like I said, some of the first responders, or even a physician himself who was on call that night and was triaging the children at the hospital.

So, we were able to talk to just a variety of people that obviously were in shock, but also sharing their stories. So I think that, just as human beings, we need to share our experiences and what we dealt with. And that's one of the ways that they process what they have gone through.

So, our job was really to listen to them, to validate what they had seen and experienced to help them process it.

Amna Nawaz:

What about the children you mentioned there, many who — the many hundreds of children who made it out of that school, the ones who survived?

I spoke to the mother of one who had been incredibly traumatized being in the classroom where the shooting happened. But so many children are trying to process this. What do you say to them when they come to you? And what are they like when they come to you? What questions do they have?

Dr. Martha Livingston:

Yes, we saw one particular child who was very traumatized, still shaking from the experience, and really thinking that the shooter would come back.

So they're really still in that space. And trying to help them make sense of it and making them feel safe is really key. I know the parents are struggling to find all the words to say to make them feel like things are going to be OK in this sort of time where we — it's OK to not be OK.

Even while — one of the parents brought their two daughters. He was actually a first responder himself who was there and was assisting some of the children that were actually still in the classroom. And so feelings of guilt that he was talking about, that he was telling some of the children that they were going to be OK, when, really, maybe they weren't OK.

I think that the need is great all across the board in that city in terms of, like, the impact that they have had on their lives. And it's here for long term. It's not something that they're going to be able to get over in just a week.

Amna Nawaz:

Dr. Livingston, as we speak here today, of course, we're just covering another mass shooting in Tulsa yesterday. The Uvalde shooting followed the Buffalo shooting two weeks earlier.

People watching around the country are also feeling a toll in their own way. I wonder what you can say to them about why and when they should seek support and how to talk to children about this.

Dr. Martha Livingston:

Yes, certainly.

I think that the parents need to be transparent with their children and talk about what they're feeling and what they're thinking. They're obviously exposed to it. We can't shelter them from it. They're going to be seeing it on social media, on television, and so really helping their children make sense of what's going on in the world.

And if they feel that they need professional help, there certainly are resources for them in and around their communities to access.

Parents, really, our job is to protect our children and to make them feel safe. So one way to do it is to have routines and have, like, an environment where they feel safe and that they can talk about whatever it is that they're — might be going through.

Amna Nawaz:

Some very useful tips there.

Dr. Martha Livingston, CEO and clinical director of the San Antonio Counseling and Behavioral Center, thank you so much for your time.

Dr. Martha Livingston:

Well, thank you.