Do Mass Shooters Share Characteristics?

Do Mass Shooters Share Characteristics?

In the aftermath of a mass shooting, we all wonder what went wrong and what can be done to prevent more violence in the future. Are there signs we are missing? Are there specific characteristics that predict aggressive behavior?

According to Kathryn Farr of Portland State University, the answer is yes.

Investigating the characteristics shared by 31 school boys involved in 29 mass shootings at American schools between 1995 and 2015, Kathryn Farr of Portland State University found that boys’ social status in middle and high school is determined in great part by peers’ acceptance of them as “appropriately masculine.” When this social status is in question, they become increasingly angry, depressed, more violent in their gendered practice, and develop deep-set grudges against their classmates. A shooting rampage then becomes their ultimate performance (Farr, 2017).

So what are these guidelines for gender appropriateness? Farr describes them as a set of “Adolescent Insider Masculinity” norms that depict masculinity as the ideal that men are cool, heterosexual and tough, shy away from “sissy stuff” and embrace activities, behavior and mannerisms that are typical of “guys” (Farr, 2017).

Of the shooters Farr investigated, ten had a history of serious psychiatric problems, while another ten grew up in extremely abusive households. The remaining eleven boys tended to react explosively and inappropriately to incidents that they perceived as unjustly discrediting them (Farr, 2017).

Farr explains, “Many of the adolescent shooters had personal troubles that affected their ability to manage their social performances at school. Moreover, the potential rampage of a boy with severe mental illness and rampage-related risk factors could be especially injurious” (Farr, 2017).

While all 31 shooters were made aware of their failings through their classmates’ emasculating bullying, rejection by girlfriends, and marginalization in general, most were repeatedly and publicly tagged with homosexual and feminized names such as “homo,” a “cry baby” or “fag” and some even reported being physically and sexually victimized by their male peers (Farr, 2017).

According to Farr, the shooters’ were often perceived as off, either not meeting or exaggerating the Adolescent Insider Masculinity imperatives. However, the shooters themselves typically perceived the responses they received as undeserved injustices that denied them their masculine entitlements. Their actions were often an attempt to reclaim their masculinity. For instance, they often brought guns to school, or emphasized violent themes in their writings, drawings, and class presentations. Almost all had bragged about their rampage plans. Unfortunately, such behavior typically further damaged the boys’ already low social status (Farr, 2017).

What we can do, Farr notes, is become aware of the warning signs, and when we see them, make every effort to reach out to them, and talk about issues such as masculinity, gender norms, and emasculating bullying. And, at the very least, avoid stigmatizing them.

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Course:

Counseling Victims of Mass ShootingsCounseling Victims of Mass Shootings is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that gives clinicians the tools they need to help their clients process, heal, and grow following the trauma of a mass shooting.

Sadly, mass shootings are becoming more widespread and occurring with ever greater frequency, often leaving in their wake thousands of lives forever changed. As victims struggle to make sense of the horror they have witnessed, mental health providers struggle to know how best to help them. The question we all seem to ask is, “Why did this happen?”

This course will begin with a discussion about why clinicians need to know about mass shootings and how this information can help them in their work with clients. We will then look at the etiology of mass shootings, exploring topics such as effects of media exposure, our attitudes and biases regarding mass shooters, and recognizing the signs that we often fail to see.

We will answer the question of whether mental illness drives mass shootings. We will examine common first responses to mass shootings, including shock, disbelief, and moral injury, while also taking a look at the effects of media exposure of the victims of mass shootings.

Then, we will turn our attention to the more prolonged psychological effects of mass shootings, such as a critical questioning and reconsideration of lives, values, beliefs, and priorities, and the search for meaning in the upheaval left in the wake of horrific events. This course will introduce a topic called posttraumatic growth, and explore the ways in which events such as mass shootings, while causing tremendous amounts of psychological distress, can also lead to psychological growth. This discussion will include topics such a dialectical thinking, the shifting of fundamental life perspectives, the opening of new possibilities, and the importance of community. Lastly, we will look at the exercises that you, the clinician, can use in the field or office with clients to promote coping skills in dealing with such horrific events, and to inspire psychological growth, adaptation, and resilience in the wake of trauma. Course #31-09 | 2018 | 47 pages | 20 posttest questions

Click here to learn more.

Course Directions

Our online courses provide instant access to the course materials and CE test. Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. Click here to learn more. Have a question? Contact us. We’re here to help!

Professional Development Resources is a nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. We are approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

Target Audience: PsychologistsCounselorsSocial WorkersMarriage & Family Therapist (MFTs)Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs)Occupational Therapists (OTs)Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs)School Psychologists, and Teachers

Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

Community Matters After a Mass Shooting

Community Matters – Especially After a Mass Shooting

Sadly, mass shootings are becoming more widespread and occurring with ever greater frequency, often leaving in their wake thousands of lives forever changed. As victims struggle to make sense of the horror they have witnessed, mental health providers struggle to know how best to help them. The question we all seem to ask is, “Why did this happen?” The etiology of mass shootings remains unclear.

In the wake of a mass shooting, immersing ourselves in a supportive community can help.

James Hawdon and John Ryan, professors of sociology at Virginia Tech, and Finnish researchers Atte Oksanen and Pekka Räsänen, studied four communities’ responses to tragedies at a shopping mall in Omaha, Nebraska and at schools in Jokela and Kauhajoki, Finland and Blacksburg, Virgina.

In all four communities people expressed their need for belonging after the shootings, and this solidarity appeared to have remarkable benefits for their well-being. After each incident, the communities held mass gatherings, vigils and spontaneously erected monuments to the victims, demonstrating that though they were in shock, they were united (Hawdon et al., 2016).

The teams’ research showed that participating in the activities of local businesses, religious establishments, volunteer organizations, and social clubs shortly after a tragedy promoted solidarity while seeing a crisis counselor did not.

Another much larger study found similar results.

Martin Obschonka, Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane (Australia), in collaboration with the economist Michael Stützer from the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) in Mannheim (Germany) and researchers from the University of Texas in Austin (USA) and the University of Cambridge (UK) compared self-assessed neurotic personality traits within a global personality sample including 7 million respondents worldwide via a large scale online study. They filtered out around 33,500 people living in 89 German cities and tested the historical link between the local intensity of the WWII strategic bombing and today’s regional level of neurotic traits and related clinical problems such as depression disorders in each of these cities.

Surprisingly, the researchers’ findings countered their assumptions. Fewer neurotic traits were found in populations of cities subjected to substantial wartime bombing, compared to the populations of cities that suffered less destruction and trauma caused by bombing raids. Moreover, more severe bombing did not impede entrepreneurship in the region, but instead acted as a protective factor against future stress.

Regions that experienced major destruction during WWII raids and currently facing major stressors, such as economic instability, are protected against higher levels of neurotic traits and higher rates of clinical depression disorders. They seem to have a striking historical resilience today (Obschonka et al., 2017).

“It is possible that the experience of severe bombing in WWII has made the people and the local culture there more resilient in the long-term, which is for example relevant when coping with major stressors and challenges today such as economic hardship” (Stützer, 2017).

While there are many potential mechanisms behind this result, Obschonka suggests, “One possibility is that the major destruction of cities could have made the local population “tougher,” serving as an impetus for the remaining residents to pull together” (Obschonka, 2017). Obschonka notes that research indicates that external threats strengthen social support, thereby boosting their psychological adjustment. He points to the psychological resilience shown through Germany’s reconstruction of the destroyed houses and infrastructure of bombed cities in the years following the war. New Yorkers demonstrated this same resilience after 9/11 (Obschonka, 2017).

“Our results can also be explained by means of research on the neurobiology of resilience, which emphasizes resilience effects of adversity” (Obschonka, 2017).

As we attempt to reconcile our changed realities after a mass shooting, we come to see the events in our lives from multiple perspectives; develop dialectical thinking; incorporate new perspectives on life; adopt new approaches, and experience community solidarity. All of these help us realize that psychological growth is possible, even in the wake of a mass shooting.

Course excerpt from:

Counseling Victims of Mass ShootingsCounseling Victims of Mass Shootings is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that gives clinicians the tools they need to help their clients process, heal, and grow following the trauma of a mass shooting.

This course will begin with a discussion about why clinicians need to know about mass shootings and how this information can help them in their work with clients. We will then look at the etiology of mass shootings, exploring topics such as effects of media exposure, our attitudes and biases regarding mass shooters, and recognizing the signs that we often fail to see. We will answer the question of whether mental illness drives mass shootings. We will examine common first responses to mass shootings, including shock, disbelief, and moral injury, while also taking a look at the effects of media exposure of the victims of mass shootings.

Then, we will turn our attention to the more prolonged psychological effects of mass shootings, such as a critical questioning and reconsideration of lives, values, beliefs, and priorities, and the search for meaning in the upheaval left in the wake of horrific events. This course will introduce a topic called posttraumatic growth, and explore the ways in which events such as mass shootings, while causing tremendous amounts of psychological distress, can also lead to psychological growth. This discussion will include topics such a dialectical thinking, the shifting of fundamental life perspectives, the opening of new possibilities, and the importance of community. Lastly, we will look at the exercises that you, the clinician, can use in the field or office with clients to promote coping skills in dealing with such horrific events, and to inspire psychological growth, adaptation, and resilience in the wake of trauma. Course #31-09 | 2018 | 47 pages | 20 posttest questions

Course Directions

Our online courses provide instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test. Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. Click here to learn more. Have a question? Contact us. We’re here to help!

Professional Development Resources is a nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. We are approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

Target Audience: PsychologistsCounselorsSocial WorkersMarriage & Family Therapist (MFTs)Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs)Occupational Therapists (OTs)Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs)School Psychologists, and Teachers

Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

 

Mass Shootings & Media Coverage

Mass shootings & media coverage

“Mass shootings are on the rise and so is media coverage of them,” said Jennifer B. Johnston, PhD, of Western New Mexico University.

For many, like Johnston, the question is: Which came first?

“Is the relationship merely unidirectional: More shootings lead to more coverage? Or is it possible that more coverage leads to more shootings?” asks Johnston.

Defining mass shootings as either attempts to kill multiple people who are not relatives or those resulting in injuries or fatalities in public places, Johnston and her coauthor, Andrew Joy, BS, also of Western New Mexico University, reviewed data on mass shootings amassed by media outlets, the FBI and advocacy organizations, as well as scholarly articles.

Not only did Johnston and Joy find that the prevalence of these crimes has risen in relation to the mass media coverage of them and the proliferation of social media sites that tend to glorify the shooters and downplay the victims, but that people who commit mass shootings in America tend to share three traits: rampant depression, social isolation and pathological narcissism (Johnston & Joy, 2016).

Further, they found that “media contagion” is largely responsible for the increase in these often deadly outbursts (Johnston & Joy, 2016).

“We suggest that the media cry to cling to ‘the public’s right to know’ covers up a greedier agenda to keep eyeballs glued to screens, since they know that frightening homicides are their No. 1 ratings and advertising boosters,” explains Johnston (Johnston, 2016).

Unfortunately, Johnston and Joy also found that while many shooters see themselves as “victims of injustice,” a central component of many profiles of mass shooters is desire for fame” (Johnston & Joy, 2016).

This quest for fame among mass shooters skyrocketed since the mid-1990s “in correspondence to the emergence of widespread 24-hour news coverage on cable news programs, and the rise of the internet during the same period,” explains Johnston (Johnston, 2016).

The relationship between media coverage and incidence of mass shootings is just one of the many things we are learning about mass shootings, the factors that drive them, and the effect they have on us all.

Click here to learn more.

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Course:

Counseling Victims of Mass ShootingsCounseling Victims of Mass Shootings is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that gives clinicians the tools they need to help their clients process, heal, and grow following the trauma of a mass shooting.

Sadly, mass shootings are becoming more widespread and occurring with ever greater frequency, often leaving in their wake thousands of lives forever changed. As victims struggle to make sense of the horror they have witnessed, mental health providers struggle to know how best to help them. The question we all seem to ask is, “Why did this happen?”

This course will begin with a discussion about why clinicians need to know about mass shootings and how this information can help them in their work with clients. We will then look at the etiology of mass shootings, exploring topics such as effects of media exposure, our attitudes and biases regarding mass shooters, and recognizing the signs that we often fail to see.

We will answer the question of whether mental illness drives mass shootings. We will examine common first responses to mass shootings, including shock, disbelief, and moral injury, while also taking a look at the effects of media exposure of the victims of mass shootings.

Then, we will turn our attention to the more prolonged psychological effects of mass shootings, such as a critical questioning and reconsideration of lives, values, beliefs, and priorities, and the search for meaning in the upheaval left in the wake of horrific events. This course will introduce a topic called posttraumatic growth, and explore the ways in which events such as mass shootings, while causing tremendous amounts of psychological distress, can also lead to psychological growth. This discussion will include topics such a dialectical thinking, the shifting of fundamental life perspectives, the opening of new possibilities, and the importance of community. Lastly, we will look at the exercises that you, the clinician, can use in the field or office with clients to promote coping skills in dealing with such horrific events, and to inspire psychological growth, adaptation, and resilience in the wake of trauma. Course #31-09 | 2018 | 47 pages | 20 posttest questions

Course Directions

Our online courses provide instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test. Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. Click here to learn more. Have a question? Contact us. We’re here to help!

Professional Development Resources is a nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. We are approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

Target Audience: PsychologistsCounselorsSocial WorkersMarriage & Family Therapist (MFTs)Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs)Occupational Therapists (OTs)Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs)School Psychologists, and Teachers

Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

 

The Moral Injury of Mass Shootings

The Moral Injury of Mass Shootings

Failing to act when we think they should, particularly when the inaction involves harm to another person, or directly taking action against another challenge our ideas of moral rightness, and are what Kent Drescher, a clinical psychologist whose work with military veterans spans more than 25 years, calls “moral injuries.”

Drescher first used the term moral injury to describe when an individual experiences internal conflict stemming from involvement in acts that violate deeply held moral and ethical standards (Drescher et al., 2015). Moral injury is most likely to occur following events that involve betrayal, inappropriate or disproportionate violence, incidents involving civilians, and within-ranks violence (Drescher et al., 2015). Signs and symptoms of moral injury often include social problems, loss of trust or a sense of betrayal, spiritual/existential issues, psychological symptoms, and self-deprecation (Drescher et al., 2015).

Moral injury is also a concept that extends beyond the criteria for PTSD, typically involves disproportionate violence, is felt as morally injurious, and may include changes in spiritual and ethical attitudes and behaviors (Drescher et al., 2016). Where an injury might be defined as “damage or harm done to or suffered by a person,” a moral injury can be construed as damage or harm received to one’s moral center as a result of things experienced, seen, and done. Essentially moral injuries are actions that violate our sense of what is right, just, and fair. Further, they also violate our beliefs and assumptions about the way the world “should operate.”

The types of experiences that may lead to moral injury, Drescher notes, are acts of betrayal (by leadership, peers, civilians, or self); acts of disproportionate violence inflicted on others; incidents involving death or harm to civilians; and within group (or rank) violence (Drescher et al., 2016).

This is precisely why mass shootings often lead to feelings of moral injury. Why moral injuries matter when we talk about mass shootings is because mass shootings violate our ideas about what should happen. We don’t see them as fair, just, or in any way moral.

And what this leads to is often serious spiritual questioning, sometimes even a loss of faith, or what Drescher would call a “disruption in an individual’s confidence and expectations about their own or others’ motivation or capacity to behave in a just and ethical manner brought about by bearing witness to perceived immoral acts, failure to stop such actions, or perpetration of immoral acts, in particular actions that are inhumane, cruel, depraved, or violent, bringing about pain and suffering of others or their death” (Drescher, 2016).

The problem with moral injuries is not just that they lead to feelings of inner turmoil, shame, changes to a person’s sense of self, negative changes in ethical attitudes and behavior, changes or loss of spirituality, or reduced trust in others, but that all of these things combined make asking for help incredibly difficult.

But this is also where clinicians can be indispensable. Through understanding the mechanisms of moral injury, clinicians can become a critical life line for victims of mass shootings – one that understands and accepts their experiences, allows for their feelings of loss of spirituality, faith and trust, and continues to support them through the process of restoring them.

Click here to learn more.

Counseling Victims of Mass ShootingsCounseling Victims of Mass Shootings is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that gives clinicians the tools they need to help their clients process, heal, and grow following the trauma of a mass shooting.

Sadly, mass shootings are becoming more widespread and occurring with ever greater frequency, often leaving in their wake thousands of lives forever changed. As victims struggle to make sense of the horror they have witnessed, mental health providers struggle to know how best to help them. The question we all seem to ask is, “Why did this happen?”

This course will begin with a discussion about why clinicians need to know about mass shootings and how this information can help them in their work with clients. We will then look at the etiology of mass shootings, exploring topics such as effects of media exposure, our attitudes and biases regarding mass shooters, and recognizing the signs that we often fail to see.

We will answer the question of whether mental illness drives mass shootings. We will examine common first responses to mass shootings, including shock, disbelief, and moral injury, while also taking a look at the effects of media exposure of the victims of mass shootings.

Then, we will turn our attention to the more prolonged psychological effects of mass shootings, such as a critical questioning and reconsideration of lives, values, beliefs, and priorities, and the search for meaning in the upheaval left in the wake of horrific events. This course will introduce a topic called posttraumatic growth, and explore the ways in which events such as mass shootings, while causing tremendous amounts of psychological distress, can also lead to psychological growth. This discussion will include topics such a dialectical thinking, the shifting of fundamental life perspectives, the opening of new possibilities, and the importance of community. Lastly, we will look at the exercises that you, the clinician, can use in the field or office with clients to promote coping skills in dealing with such horrific events, and to inspire psychological growth, adaptation, and resilience in the wake of trauma. Course #31-09 | 2018 | 47 pages | 20 posttest questions

This online course provides instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test. After enrolling, click on My Account and scroll down to My Active Courses. From here you’ll see links to download/print the course materials and take the CE test (you can print the test to mark your answers on it while reading the course document).

Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. Click here to learn more. Have a question? Contact us. We’re here to help!

Professional Development Resources is a nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. We are approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

Target Audience: PsychologistsCounselorsSocial WorkersMarriage & Family Therapist (MFTs)Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs)Occupational Therapists (OTs)Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs)School Psychologists, and Teachers

Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

Therapists’ Lessons from Shooting Victims

Three Things I Learned from Working with the Aurora Theatre Shooting Victims

By Claire Dorotik-Nana, LMFT

I remember the morning clearly. I had just gotten up, and it was early. I had been preparing for my morning run when I received a strange text from a friend of mine asking if I was okay. Confused, I responded, “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” Then my friend sent over a link to a news article and asked, “Didn’t you see this?”

Clearly I hadn’t. Yet, as I read through the article, it seemed almost unreal. I lived across the street from the Aurora theatre. I could walk to it. I had, many times.

I frantically texted my younger brother. He also lived in Aurora, and we had discussed going to see The Dark Knight Rises – the very movie that James Holmes also chose – in that very theatre. Thankfully we had decided not to, but I wondered if perhaps he had gone with his wife anyway.

He texted right back. He was okay, but he too hadn’t seen the news.

When I walked in the door at the private practice where I counseled clients regularly, the office secretary informed me that likely, our office – and myself – would be getting calls from some of the people who had been in that theatre.

She was right. And in the next few weeks, I had the opportunity to work with some of the shooting victims. Here are three things I learned:

Counseling Victims of Mass Shootings

1. Traumatic Events Often Lead To A Tremendous Reverence For Life.

Perhaps one of the things that astounded me the most about every one of the victims that I worked with was that, even after what had been the most horrific experience of their lives, they expressed a profound sense of reverence for life. Some said things like, “I took way too many things in my life for granted,” “I didn’t appreciate the life I had, or the people in my life,” “Life is so precious, and we don’t realize how quickly it can be taken from us.” While they did struggle with feelings of guilt over the ones they had lost – and felt they should have done more to save – they also realized on a very deep level that lives were spared that day. Further, the experience shifted their perspectives about what is really important in life. One example is a woman who decided to pursue a different career, feeling like, “I don’t have any time to waste.”

2. Trauma Brings Out Our Innate Courage.

Initially my goal in working with the victims was simply to listen – to hear their stories without judgement, criticism, or even advice. I wanted to be a listening ear for whatever they needed to say. And I had no idea what to expect. But what I heard was story after story of tremendous strength. One man, who had been sitting right in front of one of my clients, dove across his seat to shield his young child from the gunfire. That man lost his life, but his child survived. Another man wrapped himself around his wife and pulled her under the seat. Thankfully, they both survived. The man’s best friend, however, who was huddled on top of them did not. There were numerous stories just like this of people sacrificing their lives to save others. And as I sat and listened to each one of these accounts, what emerged was the real story of courage that day.

3. Trauma Can Lead To Tremendous Growth.

There is one thing that can’t be argued about trauma – it forever changes us, and changes our lives. Early on, I had expected many of the victims to struggle mightily with flashbacks, an elevated stress response, feelings of hypervigilance, insomnia, and difficulty functioning. This is what I had learned in graduate school about trauma. Yet while there were some of these elements, there was something else. Something much more profound. I wasn’t aware of the term at the time, but what I experienced working with the victims of that theatre shooting is now known as post-traumatic growth. The idea is that it is because traumatic events fundamentally change our lives, we are forced to search for meaning in what has become of our lives. It is in that search that we come to better understand what is important to us, we become acutely aware of the fleeting nature of life, our perspectives on life change, and through the experience, we emerge stronger. I saw this in every single one of the people I worked with. And while the process was not easy – many coped with at times overwhelming feelings of sadness, grief, guilt, and anger – each one experienced a strength within themselves that they had no idea existed.

Claire was profoundly affected by working with the victims of this theatre shooting, and by each and every mass shooting since. Following the Vegas shooting, she decided to write an online CE course to help other therapists:

Counseling Victims of Mass ShootingsCounseling Victims of Mass Shootings is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that gives clinicians the tools they need to help their clients process, heal, and grow following the trauma of a mass shooting.

Sadly, mass shootings are becoming more widespread and occurring with ever greater frequency, often leaving in their wake thousands of lives forever changed. As victims struggle to make sense of the horror they have witnessed, mental health providers struggle to know how best to help them. The question we all seem to ask is, “Why did this happen?”

This course will begin with a discussion about why clinicians need to know about mass shootings and how this information can help them in their work with clients. We will then look at the etiology of mass shootings, exploring topics such as effects of media exposure, our attitudes and biases regarding mass shooters, and recognizing the signs that we often fail to see.

We will answer the question of whether mental illness drives mass shootings. We will examine common first responses to mass shootings, including shock, disbelief, and moral injury, while also taking a look at the effects of media exposure of the victims of mass shootings.

Then, we will turn our attention to the more prolonged psychological effects of mass shootings, such as a critical questioning and reconsideration of lives, values, beliefs, and priorities, and the search for meaning in the upheaval left in the wake of horrific events. This course will introduce a topic called posttraumatic growth, and explore the ways in which events such as mass shootings, while causing tremendous amounts of psychological distress, can also lead to psychological growth. This discussion will include topics such a dialectical thinking, the shifting of fundamental life perspectives, the opening of new possibilities, and the importance of community. Lastly, we will look at the exercises that you, the clinician, can use in the field or office with clients to promote coping skills in dealing with such horrific events, and to inspire psychological growth, adaptation, and resilience in the wake of trauma. Course #31-09 | 2018 | 47 pages | 20 posttest questions

This online continuing education (CE/CEU) course for healthcare professionals is sponsored by:

Professional Development Resources is a nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. We are approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

Target Audience: PsychologistsCounselorsSocial WorkersMarriage & Family Therapist (MFTs)Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs)Occupational Therapists (OTs)Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs)School Psychologists, and Teachers

Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

The Surprising Benefits of Resilience

resilience

To be resilient in todays’ world is a good thing – especially for children. Numerous studies have shown that when children are more resilient, they recover from life’s inevitable bumps and bruises much faster, even increasing their efforts after setbacks. But resilience goes much further than just bouncing back. Here are three other ways resilience helps children:

1. Enhancing the Action-Motivation Pathway.

Dopamine, the neurochemical most associated with rewards like getting a good grade, winning a game, or mastering a skill, peaks just after the reward is reached. But, what we are now learning about dopamine is that it also peaks just before the effort to reach that reward takes place – or more precisely, when we anticipate the reward (Numan & Stolzenberg, 2009). And no surprise, the more we actually reach our goals (and experience the rewards that come with them), the more we anticipate reaching future rewards, and the more dopamine is released in their anticipation. However, when the reward is challenging, or requires more effort than first thought, it’s resilience that keeps kids going. By causing them to redouble their efforts after setbacks, pursue their goals with continued fervor, and link the outcome to their efforts, resilience increases the chances that kids will not only reach the rewards they are after, but the many they will pursue in the future.

2. Building Mastery.

Mastery is the ability to improve our skills in the face of challenges long enough to believe that we have the competence to meet all of the demands the task presents us with. The road to mastery then, is paved with challenges, obstacles, setbacks, and a series of small wins that combine to create a larger, qualitative feeling of competence. Getting there requires the ability to pick ourselves up after each of these challenges and continue on long enough to overcome each and every one of them. Achieving mastery is, in many ways, resilience in action. And no time could this be more important than when children are learning and developing an attitude toward learning – one that either says achieving goals is possible with hard work, or one that says that goals cannot be reached, and pursuing them is fruitless.

3. Increasing Feelings of Internal Control.

When kids feel like their actions are in their control, it is much easier to see that it is not the events that happen to them that determine how they ultimately feel, but rather, how they respond to those events. When they internalize that they can choose how they respond, it is because they have learned that the outcome of goals – especially when setbacks arise – hinges upon the effort they put into those goals. If goals are not reached, it is not because someone else got in the way, or that the goals were out of reach, it is only because they needed to put in more effort. The difference is that kids with high levels of internal control do not look for external circumstances to change the outcome – that the game was rigged, the rules weren’t fair, etc. – but instead rely on their own efforts to reach their goals.

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Courses:

Building Resilience in your Young ClientBuilding Resilience in your Young Client is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that offers a wide variety of resilience interventions that can be used in therapy, school, and home settings. It has long been observed that there are certain children who experience better outcomes than others who are subjected to similar adversities, and a significant amount of literature has been devoted to the question of why this disparity exists. Research has largely focused on what has been termed “resilience.” Health professionals are treating an increasing number of children who have difficulty coping with 21st century everyday life. Issues that are hard to deal with include excessive pressure to succeed in school, bullying, divorce, or even abuse at home. This course provides a working definition of resilience and descriptions of the characteristics that may be associated with better outcomes for children who confront adversity in their lives. It also identifies particular groups of children – most notably those with developmental challenges and learning disabilities – who are most likely to benefit from resilience training. Course #30-98 | 2017 | 53 pages | 20 posttest questions

Counseling Victims of Mass ShootingsCounseling Victims of Mass Shootings is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that gives clinicians the tools they need to help their clients process, heal, and grow following the trauma of a mass shooting. Sadly, mass shootings are becoming more widespread and occurring with ever greater frequency, often leaving in their wake thousands of lives forever changed. As victims struggle to make sense of the horror they have witnessed, mental health providers struggle to know how best to help them. The question we all seem to ask is, “Why did this happen?” This course will begin with a discussion about why clinicians need to know about mass shootings and how this information can help them in their work with clients. We will then look at the etiology of mass shootings, exploring topics such as effects of media exposure, our attitudes and biases regarding mass shooters, and recognizing the signs that we often fail to see. We will answer the question of whether mental illness drives mass shootings. We will examine common first responses to mass shootings, including shock, disbelief, and moral injury, while also taking a look at the effects of media exposure of the victims of mass shootings. Then, we will turn our attention to the more prolonged psychological effects of mass shootings, such as a critical questioning and reconsideration of lives, values, beliefs, and priorities, and the search for meaning in the upheaval left in the wake of horrific events. This course will introduce a topic called posttraumatic growth, and explore the ways in which events such as mass shootings, while causing tremendous amounts of psychological distress, can also lead to psychological growth. This discussion will include topics such a dialectical thinking, the shifting of fundamental life perspectives, the opening of new possibilities, and the importance of community. Lastly, we will look at the exercises that you, the clinician, can use in the field or office with clients to promote coping skills in dealing with such horrific events, and to inspire psychological growth, adaptation, and resilience in the wake of trauma. Course #31-09 | 2018 | 47 pages | 20 posttest questions

Active Listening: Techniques that Work for Children and ParentsActive Listening: Techniques that Work for Children and Parents is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that offers a valuable compilation of practical and ready-to-use strategies and techniques for achieving more effective communication through active listening. One of the fundamental tools of clinicians who work effectively with children and adolescents is the art of listening. Without this set of skills, clinicians are likely to miss essential pieces of information their clients are trying to communicate to them, whether with words or with behavior. When the word “active” is added to “listening” it alters and amplifies the communication process to include a dynamic feedback loop in which the speaker and the listener validate that each party has been accurately heard. Appropriate use of listening skills by a clinician can increase self-esteem in young clients and motivate them to learn. Using active listening skills, clinicians become more confident and manage their therapy and counseling sessions with a broader and mutually respectful dialogue. This course will teach clinicians how to employ innovative and practical communication and conversational skills in their individual and group therapy sessions with clients and their families, as well as in their working relationships with other professionals. These techniques can be applied to a wide variety of clinical, classroom and home situations, and case examples are included. Also included are sections on positive thinking and resilience, problem-solving skills, and the communication of emotion. Course #30-90 | 2017 | 70 pages | 20 posttest questions

Professional Development Resources is a nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. We are approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

Target Audience: PsychologistsCounselorsSocial WorkersMarriage & Family Therapist (MFTs)Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs)Occupational Therapists (OTs)Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs)School Psychologists, and Teachers

Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

School Shooting Survivor Speaks Out

By Claire Dorotik-Nana, LMFT

School Shooting Survivor Speaks Out

The recent shooting in Parkland, Florida has brought up numerous issues, and even more questions.

  • What causes school shootings?
  • Is gun control the answer?
  • Does mental illness lead to violence?
  • What is going on with our country?

While many of these questions will go unanswered, I recently had the opportunity to speak with a school shooting survivor and ask a few myself. (Please note no name is given to protect identity.)

Can you tell me a bit about your experience? It happened 17 years ago, and to my knowledge, was the only school shooting where the perpetrator was a female. She came to school that day with 4 handguns, 377 rounds of ammunition, and put it in her locker. Then, in the middle of my second class, just as the class was about to be over, the teacher gets a call, and stands up and locks the door, and we are not allowed to leave.

Did the teacher tell you what was going on? No, nobody told us anything. Even when we were bused to a church a few miles away, they still didn’t tell us what was going on. But you know, this was before cell phones, or any of that, so even my parents didn’t know. My dad only found out because my uncle had seen it on the news and called him.

So the media knew before you or your family did? Yes, it took five hours to evacuate the whole school and take us to the church, and the whole time, we had no idea what was going on. That was the scariest part.

How was the experience for your parents? They were terrified. Nobody would tell them anything. Not even if I was okay.

So how did that day finally end? Once the whole school was in the church, the parents were finally let in to see their children, and told we could all go home.

What was it like seeing your parents again after that experience? It was huge relief. My mom was so worried. And I was just worried. I mean we had no idea what was going on.

What did your learn later about the shooter? She was girl we all knew because she was bullied. Every day, she was harassed after she got off the bus. When they interviewed her, she said she couldn’t take it anymore and she had brought the guns to school to shoot herself and let everyone see how bad she felt.

Knowing that now, do you think you would have done anything differently? I would have gotten to know her. Talk to her. You know, find about her. I don’t think anyone had reached out to her, gotten to know her at all.

You think that would have made a difference? Yes I do. Even now, looking at the Parkland shooting, all we know about him is what he has been labeled. A loner, crazy, etc. Do we really know him? Has anyone really spent time talking to him to find out why he did it?

Now that it is in the news again, what would you like to say about school shootings? We have become so selfish as people. We lack compassion. We don’t take time to get to know one another. There is no sense of community anymore. We are not sensitive to the pain of others. We don’t think about the sanctity of life anymore.

What do you think is the biggest problem we face when it comes to mass shootings? The media. Definitely the media. In my experience – even 17 years ago – they were in front of my school every morning for two weeks. Some mornings the vice principle would have to escort us in and shield us from them. Now, they make the shooter into a celebrity. But they also spread so many incorrect ideas. Like the AR-15 being an assault rifle. It’s not, and in fact, because it takes longer to load than a handgun, you could kill more people in a short amount of time with two handguns than one AR-15. But nobody hears that message. And even worse, what happens is that for people who are likely to turn to violence, the media attention makes them have to up the ante each time, so as the killings go on, they become more severe. You know, this is not a gun issue, it’s a people issue. We used to have guns in schools. Some schools even had gun ranges. The guns have always been there, but now we are different.

What advice would you give to people going through a mass shooting? Turn off the media. Stop watching the news. Find out for yourself what is going on. Spend time with your kids, your community. If you see a kid struggling, reach out to them instead of labeling them. I know of one school who implemented a yoga and meditation program to deal with violence and aggression, and it dramatically lowered acts of violence. Like I said, it’s not a gun issue, it’s a people issue.

Claire Dorotik-Nana, LMFT, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in post-traumatic growth, optimal performance, and wellness. She is licensed to practice in California and Colorado. Claire earned her BS in Kinesiology and worked as a personal trainer for years before becoming a course developer for International Sports Science Association. Claire is always thinking about ways to improve physical fitness and nutrition as a modality for improving mental health. She also writes in her popular blog, Leveraging Adversity on Psychcentral.

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Course:

Counseling Victims of Mass ShootingsCounseling Victims of Mass Shootings is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that gives clinicians the tools they need to help their clients process, heal, and grow following the trauma of a mass shooting.

Sadly, mass shootings are becoming more widespread and occurring with ever greater frequency, often leaving in their wake thousands of lives forever changed. As victims struggle to make sense of the horror they have witnessed, mental health providers struggle to know how best to help them. The question we all seem to ask is, “Why did this happen?”

This course will begin with a discussion about why clinicians need to know about mass shootings and how this information can help them in their work with clients. We will then look at the etiology of mass shootings, exploring topics such as effects of media exposure, our attitudes and biases regarding mass shooters, and recognizing the signs that we often fail to see.

We will answer the question of whether mental illness drives mass shootings. We will examine common first responses to mass shootings, including shock, disbelief, and moral injury, while also taking a look at the effects of media exposure of the victims of mass shootings.

Then, we will turn our attention to the more prolonged psychological effects of mass shootings, such as a critical questioning and reconsideration of lives, values, beliefs, and priorities, and the search for meaning in the upheaval left in the wake of horrific events. This course will introduce a topic called posttraumatic growth, and explore the ways in which events such as mass shootings, while causing tremendous amounts of psychological distress, can also lead to psychological growth. This discussion will include topics such a dialectical thinking, the shifting of fundamental life perspectives, the opening of new possibilities, and the importance of community. Lastly, we will look at the exercises that you, the clinician, can use in the field or office with clients to promote coping skills in dealing with such horrific events, and to inspire psychological growth, adaptation, and resilience in the wake of trauma. Course #31-09 | 2018 | 47 pages | 20 posttest questions

Professional Development Resources is a nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. We are approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

Target Audience: PsychologistsCounselorsSocial WorkersMarriage & Family Therapist (MFTs)Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs)Occupational Therapists (OTs)Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs)School Psychologists, and Teachers

Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

Counseling Victims of Mass Shootings

New Online CE Course @pdresources.org

Counseling Victims of Mass ShootingsCounseling Victims of Mass Shootings is a new 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that gives clinicians the tools they need to help their clients process, heal, and grow following the trauma of a mass shooting.

Sadly, mass shootings are becoming more widespread and occurring with ever greater frequency, often leaving in their wake thousands of lives forever changed. As victims struggle to make sense of the horror they have witnessed, mental health providers struggle to know how best to help them. The question we all seem to ask is, “Why did this happen?”

This course will begin with a discussion about why clinicians need to know about mass shootings and how this information can help them in their work with clients. We will then look at the etiology of mass shootings, exploring topics such as effects of media exposure, our attitudes and biases regarding mass shooters, and recognizing the signs that we often fail to see.

We will answer the question of whether mental illness drives mass shootings. We will examine common first responses to mass shootings, including shock, disbelief, and moral injury, while also taking a look at the effects of media exposure of the victims of mass shootings.

Then, we will turn our attention to the more prolonged psychological effects of mass shootings, such as a critical questioning and reconsideration of lives, values, beliefs, and priorities, and the search for meaning in the upheaval left in the wake of horrific events. This course will introduce a topic called posttraumatic growth, and explore the ways in which events such as mass shootings, while causing tremendous amounts of psychological distress, can also lead to psychological growth. This discussion will include topics such a dialectical thinking, the shifting of fundamental life perspectives, the opening of new possibilities, and the importance of community. Lastly, we will look at the exercises that you, the clinician, can use in the field or office with clients to promote coping skills in dealing with such horrific events, and to inspire psychological growth, adaptation, and resilience in the wake of trauma. Course #31-09 | 2018 | 47 pages | 20 posttest questions

Click here to learn more.

This online course provides instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test (you can print the test to mark your answers on it while reading the course document). Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. Click here to learn more. Have a question? Contact us. We’re here to help!

Professional Development Resources is a nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. We are approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

Target Audience: PsychologistsCounselorsSocial WorkersMarriage & Family Therapist (MFTs)Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs)Occupational Therapists (OTs)Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs)School Psychologists, and Teachers

Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!