Red Cross Offers Quake Counseling

As part of an anniversary commemoration of the Northridge earthquake, the American Red Cross will offer free counseling sessions Tuesday for Los Angeles area residents who served as volunteers during its disaster relief program last year.

More than 14,000 volunteers from the Los Angeles area assisted the Red Cross with their food programs, housing shelters and relocation efforts.

A good many of those volunteers were not connected with the Red Cross before the quake, said Red Cross officials.

“These people just surfaced out of the rubble with offers of emergency aid assistance and blood donations,” said Red Cross spokesman Manuel Rivas. “After recovery efforts were virtually over, a lot of them just disappeared into the shadows again.”

According to Dr. Robert Dosh, a volunteer mental health counselor for the Red Cross, those volunteers who did “disappear into the shadows” without so much as a “you’re welcome” probably experienced some displaced trauma that may be triggered with the upcoming anniversary.

Dosh will coordinate three hourlong “debriefing sessions” for earthquake volunteers that will allow them to work out the emotions they experienced during their service time.

Volunteers around major disaster events become secondary victims, said Dosh. They often experience the same kind of emotional trauma as those victimized by the disaster, but tend to stifle their feelings.

“Holding in what they experienced only delays their recovery,” Dosh said. “The sessions are designed to encourage them to get in touch with what happened in their own lives during that period.”

The counseling sessions will take place Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., and 2:30 and 6:30 p.m. at the Red Cross Valley District Office, 14717 Sherman Way, Van Nuys.

Those who feel the need for more assistance or who are unable to attend the counseling sessions, can contact the Valley district office at (818) 376-1700 to sign up for free extended sessions conducted, on a limited basis, by Red Cross mental health counselors.