\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLives are forever changed following Hurricane Helene, and the emotional and mental trauma lingers for those still recovering one year later. Those emotions can feel heightened, especially during the tropical season. The All Souls Counseling Center in Asheville responds to the mental health needs of its community daily, and when Hurricane Helene hit, the center was desperate to reach people in need.\u201cWe started sending therapists to comfort care sites in partnership with FEMA, the Red Cross, Hearts with Hands and other supportive organizations,\u201d said Meredith Switzer, executive director at All Souls Counseling Center. \u201cWe were really the mental health presence on site.”Offering mental health support to people looked a lot of different ways, Switzer explained. \u201cIt could be a bottle of water, or a snack while they were waiting in line to speak with a FEMA agent and they had young children with them who needed to be occupied.”Over the last year, the center has hired more therapists and started new community-based programming. Switzer said her team learned their work is even more powerful when they cast a wider net and meet people where they are. As a leadership team, it has made it a priority not to forget those who lost so much. \u201cGoing into areas that have been hit the hardest, doing community dinners, we are partnering with Duke Energy Foundation to provide meals to areas like Bat Cave and Hot Springs \u2014 areas that are more rural that don\u2019t have access to resources like we have here in Buncombe County,\u201d Switzer said. Adam Lewis, clinical director at All Souls Counseling Center, encourages people to be patient with themselves through mental and emotional recovery. \u201cSome people will look at Oct. 1 and just want to be like, ‘All right, we\u2019re done.’ And I get it, and some people might be there, but when we look at studies of disaster, one year post of a natural disaster is usually when healing starts,\u201d Lewis explained.The trauma from Helene shifted the way people view their surroundings. Lewis said it\u2019s normal to see post-traumatic stress disorder-like responses in folks due to the severity of the storm. \u201cIt is not a guarantee for someone to have PTSD, but it\u2019s not uncommon for most people in the area to have PTSD-like responses because trauma is when we can’t control what’s happening around us, and it really shifts how we view our life and our world and the storm that we had a year ago is one of those examples.” During the uncertainty of the tropical season, the weather is something Western North Carolina residents may feel uneasy about. \u201cI hear a lot about any sort of sudden rains — and we are used to unpredictable weather in the mountains, but the sudden onset of rain, especially if it wasn\u2019t in the forecast, can cause people to be on edge,\u201d said Lewis. He explained how humans have a danger detection system that is designed to help keep us safe. “So that\u2019s what that is trying to do when you go through a traumatic situation, that system gets sort of hijacked and just because it’s raining now doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s the exact same thing that I\u2019ve been through before,” he said. “It sends you into survival mode, which is important when you need to be in survival mode, but not when you need to sit down and parent a child or tend to your household duties or do what you need to do.” One of his go-to coping exercises for folks to start with is to practice grounding themselves. \u201cGetting your feet sometimes literally in the earth,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cTake your shoes off, stand there and feel the sun on your face, feel the breeze, whatever feels right to try to be here in the present moment versus where your brain may go, which is 12 months ago.”He also recommends making time to focus on your breathing. \u201cWhen in doubt, I find it very helpful to focus on your exhale,” said Lewis. “Nothing fancy. There\u2019s a lot of exercises out there, but if nothing else, act like you\u2019re breathing out from a straw with a slow, long exhale. Set a timer for 60 seconds and do that, and see how you feel, and maybe do it again.”Lewis shared how support from the community can help people cope, or for those who do not want to be around a lot of people, just sit at home and be present in the moment. \u201cI do encourage people around anniversaries of difficulty, of loss, to take the time and honor the loss,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cGive it the space it deserves. It will come out one way or another. We need to have a slow-release valve so we can sit with it better as opposed to it taking over.”Switzer and Lewis agree that full emotional, mental and financial recovery will take time. “We are so grateful for the outpouring of support. We certainly felt it, and it helped us heal and move through this experience. We are still recovering, so don\u2019t forget about us,” explained Switzer. “We encourage people to come back and support our economy. We were reminded through this experience that we are very resilient.\u201d>>>Living with trauma? Find a list of mental health resources here.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n