Resource Articles

Witnessing the devastation caused by natural disasters can fill us with feelings of sadness or hopelessness, whether it affects us directly or those close to us. It's important to take care of ourselves emotionally when these events occur. Jim Kendall, LCSW, CEAP, shares some reminders on how to cope when you feel triggered by terrible weather.

Being prepared for an emergency is important to ensure safety for you and your family. Work/Life Connections-EAP shares ways to help you plan for possible unexpected life situations.

Devastating storms, tornados, and loss of life fill our hearts with sadness. Those who have lost family, friends, and homes may be working through the natural grieving process. Work/Life Connections-EAP manager Jim Kendall, LCSW, shares reminders to help guide individuals who may be struggling during these times.

The holiday season is upon us. While many experience joy around this time, others feel the pressures of stress and even depressive feelings. Work/Life Connections-EAP shares ways to support your emotional resilience if you feel low during the holidays.

The death, kidnapping, destruction, and terror due to recent events in Israel, Gaza, and the impact on the entire the Middle East region fills us with sadness. Many of our VUMC colleagues have family and friends in the region. Work/Life Connections-EAP gives advice on helping one's coworkers who are hurting from these terrible incidents.

When a colleague is impacted by a traumatic event, they can receive emotional support through Peer Support Groups. Work/Life Connections-EAP and VWell share information on how to get involved with Peer Support Groups and get the help you need.

I was working from home just down the street from my first grader’s school and 3 miles from my 5-year-old’s preschool. I started throwing on my shoes as I called my daughters’ dad in a panic for more information – Google couldn’t move fast enough for me. When he confirmed it was NOT one of our schools, a wave of emotion washed over me so swiftly that I bent over double at the waist, let my head hang between my knees, and sobbed. Those tears held so much, a mixture of feelings I have struggled to put into words.

When a person experiences, witnesses, or is confronted with an event or situation that involves actual or threatened death, serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others, he or she can experience fear, helplessness, and horror.  PTSD results when effects of exposure to a traumatic event persist beyond one month following the event. Please answer "Yes" or "No" if you have been exposed to or witnessed a traumatic event and have engaged in or experienced any of the following over the past month on a fairly consistent basis.

​Work/Life Connections-EAP coordinates Crisis Intervention Services and Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Services for the VUMC community. Definition: A Critical Incident is "any event which has the potential to produce unusual or distressing emotional symptoms such as an accident, injury, death, disaster, threat or act of violence, or other traumatic event at the workplace."

All of us will grieve at one time or another. Grief is related to love and attachment; it is love under the condition of absence. Grieving is caring about someone who is no longer present. Loss, death and grief are part of the human experience. To grieve is normal; to not grieve is pathological.