Today I attended the sentencing hearing for a local human trafficker. Over the last 2 years since his arrest, VAST (Valley Against Sex Trafficking) Coalition, has sought to work alongside law enforcement and prosecutors by providing stabilizing support for 7 of the victims. The room was glaringly empty. A newspaper reporter, and a couple…
Dr. Heather Evans speaks with Rob Vaughn of 69 News WFMZ-TV on the second installment of a three-part series “Coping with COVID-19 Anxiety and Fears.” In this second part, Dr. Heather Evans answers how we can best help children process, cope and understand children’s experiences with the world of COVID-19. “Children absolutely need space to…
I am preparing to attend a Community of Practice this week organized by the American Bible Society. This annual gathering includes an opportunity to network and learn from those committed to domestic and global trauma healing. This year’s theme is “We are Sojourners: Refugees & Trauma.” It is an appropriate theme in a glaring, growing…
Dr. Heather Evans speaks again with Rob Vaughn of 69 News WFMZ-TV in this final installment of Coping with COVID-19. She and Rob discuss the collective trauma we are all experiencing as we face COVID-19 and the isolation, loss and fear it may bring. Trauma often involves powerlessness, helplessness and isolation. Dr. Evans gives helpful…
Quarantine. When it seems all has been stripped away, what remains? Comfort traded for uncertainty. Ease becomes disruption. Anticipation leads to loss. Shared spaces become divided souls. Joyful moments to forced boundaries. Sense of time is disordered (how do weeks feel more like months, yet how have we lost two months already?!). What has this…
Dr. Heather Evans sits down with Deb Cummins Stellato on the Think Courageously podcast. Heather shares her journey of working with women and how “the work of trauma found her.” Heather and Deb explore the connection between the word courage and trauma. Trauma is an experience of threat that creates powerlessness and often silences the…