The Boston Globe: Prof. DeVoe, Trauma Expert, Shares Mental Health Advice After Mass Shootings
In the wake of the horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Professor Ellen DeVoe shares advice on fighting numbness, making space for your reactions, taking care of yourself and your loved ones, and taking action.
Excerpt from “Mass Shootings Are Taking a Toll on Our Mental Health” by Felice J. Freyer, originally published in The Boston Globe:
“Ellen DeVoe, a professor and trauma expert at the Boston University School of Social Work, said mass shootings feed a sense of uncertainty about what everyday life can bring. ‘Increasingly, we’re seeing that this is happening everywhere,’ DeVoe said. ‘This could happen to any of us.’
‘People can become numb. People can develop a sense of outrage but feel like they don’t know what to do,’ she said. ‘What’s helpful is to recognize those reactions — and take action … Each person has to figure out what’s going to work for them,’ DeVoe said. ‘There isn’t a right action to take.’
Through all this, she cautions, ‘just make sure you take care of yourself and your family, and fight the numbness. That’s the worst thing that can happen, that we all become used to this, and feel numb and fearful.’”
Ellen DeVoe is a nationally recognized expert on trauma and families. A professor and associate dean for research at BUSSW, she coordinates the School’s Trauma & Violence specialization and is the founding director of the Trauma Certificate Program. In addition to ongoing work with military families, she has recently shared perspectives on deradicalizing extremism and the relationship between mass shootings and violence against women.