Human Contact. That is still the single most important factor in healing from trauma and upsetting events.


To have some one simply be there for us. To listen to us when we need to tell our story. To hold us if that is what we need. To have someone who truly "gets us" in those time we struggle to reach out and to communicate our unspoken needs or unutterable pain.


At those times when I have been on site the next morning after a bank robbery to debrief with the tellers before they begin their day, I want to know, "Do you have someone you can call or be with while you are recovering from this experience?"


The summers I spent on my Amish grandfather's farm, I observed injured cats often disappearing for days, only to emerge to renewed life after their hibernation. That works for cats, perhaps, but we humans are more social creatures. We heal best when we have contact with other humans.