A VIRGINIA TECH MFT ETHICS CLASS REFLECTS ON THE SHOOTINGS AT VIRGINIA TECH

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, Apr 2008 by Piercy, Fred, Banker, Jamie, Traylor, Ryan, Krug, Sarah, Castanos, Carolina, Cole, Elise, Ciafardini, Anthony J, Jordal, Christian, Rodgers, Brandon, Stewart, Shelley, Goodwin, Annabelle

Mostly, though, I am inspired by the compassion that I have witnessed. The outpouring of love and support can be seen in the memorials, donations, and physical representations that people have offered to commemorate the lost lives. Recently, a local church erected 32 flagpoles, one for each victim. These poles carry the national flag of each person who was killed in the shooting. Memorials such as this signify and honor the lost lives and remind us that through remembrance and mourning we can respect those who were lost.

I've learned from this tragedy. For example, since I began working as a therapist I have heard clients insist that the pain they were experiencing pales in comparison to the pain felt by others. People do respond to tragedy differently (Ursano & McCarroll, 2001). Part of our responsibility as therapists is to validate whatever pain our clients experience and respect that their feelings are authentic. In my work as a therapist I will be more likely to accept clients where they are, and less likely to minimize their pain or compare their situation to that of others. We are all unique; our response to tragedy should be no different.

A RETURN TO NORMAL

Ryan Traylor

Two days after the shootings, I came back on campus to try and talk with some of my colleagues in the Child Development Center about some upcoming activities. As I arrived, I saw that the center was closed while the Adult Day Services Center right next door was open. Which center did the right thing? Similarly, did the university make the right decision to cancel classes for the week after the tragedy? Should they have resumed classes earlier, or should they have cancelled the last two weeks of classes?

Routine is a big part of my life. What I think I needed was to go back to classes and my routine. It doesn't help me heal to spend too much time ruminating over the tragedy. Instead, a sense of normalcy is a big factor for me in the healing process, as it is for many (Constantine, Alleyne, Caldwell, McRae, & Suzuki, 2005; Keyes & Kane, 2004). But not everyone has the same needs when it comes to healing from tragedy.

Silver (2004) discussed how after 9/11 a lot of the myths about healing from tragedy were identified. It wasn't long before he learned that everyone had a different way of coping with the tragic events and that it is unrealistic to expect everyone to follow the same path of recovery. So this brings me back to my original question, did Virginia Tech make the right choice in canceling classes for the rest of the week?

In talking with classmates and other friends on campus, almost everyone had a different reaction to the tragedy. Some were upset and emotional about what happened, while others were still in a state of shock. Everyone seemed to have a different idea about what the university should do. By having classes start up again the same week as the shootings, would we have been traumatizing some of the students and faculty even more? If classes would have been cancelled for the remainder of the semester, students, faculty, and staff would not have had a chance to come back to campus to connect with others, and to capture some degree of closure.