Timely Information, Guidance, and Support

 

 

What traumatic events are

 

A plane crash. A terrorist attack. A hurricane…. While these events can create a marked disruption in functioning, it doesn’t have to be a highly publicized "viral" incident with a two-inch newspaper headline. Traumatic events are also the personal disasters that color peoples’ lives—including a loss, a serious illness or injury, a financial crisis, or divorce.

 

What traumatic stress is

 

Traumatic stress refers to our feelings, thoughts, actions, and our physical and spiritual reactions when we are exposed to, or witness, events that overwhelm our coping and problem-solving abilities. These events are often unexpected and uncontrollable. They compromise our sense of safety and security, and leave us feeling insecure and vulnerable.

 

What a Traumatic Stress Consultant does

 

When people experience a traumatic event, there’s a rush to address physical and safety needs. We would never wait to help someone who is bleeding profusely. In the same way, we should not wait to address overwhelming feelings. We must respond to the “emotional hemorrhage” early on.

 

As a Traumatic Stress Consultant, I empower people during and in the aftermath of a crisis. My consultative approach is short-term and strictly confidential. My goal is to ease emotional pain, keep people functioning, mitigate ongoing suffering and restore “human stability.”  Ultimately, I teach people how to harness painful emotional energy, and use that energy to propel them to not only survive, but thrive!

 

With whom I have worked 

 

For over thirty years, I have worked with thousands of people who have faced traumatic events. My clientele has included individuals, families, organizations, schools, universities, businesses, international, federal and state agencies, and large corporations. I have worked with people in the health-related fields and the entertainment industry, with educators and professional athletes, with emergency responders and governmental leaders, with artists and corporate executives. I have worked with young people and old people, poor people and wealthy people. And in all my work, I have consistently found that we wait too long, following a traumatic event, to address emotional needs.

 

When I become involved 

 

There are many faces of trauma, from the seemingly mundane to the most severe. I have a passion for helping people who are experiencing the worst events that life can bring (e.g., loss of a loved one, serious illness, accidents, divorce, domestic violence, sexual molestation, suicide, criminal victimization, war, natural disasters, etc.).

 

When I work with people

 

I enjoy working with people before a traumatic experience. For example, I empower organizations, corporations, schools and universities to develop Crisis Management Teams (CMT). Traumatic events, by their very nature, compromise our ability to think clearly. Having a road map, a preconceived plan, makes good sense. Also, I have found that people who are knowledgeable about traumatic stress, prior to a traumatic experience, regain a sense of control more rapidly in the wake of a crisis. 

 

In the same way that we rush to address physical needs during a crisis, I address emergent psychological needs. My goal, as a Traumatic Stress Consultant, is to provide timely information, support and practical strategies that will enable people to cope more effectively. 

 

In the aftermath of a tragedy, I help people to seize the energy from a traumatic experience, and use it to propel them to set realistic goals, make decisions and take action!  So many people who have experienced adversity have learned to harness painful emotional energy and used it to cultivate a mission and purpose (e.g., Oprah Winfrey, Carolyn McCarthy, John Walsh, Michael J. Fox, and countless others).

 

How we can work together

 

Whatever happens to us during peak emotional experiences, the gifts of life and the losses of life, becomes etched in our minds forever. In the same way that negative information (e.g., sights, sounds and smells) stays with us, so too can positive information. Hearing the right thing, at the right time, can make a tremendous difference in how people ultimately respond to adversity. Consider the following:

 

I was contacted by Steve, a law firm senior partner, following the suicide of a beloved friend, colleague and attorney. I provided Steve with practical, timely information and support that empowered him to help others. 

 

Steve contacted the family of the deceased in order to express his condolences, to obtain facts and to know what was okay to share with members of the firm. He arranged for staff members to be contacted at home, and asked that they attend an important early morning meeting the next day. 

 

Steve conducted the death notification with 22 people. He provided factual information in order to prevent rumors, and he informed staff of the families’ wishes concerning the funeral. Steve arranged for support for staff, and provided practical documents to help people to know that their reactions were normal, given the abnormal circumstance. 

 

I enabled Steve to appropriately and effectively manage an overwhelming experience that would forever impact the lives of others. People in the firm were appreciative of Steve’s actions and held him in the highest regard. He recognized the importance of reaching people early, to ease emotional pain, keep people functioning, mitigate ongoing suffering and to restore “human stability” in the firm.

 

As a Traumatic Stress consultant, I travel internationally to meet personally with my clients. Some people prefer to meet in the sanctuary of my office in Melville, New York. Traumatic Stress Consulting is not the professional practice of psychology. It is informational, educational, and inspirational.

 

When a workshop or presentation is needed

 

I have conducted interactive workshops and presentations with schools, universities, businesses, governmental agencies and large corporations. I customize and tailor my talks based on your needs. I have presented workshops with groups as small as six people to keynote presentations for several thousand people.

 

Traumatic Stress Consulting versus therapy

 

For over three decades, I have worked with people as a Clinical Psychologist, providing psychotherapy in the months and years after a traumatic event. As a Traumatic Stress Consultant, I work with people before, during and in the wake of a traumatic experience. My consultative approach is strictly confidential, short-term and goal-oriented, generally from one to several sessions.

 

If you’re still with me, reading this, you are already on your way to benefiting from traumatic stress consultation.

 

How we can get started

 

Simply e-mail me a brief message, describing the nature of your situation and how I may best help you—DrMarkLerner@me.com. If the matter requires immediate attention, please telephone my office at (631) 385-7551.

 

 

 

SUMMARY

 

TRAUMATIC STRESS refers to our feelings, thoughts, actions, and our physical and spiritual reactions when we are exposed to, or witness, events that overwhelm our coping and problem-solving abilities.

 

WHO:  Dr. Mark Lerner, a clinical psychologist and an international Traumatic Stress Consultant, focuses on helping people through traumatic experiences. His consultative approach is strictly confidential, short-term and goal-oriented … generally from one to several sessions.

 

WHAT:  Dr. Lerner consults regularly with people who demand the utmost in confidentiality, warmth, knowledge, education and experience. His primary goals are to ease emotional pain, keep people functioning, mitigate ongoing suffering and restore “human stability”. He strives to empower people to harness painful emotional energy—and use that energy to propel them to not only survive, but thrive.

 

WHERE:  Consultation may be take place at the offices of Mark Lerner Associates, Inc. in New York. When arranged, Dr. Lerner travels internationally, as a Traumatic Stress Consultant, to organizational venues and client’s private residences.

 

WHEN:  Dr. Lerner seeks to empower people with practical information and proactive strategies before, during and in the wake of a traumatic event. In the same way that there is a rush to address physical and safety needs during times of crisis, Dr. Lerner strives to address our feelings, thoughts, actions, physical and spiritual reactions—traumatic stress.

 

WHY:  By reaching people early, we can potentially prevent the acute difficulties of today from becoming the chronic problems of tomorrow.

 

HOW:  Email Dr. Lerner a brief message, describing the nature of your situation and how he may best help you—DrMarkLerne@me.com. If the matter requires immediate attention, telephone Dr. Lerner at (631) 385-7551.