(((Cowbell))),

Well, the best thing for you to do is what you have just done in this post, talk about how this has affected you. What you are expressing is actually what "many" are feeling right now. Anyone who has a child is also affected because they have become more aware that life is fragile and "unpredictable" and just the thought of losing a child is "unimaginable" and "scarey".

Human beings "like" predictability and are drawn to obtaining a sense of structure that feels safe to them and their families.

This incident was "tramatic" and many people have been "tramatized" by it. And because it was sudden and we do not have the "whys" or answers that can bring us a certain way to make sure this doesn't happen again, we are left with a sense of "vulnerablity".

It sounds like you are a person who thinks with a lot of "structure" and you function well with that. Well, this is not something that offers any "structure", it is "chaos" and without any conclusive and structural answers.

If you are a person with a lot of empathy, you may have experienced things in your past that "hurt" you somehow and so you empathize with others who are hurt or tramatized. This is most likely why that therapist was struggling as well, often people become therapists because they suffered themselves and have some kind of strong desire to reach out and help others. Some therapists can work in the field of psychotherapy for years never having truely resolved their own deep issues. Some solve their own issues while treating others too.

So you probably just stumbled across a therapist that was caught off guard and is now struggling. That doesn't mean that "all therapists" are struggling like this.

What you can do is get involved with your childs school, find out what new measures of security can take place and see if there are any commitees that have formed to address this new very real challenge from a parent's standpoint.

There has been a tremendous amount of coverage in the media on this event as well.
So it has been very hard not to have this pushed into your face, even our computers have had so much put on our homepage that has kept this tragedy in all of our minds.

Most children are still home on winter break and safe in our homes, so the fear of them going back to school is a concern for all parents.

We all have to grieve this event and find our way to getting ourselves back to finding ways to feel safe again. As I mentioned, you can help that by making sure you get more involved as a parent to make sure your child's school is now taking more steps towards "safety" and "prevention".

Come and vent or talk as much as you need here too.

Welcome to PC, there are a lot of nice and supportive people here, so feel free to come and talk when you need to.

((((Hugs))))
Open Eyes