C ignoramuses in the quiet university town of Charlottesville, Virginia noticed that some of their customers were concerned about their safety. As winter 2017 turned to spring, demonstrations and counter-protests at local civil war memorials had become heated and confrontational. Now, in early summer, it became known in the street that a large demonstration was planned per statue, possibly involving hundreds or even thousands of members of extremist white supremacist organizations.
Consultants have done their best to help clients cope with the worrying flow of news, but none of us could have foreseen the explosion of hatred, violence, and loss on August 12 this year. On that day, Charlottesville witnessed a violent episode of domestic terrorism in which three people died, numerous were injured, and an entire community was shaken to the core.
This painful episode in the recent history of our country is also the story of the challenge of a consulting community to organize, answer and incorporate the knowledge gained. We offer these experiences with a sense of humility and hope that others might consider incorporating some of the lessons we have learned. Our own journey as an advisory community could help others prepare for human crises that can destroy the social fabric of a city or place. Communities, like individuals, can experience a cycle of victim, survivor, and thriver, but that growth involves painful introspection.
As residents of Charlottesville, we were both actively involved in the advisory community's response to the violence on August 12th. At the time, John was a James Madison University graduate student in clinical psychological health counseling and a volunteer at Charlottesville's premier homeless shelter while Cindy was (and is) a Charlottesville-based licensed professional counselor and counselor. We have seen and been personally involved in the personal and collective transition from victim to survivor, and then on to the determination and determination to thrive as a community. During the development of this article, we met with local and regional advisors to present our initial thoughts and collect feedback and suggestions. While the contributions of our colleagues have been invaluable, this article and any errors or omissions in it are the responsibility of the authors.
Clouds and thunderclouds
Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Albemarle County in central Virginia, Charlottesville is a university town with deep roots in the south. Home to Thomas Jefferson and the University of Virginia (UVA), our city has a complex and sometimes conflicting history of slavery, visionary political and philosophical leadership, Confederation support during the Civil War, and upheaval during the civil rights movement. Charlottesville itself has a population of around 50,000 while the surrounding county has a population of 107,000. Students taking UVA add an additional 23,000 residents each year. Racial diversity in Charlottesville is broadly similar across the country. 70% of the population are white. It is a relatively well-educated community, with more than 50% of adult residents having a bachelor's degree or higher (compared to the national average of 35%).
The demand for mental health services in Charlottesville far exceeds the availability of these services. Although Charlottesville has two hospitals, only one of them has mental health facilities. The Local Community Services Board offers a crisis stabilization unit, limited housing benefits and a range of outpatient benefits, but is primarily dedicated to caring for people with severe mental illness. The two UVA counseling centers are usually at full capacity and refer students to the community for long-term needs. Although there is a fairly large community of mental health professionals in private practice in the immediate area, most have waiting lists. It is estimated that there is one mental health provider for every 116 Charlottesville residents and one mental health provider for every 977 Albemarle County residents.
As in many southern cities, during the peak years of the Jim Crow Acts from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, white citizens erected monuments to Confederate Civil War leaders in the main plazas of Charlottesville These statues became symbols of the increasingly racially charged rhetoric that led to and after the 2016 US presidential election. The volume of local race discussions in Charlottesville increased with the national trend, resulting in heated city council meetings and activism on both sides of the symbolism of the statues in the city.
In February 2017, Charlottesville City Council approved an action to remove the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from downtown Lee Park. Legal proceedings followed to block the action, and in May 2017 a march of supporters of the statue, including self-proclaimed "alt-right" and white supremacist groups, took place in the park where the statue was located. This was followed by counter-demonstrations and an editorial in the New York Times denouncing the racist protest. Thereafter, the Ku Klux Klan applied for permission to hold a demonstration in Lee Park in July, and a separate application was filed on August 12 to enable a "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville. The stage was ready for the event, Charlottesville would put it on the front pages of newspapers across the country.
As the weather warmed up and the gatherings increased, local advisors heard from customers who had attended anti-racist rallies or witnessed the frequent demonstrations per statue. Clients brought their fears, determination, and other emotions to the meeting room as they processed the buildup of tension in the community. A number of advisors connected to anti-racist information sources volunteered to provide on-site services to a counter-protest on the night of the July 8th Ku Klux Klan rally. Their experience with crisis counseling services led them to reach out to the local counseling community through informal channels in order to prepare for the upcoming August 12 rally on a larger scale.
This unofficial information network, which is in part inspired by information from customers, leads us to our first approach to preparing for and responding to community crises:
Lesson 1: Advisors are connected to critical sources of information that are often not available to local officials. While client confidentiality must always be protected, an advisory community connected internally and through official channels can use this information to aid in advance planning and coordination.
Into the storm
As the Unite the Right gathering approached, several groups – unfortunately unconnected – considered how to react. Law enforcement agencies created contingency plans with questionable coordination between jurisdictions. The clergy were an early and visible organizing force that came together to offer worship services for hope and tranquility, refuge and leadership in counter-demonstrations. UVA students quickly gathered to respond to a racist protest secretly organized by white supremacist groups that took place on the evening of August 11th on the university grounds.
Anti-racist organizers largely operated under the radar to gather demonstrators and support services in anticipation of a large rally. A small number of counselors worked with the First United Methodist Church to establish a local presence on the edge of Lee Park. They were joined by observers from the Emergency Services Department, affiliated with the Charlottesville Community Services Board, a major mental health provider. In coordination with street medics and clergymen, the on-site counseling team helped more than 20 protesters who asked for help in dealing with the chaotic scene that was going on around them.
The demonstration quickly turned violent, with ongoing clashes between Unite the Right demonstrators and counter-protesters, police and bystanders. The city center became a scene of destruction, fear and chaos. The violence continued even after police ordered the evacuation of downtown, resulting in the deaths of Heather Heyer and several others who were injured when a Unite the Right protester plowed his vehicle into a crowd of counter-demonstrators. (The driver was convicted of first degree murder in 2019 and sentenced to life imprisonment plus 419 years in prison.) During the Hours of Chaos, two Virginia state police officers died when their helicopter, which was used to coordinate law enforcement activities, crashed
Struggle for organization
Before the bottles, tear gas canisters and other rubbish could be cleaned from the streets, an online discussion group, used sporadically by local advisors, began buzzing with news and questions about what had just happened and what next thing to do. The city was shaken with grief and anger, but there was no plan for disaster recovery or crisis counseling. Despite some advisors' informal contact with the authorities prior to the demonstration, there was no offer to coordinate resources.
In this vacuum, advisors to the online discussion group, including Cindy, organized a venue to convene an initial meeting of those interested in responding to the crisis. In trying to build a broad network for area counselors, we found that the Virginia Counselors Association (VCA), a branch of the American Counseling Association, could help with one critical link: a database of members in the area, the VCA used to be sent a great email announcing the organizational meeting. This turned out to be an important resource in communication, but the fact is we ended up on it somewhat by accident. The uncertainty and disorientation that we experienced while organizing leads us to our second important lesson:
Lesson 2: Planning in advance is essential. A community crisis overwhelms the coping mechanisms of individuals and groups, but a well-thought-out plan combined with rehearsals can provide essential structure, guidelines, and stress testing. A crisis already puts a full load on the counseling workload and resources must be identified before they are needed to create crisis counseling capacity. Crisis counseling often takes place outside the conventional office environment.
The first meeting of the advisors took place three days after the end of the violence. More than 60 consultants, students and others in the helping professions showed up and overwhelmed our expectations. We were surprised by the numbers and the fact that many of the participants had never met despite being a member of the local counseling community. Much of the first meeting was greeted with introductions, processing the trauma, venting, and creating space for tears and anger.
Although this led to an unusual meeting, it makes sense in retrospect. Most of the counselors in attendance had little experience of responding to mass trauma and were more focused on providing pro bono services in their private offices than on conducting primary prevention and outreach. The remaining time was used for groups to reflect on immediate needs and steps the counseling community could take to provide assistance. At the end of the meeting, a small sub-group agreed to stand back and try to organize a number of initiatives to respond to the needs raised in the outbreaks.
By the time the main meeting was interrupted it was late in the evening and the participants, already nervous and dealing with a cascade of customer calls, were physically and emotionally exhausted. The remaining small group included executives from the Green Cross Academy of Traumatology, an organization dedicated to training and delivering crisis counseling teams, as well as local advisors, agency directors and a handful of students. This group took the summaries of the outbreaks and prioritized several initiatives, including the establishment of a command center to coordinate the response, a crisis advice center and a community communication strategy.
"Resilient Charlottesville" comes to life
When the small group meeting came to an end, the difficult question arose: "Who is coordinating this?" still had to be answered. Fortunately, one of our local counseling agencies had a strong communications manager who raised her hand to help. John was from graduate school during the summer break and was able to help organize and manage the logistical aspects of a crisis counseling center. The ambulance management of our Community Services Board offered to help coordinate with other agencies and government agencies. A gift from the city arrived in the form of a space in the library in downtown Charlottesville, with space for a welcome desk, deliberations, and counseling rest areas.
By noon the next day we had a plan that we called "Resilient Charlottesville". We started recruiting pro bono advisors from a list we had made at the Wednesday meeting. We created a website and communicated with consultants through the expanded group email list and with other community leaders. The Green Cross offered to use teams in the community for assertive public relations work, and we gratefully accepted this support. We created and distributed flyers to post in local businesses and community buildings, and this Friday we opened the crisis counseling center in the library. This meeting of resources leads us to another observation:
Lesson 3: In a crisis, be flexible and open to offers of help from unexpected sources. You need a wide range of skills and experience. Take advantage of retirees, students, and others willing to lend a hand. The trauma in the community affects counselors, and connections to outside resources are essential when local skills are overwhelmed.
Our presence in the crisis counseling department remained in operation for two weeks after the violent demonstrations. During that time, volunteer counselors conducted more than 70 pro bono sessions, and our outreach teams made hundreds of contacts about their "counseling by walking around" downtown walks. Many of the people we met told us that the mere presence of a counselor (we wore orange vests with clear identification as counselors) had a calming effect. So much trauma had occurred on the streets that many residents visited the site of Heather Heyer's murder to try to come to terms with what had happened. Entrepreneurs welcomed the opportunity to talk to advisors about what they were dealing with. Our advisory presence was a sign of resilience and hope.
Even when Resilient Charlottesville offered support through crisis counseling, other elements of our coming together as a community sent deeper roots. It was angry and sad that prior to the demonstrations, there had not been greater coordination in the public and private sectors. Some of our consultants and their sponsoring agencies are committed to addressing these loopholes. A community-wide “go-to” website and toll-free hotline, Here to Help, has been developed as a clearinghouse for mental health needs. The Virginia Medical Reserve Corps expanded its presence and recruited mental health professionals to volunteer for future crises. Plans for training and crisis preparation were taking shape.
From victim to survivor
When members of the advisory community came together in different settings to share what we had learned, several topics emerged. One of them was that crisis counseling skills are a stand-alone form of intervention and that without practicing those skills can be rusty.
Most consultants spend their days in a consultation room on a predictable schedule with clients they have seen before. Crisis counseling involves public outreach, walking the streets, and meeting people, often in brief encounters, that can help support the survivors' natural resilience. Jack Presbury, Lennis Echterling and J. Edson McKee remind us in their book Beyond Brief Counseling and Therapy that brief counseling and crisis counseling are essentially an attitude towards change. The World Health Organization recommends psychological first aid training for mental health professionals who may be able to help people with traumatic events. The Knowledge Center section of the ACA website (Counseling.org) provides extensive links to resources, training, and opportunities for volunteers related to trauma and disaster mental health.
We should note that responding to a community crisis is not just a matter for mental health professionals. We were dismayed to learn that some massage therapists were turned away from the first organizational meeting after they were told this was not for them. A good answer requires an “all hands on deck” approach that recognizes the multiple ways people deal with stress and welcomes the involvement of allied professionals such as massage therapists, body workers, clergy and lay helpers. A full community response would train Allied professionals and lay rescuers in psychological first aid and provide several options for community members to relieve stress and receive support.
It also became clear that while our marginalized communities were severely affected by the presence of white supremacist protesters, our public relations work had not specifically or effectively extended to these communities. We now realize the importance of building alliances with religious and community leaders in our black and other marginalized communities.
We were also upset to learn that our local first responders had already made arrangements with non-local counseling service providers to support the mental health needs of their workers. We agreed that our own “internal marketing” in the community needs to be reconsidered in order to raise the profile of local advisors in public agencies, including our first responders.
From survival to prosperity
The Charlottesville community was making its own painful transition from surviving the violence and trauma of August 12, 2017 to establishing a determined stance. As part of this community, the counseling profession had its own testing period in the form of the year-long anniversary of violence. Unlike the events of 2017, this anniversary can be expected. A lack of organization would be unacceptable. In retrospect, it gave us an (undesirable) opportunity to test our determination and coordination.
The Federal Agency for Disaster Control offers guidelines for the so-called "community approach" to crisis planning. We have taken this attitude to heart. This time around, there was extensive coordination between local, state, and federal agencies, including the US Medical Reserve Corps, the Virginia Volunteer Health System, the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, and various law enforcement agencies.
Our local mental health community has been involved in coordinating meetings and resource gathering. We have conducted training in psychological first aid and trauma-related counseling. Through the Boys & Girls Club, we also carried out public relations work for marginalized population groups and informed and held school advisors ready to offer their support and assistance. As the date approached, we dispatched volunteer advisors, all trained in crisis intervention, to two locations – one in the center of downtown and one on the outskirts of downtown. Both groups coordinated with local officials throughout the day to provide safe locations for crisis counseling. The community had protocols in place to deal with a large number of medical and mental emergencies.
Lesson 4: Community engagement is a year-round form of preparation for the crisis. The ACA Code of Ethics instructs consultants to be committed, contribute unpaid resources, work effectively in multidisciplinary teams, and develop new skills. It turns out that these areas are also of central importance for successful crisis planning and management as a consultant.
In the end, the first anniversary of the violence in Charlottesville was a relatively quiet day with no injuries and with a small number of demonstrators. Fortunately, our preparations were not put to the test. In many ways, this has been an exercise in resilience and building pathways to thrive for our counseling community.
Today we are closer together as a group of professionals than ever before. We recognize our weak points and take steps to prepare, practice and collaborate. We feel closer to our community, not only through personal interaction with our customers, but in terms of shared responsibility for our safety, shared participation in strengthening the psychological fabric of our city, and shared efforts to advocate social progress. These are parts of being a counselor that we may have taken for granted before our illusions were shattered.
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John Rogers is a board certified advisor and licensed advisor based in Virginia, where he also teaches on Longwood University's graduate counseling program. He is a PhD student in counseling and supervision at James Madison University. His practical and research interests focus on homelessness and marginalization. Contact him at [email protected].
Cynthia Miller is a licensed professional counselor with a private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia. She has been a practicing counselor for nearly 20 years, working with adults in university, community and correctional institutions. Contact them at [email protected].
Knowledge-sharing articles developed from sessions presented at American Counseling Association conferences.
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Opinions and statements in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to reflect the opinions of the editors or guidelines of the American Counseling Association.
