Dr Rob Gordon is a psychotherapist who specialises in trauma caused by natural and other disasters. He has been a consultant to the Victorian government and the Red Cross for disasters since 1989.

In this podcast, Rob gives us a powerful and detailed explanation of the effects trauma resulting from disasters and describes strategies for healing. He is warm and compassionate, and his examples which all come from his experience over many years, illustrate the complexity of the human response to tragic events and explain why it can take many years to recover.

He explains the deep-seated reorganisation of people's lives as they face the loss of their homes and routines and, in some cases, their friends and family who cannot cope with the enormity of supporting them. And how the stress from the trauma creates tunnel vision as they have to deal with multiple challenges at once, including loss of identity.

As Rob points out the most crucial ingredient of healing from this type of trauma is to have personal contact with others, strong support and social networks.

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We hope that you enjoyed this episode of River Murray Recovery Stories, brought to you by Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

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Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team