Crisis Response After Tragedy
One-Day Community Healing for Schools and Communities After Major Disasters
When tragedy strikes your community, a school shooting, workplace violence, sudden death, or mass casualty event, traditional therapy has waiting lists, and grief counselors are scheduled weeks out. But trauma that's not addressed immediately becomes chronic PTSD, anxiety, and long-term emotional dysfunction.
Your community needs help NOW, not in three weeks or three months. Now.
What I Offer: One-Day Community Healing
I provide immediate crisis response using techniques proven in real tragedies, not theories, but methods that work when people are at their absolute worst. I can heal an entire community in a single coordinated day: students, direct witnesses, and families.
This is not grief counseling. This is immediate trauma release that prevents acute trauma from becoming chronic suffering.
The One-Day Model: How It Works
Morning Session: Student Body or Community Members
Duration: 1.5-2 hours
Location: School auditorium, stadium, or large gathering space
Capacity: 600-1,000+ people
What Happens:
- I speak to the entire group. Even in a room of 800, every person feels I am speaking directly to them—this is consistent feedback I receive across communities.
- I teach everyone DCIAM (Dr. Carolle’s Instant Anti-Distress Method) a simple 3-breath technique for immediate nervous system regulation: breathe, concentrate, acceptance, tap.
- Students, teachers, staff, or community members learn it, practice it, and leave with a tool they can use whenever fear returns.
- When I arrive, the energy shifts immediately. People who couldn’t breathe begin breathing. Those frozen in fear begin to move.
Outcome: The community receives immediate stabilization and a self-regulation tool they can teach to their families.
Afternoon Session: Direct Witnesses
Duration: 2 hours
Location: Private room
Who Attends: Anyone who directly witnessed violence, blood, or the immediate aftermath (20-40 people)
What Happens:
- I work with each person individually, performing METRT (Murat Emotional Trauma Release Technique).
- This is a 2-3 minute hands-on technique that removes the trauma imprint, the images, sounds, and sensations that replay in the mind.
- I do not ask them to describe what they saw. I place my hands on their head, temples, and specific acupressure points to release what has become embedded neurologically.
- This is where the deep work happens, removing accumulated trauma so witnesses can sleep, function, and move forward.
Outcome: Direct witnesses leave without intrusive images and hypervigilance. They sleep that night, often for the first time since the tragedy. The replaying stops.
Evening Session: Parents, Families, and Community
Duration: 1.5-2 hours
Location: Community stadium, auditorium, or large gathering space
What Happens:
- I speak to everyone affected by the tragedy but not direct witnesses.
- I teach everyone DCIAM, they now have a shared tool.
- The community heals together. The isolation breaks. People stop feeling alone in their terror.
- After I finish, people line up to hug me, to take photos, to be near me. I accommodate them as long as I can. This is part of the healing, the need for human connection after trauma.
Outcome: The entire community moves forward together. Life resumes, not unchanged, but no longer frozen.
Why This Works: "It's a Flip of a Switch"
People ask me why I specialize in major tragedies. My answer: Because it’s a flip of a switch. To see people transform in front of you, that’s a miracle. The work I do with crisis trauma is immediate, permanent, and observable.
- I have the stamina for this work. I have delivered multiple speaking engagements in a single day and am energized, not depleted by watching people heal.
- One day allows the entire community to heal together, at the same time. Everyone moves forward together.
- Emotional trauma addressed within days of the event has significantly better outcomes. My techniques prevent acute trauma from becoming chronic PTSD.
Crisis Response Experience: Over 20 Years
I specialize in immediate crisis response. I do not work from theory—I work from two decades of standing in rooms with people at their absolute worst and watching them heal.
1. 2010 Haiti Devastating Earthquake: The Most Tragic Event I’ve Ever Responded To
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was catastrophic, over 300,000 people killed, entire communities destroyed, survivors living in overwhelming trauma. I worked with hundreds of distraught survivors, first responders, and healthcare providers in conditions of complete devastation. This is where I refined the three techniques I still use today under the most extreme circumstances imaginable. Working in Haiti after the earthquake taught me that trauma release must work in chaos, without resources, when everything has collapsed. These techniques were born from necessity—they had to work immediately, require no equipment, and provide lasting relief in the midst of ongoing crisis. Results: Sustained effectiveness documented 15 years later. A letter available from the Mayor of LaVallée de Jacmel acknowledges the profound impact these techniques have had on the people of LaVallée over 25 years of service to Haiti.2. 2012 San Diego Mesa College
Student suicide witnessed by 20 staff members. Provided immediate group DCIAM and individual trauma release. Lead therapist (licensed LMFT) confirmed results LONG-LASTING 13 years later: “Nothing short of miraculous. Although this may deviate from traditional forms of therapy and trauma response, it is clearly effective, long-lasting, and can assist in all aspects of recovery—and it sticks.”3. 2017 Del Cerro, San Diego, Drive-By Shooting
A 22-year-old was murdered in front of 20 family members during a party. The family was paralyzed—couldn’t eat, sleep, or go outside. Traditional therapy the next day made it worse. Three days later, I worked with each family member individually. Johnny L. (adult family member): “Just her presence seemed to lift the dark energy. It was like a healing surgical procedure with no post-operative pain. That night, for the first time since the tragedy, everyone slept soundly.” John (age 9 at the time, now 17): “You took away our fear and gave us the courage to go outside again. What you did made an enormous difference. We had been suffering for days, and you instantly changed everything, as if flipping a switch.”4. December 2024 Multi-City Crisis Tour
Following threats against the Haitian community after the election, I conducted emergency response across Springfield and Columbus, Ohio; Brooklyn, New York; and San Diego. I was scheduled for two days, the legal team and social workers “kidnapped” me for seven. When I met the legal team, one attorney embraced me and said: “She didn’t tell us this is who you are. I just felt peace when you hugged me.” They immediately cancelled my return flight. In packed auditoriums, I taught DCIAM to traumatized communities. A man in his forties, crying: “You’re telling me this simple thing—breathe, concentrate, ‘thy will be done,’ tap—and I felt so good. I wish my wife was here.” I told everyone, “Teach it to your wife. Teach it to your children. The children are traumatized, too.” Result: People who couldn’t breathe were breathing. Those frozen in fear began to move. Communities living under threat found tools to function. After each session, people came alive again, asking questions, engaging, connecting.5. 2024–Present: Haitian Bridge Alliance San Diego (Ongoing Monthly Work)
I work monthly with Haitian Bridge Alliance in San Diego, providing trauma support to 150-250 traumatized immigrants each month—people who have fled gang violence, experienced police raids, assaults, and acute crises. Many are living in ongoing fear while navigating the immigration system. Before each event, staff members line up for what they call “the reset line,” I provide individual IRT, DCIAM, and METRT to help them withstand the emotional weight of their work and prevent secondary trauma. This allows the staff to continue serving without burning out from the cumulative trauma they witness. I am on-call for severe trauma cases and work with the community monthly to provide immediate stabilization and trauma release.Additional Crisis Response
- 2008 Hurricane Katrina Survivors (New Orleans): Worked with hundreds still in FEMA trailers three years after the disaster. Sustained effectiveness documented 17 years later.
- Multiple mass trauma responses, including shooting incidents, community violence, and critical incidents.
- March 2025–present: AKESNA Sisters in Haiti—two nuns murdered by gangs, remaining sisters used techniques to continue serving dangerous communities.
Request Crisis Response
If your community has experienced tragedy and needs immediate healing, I am ready to help. Your community does not have to wait weeks for healing to begin. We prioritize emergencies!
Sue Shrader Hanes, LMFT, San Diego, CA August 2024
My brother-in-law was tragically gunned down right in front of our house, a very safe neighborhood, during a family gathering with about twenty of us present. The shock and trauma left us paralyzed—none of us could eat, sleep, or even step outside. We have three children, and although we took them to a therapist the next day, nothing seemed to alleviate our anguish.
Three days later, Dr. Carolle visited us. She spent time with each of us, listening with empathy and laying her hands on us individually. Just her presence seemed to lift the dark energy that had engulfed our home. It was as if she brought peace and comfort with her, soothing us like a healing surgical procedure with no post-operative pain. That night, for the first time since the tragedy, everyone in our family slept soundly. Dr. Carolle’s compassionate guidance gave us the strength to face the painful tasks ahead—planning the funeral, speaking with detectives, and handling the media. It felt surreal as if the terrible event had happened somewhere distant. Thanks to her, we were able to begin moving forward.”