Grief counselors aiding families of victims of the shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs last Sunday are facing an unprecedented challenge. As word of a graphic video taken from a camera inside the church during Devin Kelley’s rampage permeates the storytelling of one of the nation’s worst mass shootings they will begin their work.
The death toll was updated to 27 Wednesday, including an eight month old fetus.
The men of the community are likely to suffer the most, according to Texas licensed grief counselor Michael Yeager. In a video, he says, “Men will tend to react in silence and hold feelings in.”
There is no proper way to grieve, and there is no set time for the process to evolve. The path begins with acceptance of the traumatic event. “And it’s those feelings we need to learn to embrace, whenever it is time for the individual. There is no set time to grieve. Time doesn’t heal all wounds. Time just passes.”
Their lives will forever be delineated now between “before” and “after.”
Vice President Mike Pence and his wife came to Texas to meet with victims Wednesday and to speak at a prayer vigil.
The church will hold the first funeral services on Sunday for two members