Rapid Response Counseling
Most of my RC life has taken place in northern California, USA. The RC Region there has “rapid response” gatherings when there are major events—elections, “natural” disasters, mass shootings, and so on—that many people need to discharge about. Different people lead, depending on the topic. It’s been useful to turn to each other for discharge soon after the events.
I live in Puerto Rico now and have relationships with people who live in New Orleans (Louisiana, USA). I helped organize support for the RC Community there as they prepared to face the recent hurricane. I have also been thinking about the people I’m connected to in Haiti, who are recovering from a massive earthquake.
As the climate emergency deepens, more such emergencies will be happening at the same time. Among other challenges, scared and confused people will be committing acts of violence.
What if we organize ourselves in advance for rapid response counseling—being thoughtful about language, technology access, existing relationships? Then when disasters hit, we won’t need to pull together support at the moment.
There could be “rapid response coordinators” in the different geographic locations and a list of people who have agreed in advance to be called when the plan gets activated. Regional Reference People would know who their coordinator is and could activate the plan. A messaging tool could enable people to find Co-Counselors who have already agreed to be available.
Maricao, Puerto Rico
Reprinted from the e-mail discussion list for RC Community members
(Present Time 206, January 2022)