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BRIEF: In Northern Living: Peers provide safe, shared space

Record-Eagle, The (Traverse City, MI) - 11/22/2014

Nov. 22--TRAVERSE CITY -- Little triggers cause big reactions for Jennifer Williamson.

The smell of wood smoke, the crackle of sticks under running feet. She closes her eyes and sees the cabin in the woods of her childhood.

Williamson, like many people who experience trauma, lived many years trying to deal with the pain herself. That was before a counselor suggested that connecting with other people in a support group who've experienced the same type of trauma might help. Williamson, never medically diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, found sharing helped her move forward.

"You can't identify it in yourself," she said. "You don't know who will listen, or who will care, so you build a big wall."

She's one of many who have benefited from peer-to-peer interactions touted as an effective coping mechanism by Johnathan Shay, a psychiatrist and PTSD expert.

"Peers are life-saving," Shay said. "Someone with the alphabet salad is not as effective as someone who has walked in their shoes."

See the rest of this story in Northern Living on page 1E.

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