2008 Woodie Awards
Professional Secret Keepers
The Psychology Club Presents Crisis Management Counselor, Dr. Gloria Bullman
Dani Picard
Issue date: 4/22/05 Section: News
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It's a job that varies as much as its clothing. There are high-tech boots, a bulletproof vest, two types of fireproof boots, bunker pants and jacket, and a helmet filling Dr. Gloria Bullman's trunk and backseat. "I have an outfit for every occasion," she says. And, in fact, she needs to. When there's a crisis happening, one has to act fast, especially when you're the one in charge of providing crisis management.
Dr. Bullman is head of BeamPines Crisis Management Services and has extensive experience in her field. She started providing crisis management services to fire departments and law enforcement agencies in the 1980s and now serves major corporations such as the U.S. Postal Service and the Justice Department.
However, she is not limited to workplace violence and counseling after serious accidents. She also has assisted in counseling after the 9/11 incidents and after Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
She spoke to the Psychology Club on March 31 about what it takes to be a crisis management counselor and her experiences in the field.
The crucial trait of a crisis management counselor is being a post-responder. "It's ok to cry," she says, but you have to get the job done first.
By emotionally responding when someone is telling his or her view of the crisis, the counselor may hinder the person's want to tell the story. He/She may feel horrified that the story being told is too grotesque and will thereby feel compelled to keep the story inside.
One has to remember two things, Bullman says, not to look scared and to "stay tough" because people are very sensitive to how you are responding to their story.
It's important to ask practical questions like "Have you eaten?" and "Have you called your family?" People in crises need to be armed with things to do not with how to feel.
The victims of crises are not "damaged goods," she insists. Instead, they're more like patients of surgery: they will have pain, but they need to be productive. The best thing for a victim of a crisis to do is to go back to work, because "people do better when they are productive."
When asked why she chose such a challenging job, she responded with a smile, "The job maybe hard, but the ultimate goal is to make the world a better place by easing human suffering.... I recognized very early on that this stuff [crises] happens all the time. The things you see on the news are wherever the camera happens to be. Crises will happen with or without me, and, if I'm there, I can help with it."
Dr. Bullman is head of BeamPines Crisis Management Services and has extensive experience in her field. She started providing crisis management services to fire departments and law enforcement agencies in the 1980s and now serves major corporations such as the U.S. Postal Service and the Justice Department.
However, she is not limited to workplace violence and counseling after serious accidents. She also has assisted in counseling after the 9/11 incidents and after Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
She spoke to the Psychology Club on March 31 about what it takes to be a crisis management counselor and her experiences in the field.
The crucial trait of a crisis management counselor is being a post-responder. "It's ok to cry," she says, but you have to get the job done first.
By emotionally responding when someone is telling his or her view of the crisis, the counselor may hinder the person's want to tell the story. He/She may feel horrified that the story being told is too grotesque and will thereby feel compelled to keep the story inside.
One has to remember two things, Bullman says, not to look scared and to "stay tough" because people are very sensitive to how you are responding to their story.
It's important to ask practical questions like "Have you eaten?" and "Have you called your family?" People in crises need to be armed with things to do not with how to feel.
The victims of crises are not "damaged goods," she insists. Instead, they're more like patients of surgery: they will have pain, but they need to be productive. The best thing for a victim of a crisis to do is to go back to work, because "people do better when they are productive."
When asked why she chose such a challenging job, she responded with a smile, "The job maybe hard, but the ultimate goal is to make the world a better place by easing human suffering.... I recognized very early on that this stuff [crises] happens all the time. The things you see on the news are wherever the camera happens to be. Crises will happen with or without me, and, if I'm there, I can help with it."