The psychological aftermath

It’s the smallest New Yorkersmany of whom lost mothers, fathers, sisters and brotherswho are flocking to counseling programs, two years after September 11.
While large-scale counseling programs, such as the city’s Project Liberty, are being phased out, parents are seeking programs tailored especially to children under age 18.
"Families are realizing that as short-term services end, there is nowhere to turn for the continuing support for them," said Vidhya Rangaiah, director the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, "9/11 Together We Stand." The program started on September 12, 2001 and has centers throughout the city. The "9/11 Together We Stand," program pairs up children who lost relatives in the tragedy with mentors who are specially trained to handle grief management. Mentors meet with their matches from three to five hours per month.
"There are 40 kids now in the program and we’re still interviewing more…we foresee the number growing," said Rangaiah. "A lot of people in our society are forgetting what happened, so these parents and kids are not getting that initial overwhelming support from the community."
There are other counseling programs that cater to children who suffered a loss from September 11 and from other circumstances.
Many children, especially those who were too young to understand what occurred on September 11, are only now beginning to show signs of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), said Susan Thomas, director of the Center for HOPE (Healing, Opportunity, Perseverance,and Enlightment), which is based in the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System’s Schneider Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park. PTSD symptoms occur over a long period of time, and are associated with a traumatic event that may include nightmares and reverting back to behavior such as thumb sucking or bed wetting.
"We are seeing more kids this year," said Thomas. Mixing in both September 11 and non-September 11 kids makes the September 11 kids not feel singled out, she added. Parents and kids meet in separate groups, twice a month.
"When children start in the program, they don’t have the language for the words or they put on such a strong face," said Thomas. "As they begin to talk about their feelings and they know their mom or dad is in the other room talking about their feelings, they are relieved and they realize it’s now okay to talk about it."
The Center for HOPE will hold a special camp session on September 13 and 14 for 22 children13 of whom are from Queens. The children will spend the weekend at Camp DeWolf on Long Island and participate in arts and crafts, sports and other group activities. On the last day, children will write notes to their loved ones and tie them to a balloon. As the relative’s name is read, they’ll release the balloon over the Long Island Sound, said Thomas.
Robert Moteki, the executive director of the Consultation Center in Rego Park, has seen his share of PTSD patientsboth young and old. The Consultation Center opened in 1953 and had a specialized unit which handled veterans suffering from PTSD. In the past six months, he’s seen a trickle of both children and adults coming in, although he is surprised that he hasn’t seen more patients with September 11-related trauma. "They never did show up in big numbers," he said. He chalks it up to what he calls, "yankee stoicism."
"Like the Brits, most Americans feel as if they have to keep a stiff upper lip and move on," he said, "not to give into self-pity." But especially for children, reactions can be delayed. "Everyone has a different way of experiencing this kind of trauma," he said.