A community affected by a house fire in which a mum and two young children died should not 鈥榤inimise their emotions鈥� over the tragedy.
Justine Collison, 33, and her two children, eight-year-old Isabella and Harvey, five, died after the fire at their home in the village of Collingham, near Newark, on December 15.
Her husband Gavin remains seriously ill in hospital.
Collingham fire station has today opened its doors to the local community to provide a place where they can meet, talk, support and reassure each other.
香港六合彩精准资料 counsellor Jackie Rogers said relatives and close friends will not be the only people affected by the tragedy.
鈥淔amily and friends will have to come to terms with how they died. It was traumatic and unexpectedly sudden. It will be very difficult to grieve at first as there will be many other things getting in the way, such as the legalities or the coroner.
Don't minimise emotions
鈥淥ther people in the community may not be aware of how they have been affected by this too. They probably can鈥檛 explain how they are feeling.
鈥淧eople in the community shouldn鈥檛 minimise their emotions.
鈥淭hey may feel a gloominess, a hollowness, a heaviness. They may feel lethargic or have headaches. These are normal feelings. 聽
鈥淪ome may feel like they鈥檙e not allowed to feel that way, because it鈥檚 not their family.
Sense of injustice
鈥淭here may be confusing feelings and a sense of injustice.
鈥淚t鈥檚 ok to feel this sadness and loss, even if you were not close to the people who died.鈥�
The tragic fire happened just 10 days before Christmas.
Jackie said: 鈥淭his would have been incredibly sad whatever time of year it happened, but there is something about Christmas that makes it even more poignant.
鈥淚t will be very difficult for some people in the community to celebrate Christmas.
Some people may feel guilt
鈥淪ome people may feel guilt that they are ok, that their family are safe and they will be able to celebrate Christmas together.
鈥淛ust be mindful about what people do or don鈥檛 want to do this Christmas.鈥�
Jackie said the sight of the fire-damaged house, the sounds of sirens or presence of police cars and fire engines, may be triggers for some people in the community who have suffered previous trauma, or have lost their own loved ones in difficult circumstances.
And she said it was important that members of the local community did not bottle up their feelings about what had happened.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really important not to make it a taboo to talk about it,鈥� said Jackie, an experienced counsellor who has written and spoken previously about how tragedies have affected communities.
It's good to talk
She added: 鈥淎llow yourself time to feel this sadness, give yourself moments of reflection. Just don鈥檛 fight these emotions or bottle up how you鈥檙e feeling.
鈥淚t鈥檚 good to talk. It鈥檚 good that there are places that the community can go.
鈥淪ome people may not want to share their feelings, but writing a message or leaving a tribute can help too.鈥�