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On 9/11/01 the unthinkable happened. The United States was attacked, the World Trade Center was destroyed, and approximately 3,000 people lost their lives. Born in 1968, this event was my Pearl Harbor, as I would never forget where I was when Tower 1 fell. Ironically, I was exercising my right to vote in the mayoral democratic primary.

When I arrived at work I found my colleagues hunched over the television in shock as many of them saw Tower 2 fall from our hospital window at Interfaith Medical Center (IMC). As a psychologist on the Mobile Crisis Team at Interfaith Medical Center (IMC), I quickly learned that the Department of Mental Health had called the team to assist with the crises. I knew the team had been called in to assist with victims of the TWA flight 800, the Swiss Air disaster, and other local disasters, but this was my first assignment to assist in a national crises.

We were told that we would be heading to the Armory within the next day or two and we signed up for long shifts ready to help in any way we could. One of our first tasks was to assist people in locating their friends and family members on the hospital lists. Finding someone on the list was considered to be "good news" as that meant that the person's loved one had at least made it out of the building. Within the first few days of the attack people were hopeful that their friends and relatives were alive. As the days went on we realized how the news we were delivering had an instant effect on the person asking for the information. More often than not, someone would name his or her relative, check the list, and not find who they were looking for. The facial expressions were those of realization and despair. It was the final straw that made people begin to fathom the notion that their loved one was gone. When possible we could help them begin the grieving process. In most cases people were not ready to speak. During these moments I felt helpless in my role as a psychologist as I couldn't even lend an open ear. As a fellow citizen, I felt empathy, pain, and sorrow.

As time progressed we were asked to go to family assistance centers, schools, and people's homes to help them cope with the emotional aftermath of these events. Our job was to enable the person to speak about the experience, and to let them know that their reactions were normal given this communal trauma. We defined what "trauma" is and educated people about the physical, emotional, and cognitive responses to it. We helped them to recognize the symptoms and how to cope with them. For some, the interventions we provided were brief. For others, the exposure would lead to the start of a long journey of recovery.

We heard people talk about the horrors of watching some people jump out windows and others run for their lives. Later on we'd listen to people struggling to adjust to being relocated, feeling victimized, not wanting to leave the house, and questioning the existence of G-D. As the city rallied to take care of it's own, Project Liberty was created. Project Liberty is an outreach program designed to offer people counseling regarding the tragedy. IMC is a Project Liberty Hospital. Here at IMC, the Center for Mental Health (CMH) offers Project Liberty counseling and outpatient therapy for those struggling to function since the events of 9/11/2001.

The Mobile Crisis Team is available to visit people in their homes if they are unable or unwilling to come for outpatient treatment. Our services are valuable since one of the primary symptoms of trauma is avoidance. Many people simply didn't want to leave their homes, let alone go on a subway, or to a hospital. In these instances two staff members, usually a psychiatrist and psychologist, go to the client's home, evaluate the severity of the stress reaction, and provide support until the person is able to go to outpatient therapy when indicated. The service is free of charge and can serve as a real stepping-stone in helping people get the treatment they need. The Mobile Crisis Team has seen some people return to work within a few days while others begin to attend therapy for the first time. Often these folks had never considered therapy and are finding that speaking with an expert in trauma and recovery really does help them to cope and move on with their lives.

The Mobile Crisis Team does not only treat those who are having difficulty since the attack of the World Trade Center. We treat people with mental illness who are in psychiatric crises and not getting the treatment they need. Our primary goal is to keep people from needing a psychiatric hospital stay and in many cases we are successful. When psychiatric hospitalization is indicated we can facilitate that process as well.

The Interfaith Mobile Crisis Team is available to make visits on evenings and weekends within a specific catchment area in Brooklyn. Other mobile crisis teams cover all of the five boroughs. You can call 1-800-LIFENET for the appropriate mobile crisis team for your area. If you or someone you care about needs assistance we can be contacted at 718-935-7284. For people in need of Project Liberty counseling or outpatient psychotherapy the phone number for the Interfaith Center for Mental Health (CMH) is 718-935-7180. Both services are based at Interfaith Medical Center, 555 Prospect Place, Brooklyn, NY 11238.