Like most people, I feel deeply sad and disturbed about the killings of 26 innocent children and adults in Connecticut last Friday. It is hard to remain silent in the midst of so much suffering, and to ignore this feeling of powerlessness and wrongness about it all. I'd like to understand why exactly this had to happen in order to regain some sense of control over my frustration, and over the fear of this happening again. Survivors of this tragedy and their families and friends will be facing trauma, grief, and a long period of healing ahead of them. This is the time to come together as a community, and to support and protect each other as we did during events like September-11. This is also the time to make effective changes in policies that make guns readily available to anyone who wants them.

I put together some resources from around the web that you may find helpful in dealing with this tragedy. I’ll be adding more as I find new ones.

Jason Kottke shares a few wonderful resources for how to talk to children about school massacres in his blog. Mr. Kottke also maintains a continued debate on gun control in his blog.

CNN’s article by Katherine Newman: In school shootings, patterns and warning signs, she talks about how we as a society can reduce the chances that tragedies like this will continue happening.

Newtown Youth and Family Services. a non-profit mental health clinic, is providing walk-in counseling to those affected in their town and surrounding area.

The Newtown Parent Connection offers bereavement groups

Psychology Today offers an extensive directory of psychotherapists in the state of Connecticut and in Newtown, Connecticut.