SEO: SOCIAL WORKER BATTLES PTSD

Clinical social worker, Kathy Donovan, suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder after being robbed and beat at gun point. She now works tirelessly to treat young women that are fellow survivors of horrendous trauma

One Heck of a Hero PTSD patient becomes sought after social worker By: Maggie Donovan
Give me the money. God damn you Ill kill you, Ill kill you. Carefully she reached into her sweater and removed the night drop bag, barely half full. Outraged, the man screamed, smashing his gun into her stomach, God damn you where is the rest of it. Forced to the ground she lay still close to her employee as the man struggled to pull the trigger, shaking as he grasped the gun. He disappeared. Instinctively she knew he would return and he did, leaving and returning a total of seven times. Finally Kathy shot up to her feet, dragging her 18-year-old employee, as they ran for their lives. On Oct 10, 1992, Kathy Donovan, manager of the KB Cinema in Washington, D.C, was robbed at gunpoint for the third time.

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Maggie Donovan Kathy Donovan Pg.2 Unraveled When someone is very traumatized, what he or she does first is try to forget about it and try to move on, Donovan said. Kathy had buried a lot of unhealed trauma. Before working at the theater she had spent time in the Philippines as a Peace Corp volunteer. Surrounded by political unrest, and the end of a dictatorial regime, she witnessed unspeakable violence that she carried back home to the United States. After each robbery, she became more and more unstable. By the third she had unraveled. You could have a ton of trauma but not have posttraumatic stress disorder. You must meet the criteria. Then there is something that kicks it all off, Donovan said. Right after the third attack, trauma from the previous robberies, and her experience from the Philippines surfaced. All of her previous trauma had to be addressed to treat the disorder not just what happened at the last robbery. Integrated A few days after the last attack, she ended up in the psychiatric wing at Georgetown Hospital. Donovan spoke with a well know psychiatrist famous for treating Vietnam War veterans. Each visit Donovan insisted, she was never gonna be okay. One day the psychiatrist explained that in order to recover she must fully integrate the assault into her life. Infuriated, Donovan could not understand why she would want to integrate the trauma she wanted so desperately to forget. Years later Donovan would relay this same advice to her patients. (more)

Maggie Donovan Kathy Donovan Pg. 3 After a year off, Kathy Donovan graduated from school in 1994, earning her first level license in clinical social work. She struggled, unable help others while still recovering from posttraumatic stress disorder. Six years later, of which were spent teaching English to children of Japanese diplomats, she started contracting with child welfare. She treated children that had been abused, experienced gun violence, and then exclusively with those suffering PTSD. Innovative treatment Donovan worked long hours and dedicated her life to her patients. Her outstanding results impressed judges; they called her at home begging to take on more clients. Three things were developing the results, consistency, compassion, and empathy, Donovan said. Donovan focused on having the kid tell the story but also explain how they made the decisions they made. in order to hear the hero in their voice. Man you have one heck of a hero sitting in front of you if you have someone that has PTSD; someone that has fought for his or her life, and continues to fight, Donovan said. Her consistency treating adolescents attracted programs across the nation. Second Nature in Georgia, a residential wilderness treatment center for teens, recruited Kathy to counsel young women. The program brought patients into the wilderness to experience the most incredible treatment money could buy. (more) Man you have one

heck of a hero sitting

in front of you if you have someone that has PTSD; someone that has fought for his or her life, and continues to fight.

Maggie Donovan Kathy Donovan Pg. 4

Innovation From her work in Georgia, InnerChange, a residential program in Texas, hired Kathy as the new executive director. After firing more than 60 employees, she completely redesigned the program, updated the research and made it among one of the top treatment centers in the nation. "She's devoted her life to helping young women recover from all sorts of trauma and grow into healthy independence. Fulshear and Kathy were a perfect match," David Michel, CEO of InnerChange said. The success of the program attracted notable professionals, such as the Dallas Cowboys psychiatrist, who toured the center with her psychiatric team. After 18 months, Donovan had also added a third phase to the program. The development placed the teenagers in supervised apartment housing, enabling them to integrate into the community and become active citizens. Beating the odds Following her position at InnerChange, Donovan continued to treat clients in the Washington, D.C., area, but endured yet another traumatic experience, this time at a baseball stadium. On Mar 27, 2012 Kathy was watching a Los Angeles Angels game when the batter Jorge Cantus cracked bat helicoptered at her skull at 100 miles an hour. Her hairline was lacerated, and her vertigo was severely damaged. The accident hindered her ability work.

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Maggie Donovan Kathy Donovan Pg. 5 Hours before the interview Second Nature called Donovan, offering her the chance to start a new program but this time not alone. The program would again attract clients nation-wide and include updated treatment methods. Treatment and life are never a straight-line up, Donovan said. The most important part is the down and what we do to get back up again.

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