Dedicated to providing support, connection, and facilitation around trauma recovery and mental health, Survivors Path allows audiences to hear directly about living through and surviving trauma. In sharing the survivors’ journey, we hope to facilitate deeper dialogue and more significant support for them, their families, and their communities.
SUPPORT
MY VIEW FROM UNDER A LUNCHROOM TABLE | The 2-hours that change me
Speaker: Amy Over
The 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School has become a place marker in our history. That April day, thousands of students survived, but they experienced injuries beyond the physical. Sharing her personal story of that day, Columbine survivor Amy Over shares intimate details and insights of surviving and confronting Columbine.
Amy Shares
· Intimate memories of that day in April
· Pictures and images of her location and exit route
· The misconceptions
10 MINUTES, 12 BURSTS | 10 Minutes that changed everything
Speaker: Amber Brown
The 2017 Las Vegas Shooting was the deadliest shooting in America. 12 bursts of gunfire occurred over 10 minutes ending a sublime weekend of music and community. The survivors of that shooting are still learning what healing looks like and still cope with the 10 minutes changed everything
Amber Shares
▪ The timeline from a survivor’s view
▪ Pictures and maps of her location and exit route
▪ Debunking the conspiracies and what we learned from the FBI report
THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR RUNNING | The 11 minutes that changed my life forever… and the 11 hours after
Speaker: Hayley Steinmuller
On October 1st, 2017, 58 lives were lost, and over 22,000 others were affected after gunfire erupted at a county music festival in Las Vegas. Sharing her personal story of that day, Route 91 survivor Hayley Steinmuller shares intimate details and insights of surviving the largest mass shooting in US History.
Hayley shares
▪ Her experience from the first round of gunfire until she left Vegas 11 hours later.
▪ Pictures and maps of her location and exit route
▪ Interactive Q&A
THE DAY EVERYTHING CHANGED | Facing my classmate – the gunman
Speaker: Michelle Wheeler
The 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School is a significant event in the history of mass violence. That day, Michelle Wheeler came face to face with one of the gunmen and survived–physically. She suffered injuries, the kind that you can’t see. Sharing her personal story of that day, Michelle recounts the experience of a teen girl, through the eyes of an adult survivor.
Michelle Shares
▪ Her experience in the cross-fire
▪ The impact, and realizing her life had changed forever
▪ The importance of creating a safe space
CONNECT
MENTAL HEALTH ─ DECADES IIN THE MAKING | Creating a healthy state of well-being
Speaker: Amy Over
Reports of mass violence and shootings continue to plague the news, and although people are resilient and often look as if they have “bounced back,” after trauma, there is almost always an impact on a person’s mental health. Columbine survivor, Amy Over shares her mental health journey and how she navigated her own path to a healthy state of mind.
Amy Shares
▪ Mental health in the immediate aftermath of trauma
▪ The signs of needing help you don’t see
▪ The importance of creating a “safe” space
BE A MENTAL HEALTH FIRST RESPONDER | Recognizing when mental health issues are occurring and knowing how to support
Speaker: Amber Brown
America has a mental health crisis, and while we can’t all be therapists, we can learn to recognize the signs of a mental health emergency. Anyone can be a mental health first responder, whether they are lending an ear, or directing others to support.
Amber Shares
▪ Identifying when someone is struggling with mental health
▪ Actively listening and supporting, while practicing health care
PARENTING AND THE HARD CONVERSATIONS | Parenting children from a trauma survivors “view”
Speaker: Amy Over
The greatest responsibilities of a parent are to provide, protect and nurture. But what happens when one of those foundational elements is interrupted by fear? Amy Over, a Columbine survivor, discusses her fears as a parent raising 4 children in a generation where school lockout and lockdown drills are standard operating procedure.
Amy Shares
· A survivor’s process for parenting
· How and when to discuss school safety and mass shootings with your children
· Interactive Q&A
THE LINGERING IMPACT | Silently suffering into recovery
Speaker: Michelle Wheeler
As incidents of mass violence and shootings continue to make headlines, the impact on people’s mental health cannot be ignored. While individuals may appear to have recovered from trauma, there is often a lingering impact. Michelle Wheeler, a survivor of the Columbine shooting, offers insights into her own mental health journey and the strategies she employed to achieve a state of emotional well-being.
Michelle Shares
· The missed signs of needing help
· Contemplating suicide
· The importance of creating a “safe” space
AFTER TRAUMA AND TRAGEDY | Acceptance and Love
Speaker: Michelle Wheeler
Sharing her personal journey of recovery after surviving the Columbine mass shooting, Michelle Wheeler uncovers the lasting impact of trauma on mental health. Discussing the coping mechanisms that aided her in dealing with depression and PTSD, she recounts the experience of accepting and loving the person she is today.
Michelle Shares
· Discovering her new path after trauma
· Embracing the twists and turns of tragedy
· Creating a place that feels positive and safe
FACILITATE
WHAT? SO WHAT? NOW WHAT? | Working at a school after surviving a mass shooting.
Speaker: Hayley Steinmuller
Less than 24 hours after surviving a mass shooting, Hayley found herself in a school – as a student and educator — ten months later, she began her career as a school counselor. Sharing her interview journey and having to address her ongoing trauma to work as a school counselor, the need for work accommodations, and panicking through fire alarms/drills are just a few of the topics Hayley shares as a survivor and as a member of her school’s trauma response team.
Route 91 survivor Hayley Steinmuller shares her experience of addressing her trauma during the interviewing process, asking for accommodations at work, serving on the trauma response team, and panicking through fire alarms/ drills.
Hayley shares
▪ How she pushes through the daily fears
▪ Trauma survival while working in a school setting
▪ Setting boundaries and asking for what your need
BREAKDOWNS, BREAKTHROUGHS AND THERAPY Humor | Coping with trauma comes in different ways, wills and wishes
Speaker: Amy Over
The experience of surviving trauma is never gone and can unexpectedly emerge in the form of depression, PTSD, or a mental breakdown. When discussing her experience, Columbine survivor Amy Over takes listeners through the spectrum of survival and the myriad coping mechanisms that are now available decades after Columbine.
Amy Shares
· Experiencing trauma anniversaries
· A positive spin on coping daily
SURVIVING THE DATING WORLD | Singe and sort of ready to mingle
Speaker: Hayley Steinmuller
Hayley was single and ready to mingle at Route 91, but unbeknownst to her, that was about to change — forever. After surviving the largest mass shooting in America, Hayley discovered that there was a new layer to her dating life that would need to be addressed – her experience and the trauma that persists and, of course … IF she should tell them, when to tell them, and how to answer the endless questions.
Hayley Shares
· The fun and awful experiences of dating as a survivor
· A different dating APP
· The most surprising questions
ADDICTED TO COPING | Finding coping mechanisms that work for your
Speaker: Amber Brown
We love to cope. It is in our nature to numb and avoid instead of facing our triggers and emotions. There are very toxic coping mechanisms and there are healthy coping mechanisms. The key is distinguishing between them and choosing the healthy coping skills that work best for you.
Amber Shares
▪ Identifying toxic coping mechanisms (not just substance related)
▪ Naming emotions and sitting in uncomfortable spaces
▪ Choosing coping mechanisms that help us through the uncomfortable, not those that hold us in
suspended pain
IT’S OKAY TO BE OKAY | Coping in a way that others believed was weird.
Speaker: Hayley Steinmuller
After surviving the Las Vegas Route 91 shooting, friends, family, and even strangers found her coping mechanism unusual. For Hayley, she lived life as she had before the shooting. This troubled people in her inner circle, and they themselves had trouble processing how Hayley was managing her trauma (or, as they thought, not). The outcome– those around her used “trauma” to explain her behavior that they didn’t understand. Nor ever could.
Hayley shares
· Her coping mechanism
· When coping was easy
· When coping doesn’t feel like enough
BUILDING A SAFE WORKING ENVIRONMENT FOR TRAUMA SURVIVORS | Providing support to survivors in the workplace
Speaker: Amber Brown
Having an employee who has survived a trauma can be difficult to navigate. Employers who want to create a safe working space for survivors will need to be equipped with information. Creating a safe space allows survivors to bring their whole selves to the workplace.
Amber Shares
▪ What you need to know about your survivor employee
▪ Triggers, tragiversaries and setting boundaries
▪ How to support your survivor employee but not coddle
LOCKOUT AND LOCKDOWN DRILLS | Teacher & Parent: in a Lockdown Generation
Speaker: Michelle Wheeler
Exploring the challenges of parenting and teaching in a world of school lockdowns and drills, Michelle Wheeler, a Columbine survivor, shares her personal experience of fear in the classroom, and ways to cope with this disruption to the foundational elements of parenting.
Michelle Shares
▪ Strategies for Parenting and Teaching in a public school system
▪ How and when to discuss school safety and mass shootings with children
▪ Interactive Q&A
