Families of Ellis Park victims receive counseling
Families of Ellis Park victims receive counseling

Posted in News on Apr 25, 2001.

Families of the 43 deceased victims of Ellis Park are obtaining post-trauma family counseling by a team of eight clinical and forensic psychologists who have been appointed by the Ellis Park Crisis Committee.

The team is headed up by Ketso Moorosi, a prominent clinical/forensic psychologist who specialises in dealing with victims of traumatic incidences.

Moorosi, who qualified at the University of Franche Comte Besacon France as a clinical psychologist and as a forensic psychologist at the University of Pretoria has vast experience in dealing with post traumatic stress.

According to Moorosi, the families of the deceased are experiencing various symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. These include anger, bitterness, denial, frustration, panic attacks and depression.

"We have a case of where the husband and wife died, leaving behind an eight year old son, who is in need of psychological support. Shortly after hearing the news of the death of the couple, the grandmother passed away and the uncle suffered a stroke. This family is undergoing acute stress and anxiety," she said.

The team of registered psychologists, situated close to where families of the forty-three deceased victims resided - including Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State, Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape - have been contracted to ensure that each family obtains eight sessions of counseling over the next two months.

Merle O'Brien, co-ordinator of the Ellis Park Crisis Center, said that in addition, more than 100 people have already submitted claims in respect of injuries and that the crisis center was receiving more than thirty calls a day in respect of such claims.

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