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Disaster Trauma Recovery + Processing Grief with Victoria Mexcur [episode 132]

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Listen to Disaster Trauma Recovery + Processing Grief with Victoria Mexcur on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | your platform of choice

I’m excited to welcome Victoria Mexcur back to the podcast today!

Victoria’s path into therapy was shaped by a lifelong desire to work with veterans, and that passion naturally evolved into deep, meaningful work with trauma. Though she now lives in North Carolina, Nebraska still holds a special place in her heart, because it shaped how she understands and serves rural & agricultural communities.

In today’s episode, we’re talking about disaster trauma recovery and processing grief. This conversation feels particularly timely after the recent fires here in Nebraska, and everything we’re still experiencing in the aftermath. While we focus a lot on the fires, this conversation applies to all kinds of situational trauma (i.e., loss, accidents, natural disasters, and other life-changing events).

Trauma comes in different phases: the immediate shock and survival mode, the busy “heroic” phase where everyone is helping, and the hopeful period where things start to feel okay again. 

But there’s also the harder reality that often comes months later when the support fades, and grief really settles in. This can be extremely difficult, especially when everyone else seems to move on while you’re still carrying the weight of what happened.

This episode is a reminder to please be patient with yourself and keep checking in on the people around you. Whether you’re currently in disaster trauma recovery or processing grief, please remember – all of this takes time. You do NOT have to rush your way through it!

Meet Victoria:

Victoria Mexcur is a licensed mental health therapist practicing in Nebraska and North Carolina. She works with traumas of all kinds, including high performer anxiety, men’s health, and rural health issues. Victoria uses equine inclusion, experiential, and somatic experiencing practices to support nervous system regulation. She offers in-person and virtual individual sessions, and is a hype up, straight-forward, down-to-earth therapist. Victoria believes you have the ability to withstand and recover from within by creating simplicity in the chaos.

In this episode, Disaster Trauma Recovery + Processing Grief with Victoria Mexcur, we cover:

  • Why the impact of trauma often unfolds in phases
  • How the “heroic” phase after a crisis can temporarily mask grief through busyness + adrenaline
  • Why the hardest part often comes after support and attention begin to fade
  • Why survivor’s guilt is often more accurately described as survivor’s shame
  • Realizing you were doing the best you could with what you had in that moment
  • Key signs to notice when someone is struggling
  • Why nightmares, hypervigilance, crying & stress responses are normal after trauma
  • Why crying is one of the body’s natural ways of processing + releasing emotion
  • Understanding that recovery is not linear + healing can take longer than you think
  • What truly matters in the recovery process

Resources & Links:

Connect with Victoria:

Connect with Terryn:

Related Episodes:

More about the Good Movement Draws Good Movement podcast:

In stockmanship (the art and science of handling cattle in a safe, effective, low-stress manner), we have this phrase . . . good movement draws good movement. 

It’s this thing that happens when we ask a small group of cattle, maybe a cow or a pair, to move out in a certain direction, and their movement draws the whole herd into moving in the same direction.

Good movement happens when we approach the cattle with a positive attitude, read and really listen to what they’re telling us, and communicate accordingly. 

We don’t approach the aware, flighty cattle the same as we do the tame, docile cattle. We adjust ourselves, our energy, and our approach, and we communicate with each other differently.

These adjustments help us effectively draw good movement from each, which then draws good movement from the herd. But it starts with us.

The same is true for humans. Good movement starts with us.

Welcome to Good Movement Draws Good Movement, the podcast where farmers, ranchers, and rural folks can grow relationally through awareness, understanding, and effective communication.

Hey, it’s me – T. I’m your host, and I, along with my guests, will be covering topics related to drawing good movement – things like self and social awareness, brain science, positive psychology, extending grace, and so much more. 

We’ll share tools that can help you understand why you are the way you are, why others are the way they are, and how you can use that to step out of self-told lies with grace and compassion to draw good movement in conversations, relationships, and life in rural America. 

Tune in every Tuesday, and make sure to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode! Let’s go draw good movement!

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