People become upset for any number of different reasons. Distress can be a reaction to a common but disturbing life experience – an accident, a child hurt in a playground, someone injured in traffic – or after receiving bad news. Or it could be as a result of a very exceptional event, a plane crash, train derailment, major weather event or act of violence. Or it could be a build-up of many events, causing overload and stress. Whatever the cause of the emotional upset, the principles of helping are broadly the same. And they hold good whether one is helping a stranger in a first-aid situation, or a friend, colleague or relative, or even an inmate in a prison.
I have done chaplaincy work for United Bristol Health Trust, Avon and Somerset Constabulary ( HM Prison Service), City College of Bristol, Filton College and Bristol Airport.