BEAUMONT, Texas — The devastation of Tropical Storm Imelda may be haunting many of you, but there's help to ease your anxieties.
Emily Ross is a licensed professional counselor with certifications in trauma and alternative medicine.
She works at New Path Counseling in Beaumont, where people have been seeking help to combat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
"I'm trying to help them feel safe again and to feel secure again when they've got evidence that it might happen again," said Ross.
She admits finding a way to do that is a challenge.
Nobody expected two damaging storms to hit Southeast Texas in two years.
"What starts out as a reasonable response to a scary event like this storm can end up lasting a decade if you just don't seek some help to process it out," said Ross.
The good news is, counseling works.
Cynthia Chandler has been a client at New Path for the last five years and has been working on overcoming a fear of driving, after being pinched between drag-racers on a Houston freeway.
"Counseling has helped me figure out everything that has ever gone wrong in my life," said Chandler.
Even though her PTSD isn't caused by the recent storms, she tells 12News counseling changed her life and believes it can do the same for others reeling from Harvey and Imelda.
"I didn't realize I had it, I didn't realize that this was a problem," said Chandler. "Counseling was probably the best thing I ever did."
Ross says this disorder is not only seen in adults.
"Children respond different than adults, they don't have a position of power to keep themselves safe and they really have to rely on adults to do that," said Ross. "They don't always say I'm sad or I'm scared, sometimes they act out."
Ross tells 12News a majority of her job is simply connecting her clients to what they need on a day-to-day basis.
"A lot of it is helping them connect to resources to make sure they can get those things met so they can start to focus again on their mental health," said Ross.
Thousands of people in Southeast Texas could easily have PTSD.
Ross says studies show as much as 70 percent of a population get some sort of the disorder, following a tragic event.
For those seeking help, you can call or go online to set up a session with New Path.
Ross' message is simple when it comes to counseling, "you're not alone."