88 | MAY 28 • 2020 

Health

Helping the 

 Helpers

Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute offers 
free short-term counseling.

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A

lan Krohn, Ph.D., 74, a clinical 
psychologist and psychoanalyst 
based in Ann Arbor, is training 
psychiatric residents to help medical pro-
fessionals who are treating COVID-19 
patients deal with the emotional fallout 
from the pandemic.
Dr. Krohn, an adjunct/
clinical associate professor of 
psychiatry at the University 
of Michigan and a faculty 
member of the Michigan 
Psychoanalytic Institute and 
Society, has served as a Red 
Cross disaster medical health worker in 

New Orleans, Oklahoma, Sri Lanka and 
the Congo region. He has helped survi-
vors of devastating hurricanes and tor-
nados as well as wars. But the work he’
s 
doing now is different.
He describes the COVID-19 pandemic 
as more of a complex trauma than a sin-
gle traumatic event like a tornado. 
“The COVID-19 pandemic is unique 
because you can’
t get away from it. It’
s 
everywhere and there is no clear begin-
ning and end to it,” Dr. Krohn explains. 
Feeling overwhelmed is a “normal reac-
tion to an abnormal situation. People lose 
a sense of self. They may be a little bit 
frayed as their sense of identity gets lost. 
Some people need the trappings of life 
more than others. They are missing their 
sense of connection and customary roles,” 
he says. 
According to Marc Rosen, 
Ph.D., 65, a psychologist who 
lives in Bloomfield Village 
and is the public informa-
tion chair of the Michigan 
Psychoanalytic Institute, 
calls to crisis lines have 
increased during the pandemic.
“We are looking at other people with 
some suspicion. There is a feeling of look-
ing over our shoulders,” he says. In addi-
tion, the pandemic can trigger traumas 
from earlier life.
While the pandemic is disruptive and 
unnerving for everyone, it is particularly 
devastating for health care professionals. 
“They are dedicated, courageous peo-

ple who are in a life-and-death situation 
for themselves. Some are sleeping in 
their garages to isolate themselves from 
their families,” Dr. Krohn says. “They are 
undersupplied in terms of equipment and 
there is an egregious lack of coordination 
from the federal government.” 
They experience “flat-out fear and vul-
nerability” as well as guilt that they hav-
en’
t helped their patients. This can lead to 
feeling overwhelmed psychologically and 
walling off of emotions, he explains. 
In response to the pandemic and 
Mental Health Awareness Month, which 
occurs every May, the institute decided to 
offer free, confidential, short-term coun-
seling for those experiencing pain and 
trauma during the pandemic. 
“We all felt a sense of helplessness and a 
need to help,” Dr. Rosen says. 
More than 20 licensed professional 
therapists are providing five phone or 
video counseling sessions at no charge. 
They will help callers talk through their 
emotions and normalize their reactions 
to the pandemic, guide them on self-care 
and assess their personal resources, Dr. 
Rosen says.
Their primary goal is to help health 
care workers, first responders (police, 
firefighters and EMS workers), as well as 
those serving the public, such as grocery, 
postal and delivery workers. However, if 
other individuals call, they will be given 
resources for help as well.
“No one will be turned away,” Dr. 
Rosen says. 

Help Lines from 
the Michigan 
Psychoanalytic 
Institute and Society

• Residents of Ann Arbor and western 
Wayne County: (734) 677-1590.
• Residents of the tri-county Detroit area 
(outside western Wayne County):
(248) 907-4407. 

The Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute 
and Society, founded in 1963 and 
based in Farmington Hills, is a group 
of mental health clinicians licensed in 
counseling, psychiatry, psychology, and 
social work. The Institute offers training 
in psychotherapy as well as continuing 
medical education for therapists.

Alan Krohn

Marc Rosen