Molly Lotz

Nov. 30, 2020

 

Molly Lotz, a crisis support counselor at UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center, provides emotional support to patients and staff. Photo by Lindsey Reznicek, UCHealth.

Social worker extends helping hand to patients, staff

Molly Lotz was waiting with her family for her 12-year old’s soccer game to start. She was not scheduled to work.

But then she received a call from someone in the emergency department at UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center. A patient needed a behavioral health consult, and it was going to be a while before a virtual visit for one could take place.

After excusing herself from the soccer game, Lotz arrived at the hospital to meet with the patient.

“I love this work,” she said. “When a patient or a family member or a staff member is going through a crisis, it’s so critical for them to be supported – not only through the physical care they receive from our physicians and staff, but to also feel supported in their mental, behavioral and emotional needs.”

Describing her role as a licensed clinical social worker and crisis support counselor as “unique, varied and impactful,” Lotz said physicians and staff feel tenderness toward the patient and their family, but providing emotional support isn’t always within that moment’s scope of care.

“It’s beneficial to be able to pass off the emotional care to myself or another social worker, and we can provide support gently, delicately and with grace,” she said.

Lotz’ job is two-fold, working with patients and family members to support their needs during or after a medical or mental health crisis, or both, and working with staff to support their needs. There are similarities with both.

“Everyone deserves support in a crisis,” she said. “Whether it’s a debrief after a critical incident, a check-in once a month or a recommendation to seek assistance from UCHealth’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), there are resources to support everyone.”

At the end of 2019, Lotz worked with her leader to have an additional four hours approved each month to be able to offer staff drop-in sessions, which have been highly utilized. She also does departmental rounding on staff.

“Difficulties at home, leader turnover, personal or professional relationships, substance use and abuse, changes in patient care protocols – it can all bring stress,” said Lotz. “There are instances where the impact is individual, and other times where it stretches across multiple departments, like a trauma patient with an unfortunate outcome. That’s when it’s so important to gather and process the incident, and the earlier we can start processing that critical event within the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing structure, the easier it is for staff to return to work without carrying that baggage.”

Over her 17 years at YVMC, Lotz has witnessed a positive shift in the science and language involving mental and behavioral health.

“We know more about how the brain stores memories, whether they’re acutely traumatic or ongoing chronic stressors. We know they’re manifested through physical responses and reactions that can sometimes perpetuate or mimic chronic illness but working on the physical aspect is only a bandage for what’s going on emotionally,” she said. “We now have more language around mental health, so we can identify the issues easier. When we can name things, we can categorize them and better understand when it’s more of a psychosocial or psychological need than a physical need.”

Lotz said the body has no timeframe of how long it has been since the brain first processed a particular traumatic event. Because of that, it can be difficult to proceed when a similar event occurs, which is why it’s so important to have support resources available soon after trauma.

Having been close to her own traumatic and sad events in her own life helps Lotz support others more easily.

“I know when it’s not ‘mine.’ I can say, ‘I know how badly this hurts, but this one is not mine so I am here to help carry your load through this,’” she explained, “and because it’s not mine, I’m able to move through it quicker and support the people who are directly affected by the incident. It’s important to recognize and understand the ownership of the grief and trauma. Being able to go home to my family after a crisis stops me in my tracks and reminds me of the fragility of life.”

Lotz counts it as a good day at work when she can clock out, walk through the parking lot, take a deep breath and feel like even though something unexpectedly bad may have happened to someone, that she helped make the situation a little easier for the people impacted by it.

“Even though it may be the worst day of their life,” said Lotz, “knowing you helped make something terrible a little less terrible makes me keep doing this work.”

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About the author

Lindsey Reznicek is a communications specialist at UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She has spent the last ten years working in marketing and communications in health care, an industry she never considered but one to which she's contributed through her work in media relations, executive messaging and internal communications. She considers it an honor to interact with patients and write about their experiences; it’s what keeps her coming back to work each day.

A native of Nebraska, Lindsey received a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism, with a focus on public relations, from the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Kansas State University – she bleeds purple.

She could see a Broadway musical every week, is a huge animal lover, enjoys a good shopping trip, and likes spending time in the kitchen. Lindsey and her husband have two daughters and enjoy hiking in the summer and skiing all winter long.