Published: Jul 11, 2025
Watch the full video on the YouTube.
Porch Light Health’s Chief Clinical Officer Steve Carleton was featured on Denver7 offering insight on dealing with grief, anxiety, and trauma in the wake of deadly disasters like the catastrophic floods in Texas.
Denver7
Denver 7 is continuing to follow the devastation in central Texas after historic flooding there. At least 118 people have been killed, and more than 160 people are missing.
Denver7
And here we are, nearly a week after the flood. Search and rescue crews still trying to find those who are missing. Now, some of the searchers include Colorado’s Task Force One, which was deployed to Texas this week. And disasters like this can also take a toll on our mental health.
Denver7
Grief, anxiety, and trauma can all be common, even for those with no direct connections to the victim.
Denver7
And joining us to talk about that, Steve Carleton with Porch Light Health. Steve, thanks for coming in for this. So you are a counsel, you’re a mental health advocate, but you also have a personal connection to this story.
Steve Carleton
I do. I grew up in Dallas, and so the Guadalupe River in there is a place that lots of people from Dallas and Houston go and recreate, and that’s what a lot of these people were doing. And yes, my community back home has been hit by this.
Denver7 News
Colorado has certainly been… We’ve had our fair share of disasters, unfortunately. We’ve covered them here on Denver 7, floods, wildfires. This can be triggering for folks, even if they don’t have a direct impact to Texas or what happened there.
Steve Carleton
Absolutely. I think there’s a reason that stories like these and events like these capture the whole nation, because if you’re a parent out there, if you’re a loved one of somebody, you just can’t imagine dropping your kid off at camp and them not coming home. And so when things like this happen, it really shocks people’s minds to think that something like this could happen to them as well.
Denver7
And there has to be an effect on first responders as well. We consider them these stoic heroes who go in and do their job and get out, but they’re also humans underneath those uniforms.
Steve Carleton
It’s a really good call out because when we are dealing with a tragedy like this, this awful thing that happened that came out of nowhere, that no one was expecting all of people step up. There are lots of heroes, as you said, out there. And the drain and the strain and the sacrifice that they’re making, they’re dealing with grief and loss for the people that are gone. And they’re also dealing with the trauma of the work that they’re having to do right now.
Denver7
This next question I had struggled with, with the fires in Pasadena earlier this year in California. When you have friends and family who are going through a tragedy like this, how do you start that conversation? What do you say to comfort them?
Steve Carleton
It’s one of the most common questions we get in therapy, right? It’s like, how do I talk to somebody? What are the words that I say? What are the words that I use? What I would tell people is the words don’t matter as much as your actions and what you’re doing and how you’re showing up. A text of Let me know if I can do anything for you. Lance does not land as well as, can I bring you dinner on Tuesday? Can I drop some food off at your porch? Let’s go have coffee on Thursday. Show up. That’s the answer. Yeah.
Denver7
Don’t put an extra chore on them. You tell me what I can do for you. No, just do something, because even if it’s not exactly what they need, it’ll be well received.
Steve Carleton
Yeah. And I think anybody that’s lost somebody knows that and has felt that and much more appreciates people just doing things.
Denver7
And listening.
Steve Carleton
That’s always important.
Denver7
That’s right. Well, Steve Carleton with Porch Life Health. We appreciate your time in talking to us about this. Yeah. Thanks for coming up. Thank you. Thank you.
