{"id":1379,"date":"2025-11-25T09:00:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T09:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/?p=1379"},"modified":"2025-11-20T18:33:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T18:33:26","slug":"helpers-are-human","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/2025\/11\/25\/helpers-are-human\/","title":{"rendered":"Helpers are human"},"content":{"rendered":"
Before her research made its way into an academic journal, Dr. Kari Mika-Lude \u2014 a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Counseling Department and co-Principal Investigator of the West Virginia Behavioral Health Training Center here at Marshall University \u2014 saw the toll of trauma on first responders through the eyes of her husband, Allen.<\/p>\n

At 21, he was a volunteer firefighter in his hometown where he responded to a call in his own community that changed his life forever. In the early morning hours, he heard the sirens and was subsequently one of the first on the scene of a fatal, single-vehicle car wreck. Despite his best efforts, doing everything he could based on his training and experience, the driver did not survive.<\/p>\n

As Allen began to fill out the necessary paperwork, he took the driver\u2019s license out of the man\u2019s wallet, only to find out that the deceased driver was a member of his own family.\u00a0 It was the late 1990s, a time when there was very little, if any, acknowledgement of mental health in the fire service. Left to process this trauma on his own, Allen unsurprisingly began to experience symptoms of PTSD and eventually stepped away from the fire service.<\/p>\n

It would take nearly two decades for him to open up about that call and begin the healing process, after which he was able to return to the first responder world as a full-time EMT.<\/p>\n

\"Kari
Kari presenting at the FSPA conference in October 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kari, a clinical mental health counselor, was working through her own EMS training and was amid her doctoral program in Counselor Education and Supervision when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Being aware of her husband\u2019s experience as a first responder gave her unique insight into the struggles that many of these professionals face, but often do not discuss, and she couldn\u2019t help but notice the numerous \u201cHeroes of the Pandemic\u201d campaigns that started popping up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe these labels were well-intentioned and meant to show appreciation in a time of fear and hardship,\u201d Kari said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also important for us to consider the underlying message of such slogans: \u2018Superheroes don\u2019t need rest. Superheroes don\u2019t need help. Superheroes are there to protect and save the rest of us.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2022, her interest piqued, and Kari decided to focus her doctoral dissertation around his concept.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there are certainly negative stereotypes, which are also addressed in my research, I was particularly interested in the seemingly positive superhero stereotype because it unintentionally deprives first responders of humanness and a need for care,\u201d Kari said.\u00a0 \u201cThese stereotypes imply super-human capabilities without allowance for human vulnerability, and I was curious about how that would relate to the mental wellness of first responders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her article, Under Fire: Meta-Dehumanization and Burnout Among First Responders<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> was published in the Journal of Employment Counseling <\/em>in August 2023 and was quickly recognized by the American Counseling Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In April 2025, Kari received an award from Wiley Publishing noting that her article was ranked within the top 10% of most-viewed papers published by the journal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was emotional when I first found out, and it was encouraging to see so much interest in the topic,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was also my first-ever publication, so that added an extra layer of excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her research clearly struck a chord with professionals across the country, which lead to the Fire Service Psychology Association inviting her and Allen to speak at their annual conference in early October.<\/p>\n

Their session, titled Re-Humanizing the Heroes: Recognizing and Confronting the Dehumanization of First Responders,<\/em> brings together Kari\u2019s research and Allen\u2019s personal, lived experience.<\/p>\n

Through her research, Dr. Mika-Lude found that \u201cmeta-dehumanization\u201d \u2014 the perception of being viewed as less than human \u2014 can fuel burnout, reduce self-efficacy, and even increase suicidality among first responders.<\/p>\n

\"Kari
West Virginia Legislature | Perry Bennett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kari and Allen continue to advocate for change together by speaking at conferences across the country, leading discussions, and working with first responder organizations to create trauma-informed, inclusive workplaces that acknowledge the full humanity of those who serve. Kari also had the opportunity to present her research to the West Virginia State Legislature.<\/p>\n

Every time they share their story, Allen leads by example, speaking openly about his experience and the power of vulnerability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most critical point for the public to understand is that helpers are human,\u201d Kari said.<\/p>\n

For Kari, the recognition represents more than a professional milestone. It\u2019s taking research beyond the classroom and into the world, where it can heal, transform and humanize the heroes among us.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before her research made its way into an academic journal, Dr. Kari Mika-Lude \u2014 a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Counseling Department and co-Principal Investigator of the West Virginia Behavioral Health Training Center here at Marshall University \u2014 saw the toll of trauma on first responders through the eyes of her husband, Allen. At 21, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":945,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/945"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1379"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1396,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379\/revisions\/1396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}