Students affected by Hurricane Katrina can meet with Northwestern counselors and religious leaders on Monday at Norris University Center.

The sessions are designed to help students – including those who the disaster didnt directly impact cope with the trauma Katrina triggered.

The goal is to create a comfortable environment where students can talk about their experiences, said Wei-Jen Huang, assistant director for Counseling and Psychological Services. But talking isn’t mandatory or even expected, he said.

“We all need a psychological or emotional home base and they feel like they are uprooted,” Huang said.

He encouraged anyone to come to the sessions. That includes students impacted by the media coverage and those suffering from “survivor’s guilt,” he said.

The broad impact of the disaster and its many victims makes it hard to structure the counseling sessions, said University Chaplain Timothy Stevens.

Many displaced students lost their identity in the storm, Huang said. The sessions intend to connect them with people who understand them.

“What people need the most is to know that there are people who care,” Huang said. “We show that we are sources.”

For Rev. Heather Voss of Canterbury Northwestern, who lived in New Orleans during the summer of 2002, the counseling sessions allow her to share her own experiences.

“I have a personal connection with people who are affected,” Voss said. “I hope that people will then feel comfortable (enough) to come chat with me if they know that I have some experience with the city instead of talking to somebody who has never ever been there.”

Voss represents one of seven Jewish and Christian organizations involved in the sessions.

Monday’s session might also bring in students affected by Hurricane Rita. Forecasters predicted Rita would hit Texas and Louisiana as soon as early Saturday.

“A lot of this is (an) ongoing assessment of what’s needed,” he said. “We just don