The aims of this book are twofold: to improve understanding of the human experience of trauma, whether at the level of the individual or the community, and to help those who are its victims. The range of issues covered is impressive, from the biological basis of post-traumatic stress reactions, through practical strategies for prevention and treatment, to the psychosocial and fictional construction of terror. Wherever possible the editors have sought to impart understanding, order, and predictability to the experience of trauma and disasters in the belief that the way to recovery is through the mastery of chaotic events. This book will serve and inform clinicians, administrators and research workers in psychiatry, psychology, public health and related areas.

This book presents a decade of advances in the psychological, biological and social responses to disasters, helping medics and leaders prepare and react.

In the devastation that follows a major disaster, there is a need for multiple sectors to unite and devote new resources to support the rebuilding of infrastructure, the provision of health and social services, the restoration of care delivery systems, and other critical recovery needs. In some cases, billions of dollars from public, private and charitable sources are invested to help communities recover. National rhetoric often characterizes these efforts as a "return to normal." But for many American communities, pre-disaster conditions are far from optimal. Large segments of the U.S. population suffer from preventable health problems, experience inequitable access to services, and rely on overburdened health systems. A return to pre-event conditions in such cases may be short-sighted given the high costs - both economic and social - of poor health. Instead, it is important to understand that the disaster recovery process offers a series of unique and valuable opportunities to improve on the status quo. Capitalizing on these opportunities can advance the long-term health, resilience, and sustainability of communities - thereby better preparing them for future challenges. Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters identifies and recommends recovery practices and novel programs most likely to impact overall community public health and contribute to resiliency for future incidents. This book makes the case that disaster recovery should be guided by a healthy community vision, where health considerations are integrated into all aspects of recovery planning before and after a disaster, and funding streams are leveraged in a coordinated manner and applied to health improvement priorities in order to meet human recovery needs and create healthy built and natural environments. The conceptual framework presented in Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters lays the groundwork to achieve this goal and provides operational guidance for multiple sectors involved in community planning and disaster recovery. Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters calls for actions at multiple levels to facilitate recovery strategies that optimize community health. With a shared healthy community vision, strategic planning that prioritizes health, and coordinated implementation, disaster recovery can result in a communities that are healthier, more livable places for current and future generations to grow and thrive - communities that are better prepared for future adversities.

Disaster Mental Health Community Planning is a step-by-step guide to developing mental health disaster plans, assisting communities to act on long-term resilience and recovery. As disasters continue to increase in severity and number, with 16% of survivors identified as potential PTSD victims if they don't promptly receive care, this book is a critical read. Chapters outline how to prepare, develop, and implement a trauma-informed collaborative process that prioritizes lasting emotional wellbeing along with survivors’ short-term needs. The manual demonstrates how to form this partnership through effective communication, assess those individuals at greatest risk of distress, and deliver trauma-specific treatment. Readers will appreciate the book’s practical, user-friendly approach, including case studies, checklists, and follow-up questions to better define goals. Cutting-edge treatment interventions are included along with basic information on trauma's impact on the brain and the types and effects of human-caused and natural disasters to help readers make sound planning decisions. Accessible to mental-health providers, community leaders, organizations, and individuals alike, Disaster Mental Health Community Planning is a Road Map for anyone interested in delivering a trauma-informed mental health supplement to their community's medical disaster preparedness and response plan.

The Oklahoma City bombing, intentional crashing of airliners on September 11, 2001, and anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001 have made Americans acutely aware of the impacts of terrorism. These events and continued threats of terrorism have raised questions about the impact on the psychological health of the nation and how well the public health infrastructure is able to meet the psychological needs that will likely result. Preparing for the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism highlights some of the critical issues in responding to the psychological needs that result from terrorism and provides possible options for intervention. The committee offers an example for a public health strategy that may serve as a base from which plans to prevent and respond to the psychological consequences of a variety of terrorism events can be formulated. The report includes recommendations for the training and education of service providers, ensuring appropriate guidelines for the protection of service providers, and developing public health surveillance for preevent, event, and postevent factors related to psychological consequences.

In our increasingly dangerous world -- brought into urgent focus by the September 11, 2001, attacks -- the need to manage the psychiatric consequences of traumatic events and disasters has never been greater. The editors of this powerful reference summarize our current understanding of the complex psychological, behavioral, and social responses to disaster, and present a compelling case for intensifying our focus on delivery and intervention efforts. In just five chapters, 16 distinguished contributors examine the impact of trauma from the personal to the community level. This critical book reviews the neurobiologic and neuroanatomic responses to severe traumatic events, focusing on posttraumatic stress disorder to show how an initially adaptive response becomes maladaptive by producing long-term adverse consequences. discusses the psychiatric epidemiology of disaster, presenting a guide for clinicians in identifying and following groups at high risk for developing psychiatric disorders and an empirical blueprint for developing community interventions. details the impact of traumatic stressors on children, using the 9/11 terrorist attacks to illustrate many points and debunking the myth that children are more resilient than adults -- thus reinforcing their assertion that we need to improve the delivery of mental health services to traumatized children. presents material from an international consensus conference on the psychological interventions following mass violence, reviewing the psychological impact of disasters (including risk and protective factors) and acute interventions for trauma (e.g., psychological debriefing, treatment of traumatic grief, pharmacotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and interventions for children). concludes with the special dilemmas posed by weapons of mass destruction, including chemical, biological, nuclear, radiological, and high-yield explosives, discussing the attributes that make these weapons especially effective as instruments of terror and offering recommendations on how nations can enhance preparedness against these weapons. This volume is a must-read for educators, students, residents, clinicians, and social workers -- in short, anyone interested in helping to heal the psychological fallout from traumatic events and disasters.

Focuses on understanding cultural and psychosocial contexts to promote optimal healing for disaster survivors This is the first book for mental health professionals working with survivors of mass trauma to focus on the psychosocial and culture contexts in which these disasters occur. It underscores the importance of understanding these environments in order to provide maximally effective mental health interventions for trauma survivors and their communities. Global in scope, the text addresses the foundations of understanding and responding to the mental health needs of individuals and groups healing from traumas created by a wide range of natural and human-made critical events, including acts of terrorism, armed conflict, genocide, and mass violence by individual perpetrators. Designed for professional training in disaster mental health, and meeting CACREP standards, the text promotes the knowledge and skills needed to work with the psychosocial aspects of individual and group adaptation and adjustment to mass traumatic experience. Reflecting state-of-the-art knowledge, the book offers detailed guidelines in assessment and brief interventions related to survivors’ posttraumatic stress symptoms and complex trauma associated with being at the epicenter of extraordinary stressful and traumatic events. In addition, this book also covers critical issues of self-care for the professional. Illustrated with first-person accounts of disaster survivors and case scenarios, this book emphasizes how counselors and other mental health professionals can foster resilience and wellness in individuals and communities affected by all types of disasters.Key Features: Considers disaster and mass trauma response from a culturally and globally relevant perspective—the first book of its kind Addresses CACREP’s clinical standards and content areas related to disaster mental health response Covers many types of disasters and categories of survivors Includes updated information on PTSD, complex trauma, and self-care Addresses cultivating resiliency in individual and group survivors along with social justice issues

A reference on mental health and disasters, focused on the full spectrum of psychopathologies associated with many different types of disasters.

Collective Trauma, Collective Healing is a guide for mental health professionals working in response to large-scale political violence or natural disaster. It provides a framework that practitioners can use to develop their own community-based, collective approach to treating trauma and providing clinical services that are both culturally and contextually appropriate. The classic edition includes a new preface from the author reflecting on changes to the field and the world since the book’s initial publication. The book draws on experience working with survivors, their families, and communities in the Holocaust, post-war Kosovo, the Liberian civil wars, and post-9/11 Lower Manhattan. It tracks the development of community programs and projects based on a family and community resilience approach, including those that enhance the collective capacities for narration and public conversation. Clinicians and community practitioners will come away from Collective Trauma, Collective Healing with a solid understanding of new roles they may play in disasters—roles that encourage them to recognize and enhance the resilience and coping skills in families, organizations, and the community at large.