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

Disaster mental health is a growing field of practice designed to help victims and relief workers learn to effectively cope with the extreme stresses they will face in the aftermath of a disaster. The goal of disaster mental health is to prevent the development of long-term, negative psychological consequences, such as PTSD. This book assists clinicians and traumatologists in "making the bridge" between their clinical knowledge and skills and the unique, complex, chaotic, and highly political field of disaster. It combines information from a vast reservoir of prior research and literature with the authors' practical and pragmatic experience in providing disaster mental health services in a wide variety of disasters.

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.

This title provides a comprehensive overview of clinical, epidemiological, psychobiological, psychosocial and service organization aspects of disaster psychiatry. It takes a practical approach and includes a series of reports on significant experiences made in this field in various regions of the world. An Unbiased and reliable reference point, endorsed by the WPA Includes contributions from internationally acclaimed experts

This timely book provides current research and skill-building information on Disaster Mental Health Counseling for counselors, educators, students, and mental health responders in agencies, schools, universities, and private practice. Recognized experts in the field detail effective clinical interventions with survivors in the immediate, intermediate, and long-term aftermath of traumatic events. This extensively revised edition, which meets 2016 CACREP Standards for disaster and trauma competencies, is divided into three sections: Disaster Mental Health Counseling Foundations, Disaster and Trauma Response in the Community, and Disasters and Mass Violence at Schools and Universities. Real-world responses to violence and tragedies among diverse populations in a variety of settings are presented, and responders share their personal stories and vital lessons learned through an “In Our Own Words” feature. Each chapter contains discussion questions and case studies are interwoven throughout the text. *Requests for digital versions from the ACA can be found on wiley.com. *To request print copies, please visit the ACA website here. *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to [email protected]

«Reading Fritz, it becomes clear that disaster provides not only opportunities and communities but a changed sense of self that matters.» (Rebecca Solnit in "A Paradise built in Hell") The text in this report was written in 1961. This raises an obvious question of why it remained unpublished for 35 years? Also, why did the Disaster Research Center (DRC) decide to publish it at this time as part of its Historical and Comparative Disaster Series? To understand part of the reasoning behind the latter decision requires some understanding of the answer to the first question. Reconstructing the past is not always easy. However, as part of an oral history of the early workers in the disaster research field in the United States, we have for the last ten years been conducting interviews with those involved, as well as collecting many personal and organizational documents, including letters and other records. From such an array of relevant primary and secondary data, we think we have been able to ascertain what happened concerning the original manuscript prepared by Fritz. (From the Foreword by E. L. Quarantelli)