Post-Disaster Mental Health Services: Supporting Communities Affected by Forest Fires, Flooding, Mudslides & Pandemic

Dr. Brieanne Kohrt and Dr. Rohini Gupta, will provide training (6.0 CE credits) focusing on supporting communities affected by forest fires, flooding, and mudslides. Considerations related to coping with disasters in the midst of a global pandemic and racial justice movement will be included. Please note that participants can attend just the morning, or the morning and afternoon, based on their training and professional role.

The morning portion (8:30-12:00) is appropriate for students, clinicians, case managers, and clinical social workers. This half of the workshop examines the impact of natural disasters on psychosocial well-being and community functioning, with a focus on populations vulnerable to distress and factors that promote resilience. Participants will also learn to develop concrete plans to prevent, identify, and manage secondary trauma.

 The afternoon portion (1:00-4:00) will focus primarily on clinical intervention, and is appropriate for clinical supervisors of graduate level MFT and PsyD trainees who are in practicum with clients recovering from a natural disaster, mental health providers, and advanced graduate students with a base knowledge of clinical practice and trauma. This part of the training focuses on developing specific interventions for survivors of natural disasters across the stages of disaster, and includes a review of how to align interventions with Judith Herman’s triphasic model of recovery.  The importance of considering and attending to grief and loss when working with disaster survivors will also be highlighted.   

 At the end of this seminar, participants will be able to:

1. Identify a theoretical and practical understanding of the impact of natural disasters on psychosocial well-being and community functioning
2. Define disaster behavioral health and identify 1 ethical consideration in working with victims of natural disaster.
3. Identify 2-3 specific interventions for clinicians to consider utilizing with survivors of natural disasters with consideration to effects of pandemic and racial tension.
4. Identify 1-2 cultural factors related to disaster recovery and how to incorporate this information into clinical service provision with survivors of natural disasters
5. Define the Tri-phasic Trauma Recovery Model and Herman’s Trauma-Informed Model

Register

Register by Dec. 2, 2020