disaster and crisis: social work responses to the impact of world
TRANSCRIPT
Disaster and Crisis: Social Work Responses to the Impact of World EventsHelen Wilson Harris, LCSW
Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn By Living “Courage is the strength to face pain, act
under pressure, and maintain one’s values in the face of opposition. You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself: ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’”
Psalms 34: 19
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.”
Objectives: Examine the nature of uncertainty, crisis, stress and
grief that come with disaster Differentiate between crisis and grief Develop specific helping strategies for social
workers assisting clients to manage disaster and tragedy
Develop specific strategies for social workers assisting others through crisis.
Review self help strategies.
Sources: Coping with Public Tragedy ( 2002 Hospice
Foundation of America) Edited by Marcia Lattanzi-Licht and Kenneth Doka
The National Center for PTSD, Special Edition, Disaster Assistance (2001)
Growing through Grief after Sudden Loss (1999 Hospice Foundation of America) Edited by Kenneth Doka
Disasters, Trauma, Public Tragedy Disaster: collective traumas…according to
Barton, “collective stress…members of a social system fail to receive the expected conditions of life due to external or internal sources
Trauma: extraordinary events that threaten survival
Public Tragedy: large scope with which the public identifies Doka, 2002
What is your first memory of public disaster or tragedy? The assassination of
President Kennedy? MLK Jr? Robert
Kennedy? Mount Carmel? Columbine? Oklahoma City? 9/11? A natural disaster?
Public Tragedies in our Living Rooms We live in an increasingly small world Major events have global impact, including impact
on our lives The media brings distant events into our living
rooms Live and constant coverage immerse people in the
details of tragedy Our community is called on to respond to the needs
of our neighbors
Layers of stress and concern: Fear and anxiety with uncertainty of future Sense of helplessness and feeling out of control Normal life stressors of job and family may continue Exacerbation of grief that comes with losses…death,
moves, relationships… Confusion from losing the assumptions we have
about the world as a safe and predictable place Multiple funerals and images of the grief of others
Understanding the phases of tragedies: The initial event, early aftermath…
i.e. Crisis Phase The short-term aftermath…i.e.
Processing Phase The long-term aftermath…i.e.
Adaptation Phase Licht and Doka
The Processing Phase…. The folks at Seventh and James are still in
crisis but are beginning to experience safety and the meeting of their basic needs.
Many are now beginning to try to make sense of this. The prevailing questions will be “what happened?” and “why?” as well as “what now?”
Crisis Phase: On site and here when a secondary crisis occurs First responders Safety: Police,
Firefighters Medical Response:
EMT, Doctors and Nurses
Issues are safety, preservation of life, ending the crisis
Processing Phase Tragedies affect many people: survivors,
witnesses, first responders, bereaved, later responders, and members of the community
Responses will vary significantly and may include physical response, emotional reactions, cognitive reactions, and spiritual reactions. Lattanzi-Licht and Doka
Crisis Management means: First focusing on basic needs: Shelter, safety,
sustenance, information, protection Second, allowing those affected to begin to
figure out what happened…tell their story, process the event and its meaning for them.
Always validate and normalize the responses ….listen carefully…reflect the language
The gifts of time and presence…….
Assessment is essential Hearing the story will help you assess the needs and the
strengths of each person (Strengths include their resilience…how they have managed crisis is times past…)
Listen each time as though it is the first time you heard the story
Assess strengths…support system available to the survivor Assess spiritual beliefs/source of strength Be careful of trite, glib religiosity
Adaptation Phase Part of your assessment will include
awareness of how long you will be available to help
Contract for work and for referral Remember that crisis work eventually leads to
grief work which is LONG term Encourage the use of ritual and the arts to
personalize the experience and provide formal, structured support. Lattanzi-Licht and Doka
How Long Will This Take? The Adaptation Phase
for the survivor may take years
Contract for the time you will be able to be present
Make referrals as needed
There is NO end point or closure
Avoid the term “letting go…” People do not “let go” of memories or loved ones or
dreams or wishes… There is great resistance to “letting go.” It feels like
giving up. We do, however, over time, learn how to weave
together the threads of our lives A better metaphor is to integrate the relationship and
the event into our lives. (These folks may not be ready to believe this….)
Each relationship and experience becomes part of who we are….
Concrete ways of helping… Provide material goods: Provide your time and
listening ear Participate in your community’s disaster response
team/disaster planning efforts Network with voluntary organizations to work
together to respond to disaster Give blood Develop in your workplace organizational policies to
support employees during times of crisis
Debriefing Tips….the beginning of counseling…. Protect the privacy of survivors and their families Provide support as families get new and painful
information Plan and publicize healing ceremonies Provide information on coping strategies Be careful about providing information to the
media Help the helpers… Lattanzi-Licht and Doka
Critical Incident Stress Management… Mitchell model to help first
responders Follows a traumatic event Coping skills are
overwhelmed Goal, to prevent or limit
development of PTSD Provide distance Demobilize or debrief Lattanzi-Licht and Doka
Debriefing includes… Explain process and ground rules (not
psychotherapy…not operational critique) Allow description of what happened and respective
roles Explore “first thoughts” and event processing Facilitate ventilation: What was worst? Identify symptoms of distress Normalize crisis reactions Teach stress management and coping skills Summarize, provide follow up as needed Doka
Other options: Defusing….small group discussion of
traumatic event Informal Held immediately after an incident Designed to reduce tension Focus on facts of the crisis and reactions Offer family/organizational consultation Offer follow/up and referral Lattanzi-Licht and doka
Other Crisis Intervention Models Beverly Raphael: When Disaster Strikes Armstrong, O’Callahan and Marmer’s Red
Cross adaptation of CISD: Multiple Stressor Debriefing Model
National Organization of Victim Assistance (NOVA): Safety and security, ventilation and validation, prediction and preparation
Lattanzi-Licht and Doka
Resources www.hospicefoundation.org www.whyy.org/widerhorizons/caringcom.htm
l www.redcross.org/services/disaster www.nvoad.org (national voluntary
organizations involvement in disasters) www.imhi.org/dealing_with_disaster.html for
helping children with disaster
Government Agencies…. Federal Emergency Management Agency
(www.fema.gov) Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Recovery Act:
Center for Mental Health Services within Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Small Business Administration Disaster Unemployment Assistance IRS, USDA
Not-For-Profit Organizations National Voluntary Organizations Active in
Disaster American Red Cross (www.redcross.org) National Organization for Victim Assistance Salvation Army Mennonite Disaster Service Church related disaster response services
Professional Organizations American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress
(www.aaets.org) Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists
(www.atss-hq.com) International Critical Incident Stress Foundation,
Inc. The International Traumatology Institute Hospice Foundation of America (www.hospice
foundation.org) National Hospice Organization
Other Resources American Psychological Association Disaster
Response Network (www.apa.org) America’s Heroes of Freedom (
www.americasheroes.us) Anxiety Disorders Association of America (
www.adaa.org) Association of Death Education and
Counseling (www.adec.org)
Let others participate in helping as well…. Ask for help and support Take tasks one at a time Practice good self care….eat healthy, take breaks,
rest, exercise, look for the positive Engage in activities that are relaxing for
you….sitting by the water, taking a walk, spending time with a favorite pet, listening to music, prayer, Bible reading
Do something….give money, blood Natl Center PTSD
Turn off the news…. Distract yourself by
doing something you enjoy. It is not wrong to laugh again. You may be the one who can set the example for others that self care helps us continue to give to others.
Helping the Children….
Gear interventions to the child’s age and developmental level…. For very young children, keep routines as
much as possible, avoid separations, maintain calm, limit exposure to the trauma, expect regression, help provide language for the feelings, and play, play, play to enable the child to play out the situation. National Center for PTSD
For young to latency age children Listen to the telling and
retelling Allow feelings, including
fear Limit exposure Expect regression and
acting out Set limits for safety Maintain routines Play, play, play it out National Center for PTSD
And then there are teens…. Listen, listen, listen Provide contact with
peers Affirm feelings; model
seeking support Give them something
positive to DO Encourage activities they
enjoy with others National Centger for PTSD
When is it time for referral? Consider grief complications…ie suddenness
of the death, troubled relationship, violence, arousal of fear
Consider support available Consider coping skills and other stressors Consider length of difficulty…i.e. duration of
distress Always assess for suicidal ideation.
Grief follows Crisis…. During the Adaptation Phase, grief begins to
manifest itself Grief includes emotional, physical, social,
intellectual and spiritual responses to loss Loss can include loss of safety, loss of
assumptions about the world, loss of relationships, loss of loved ones, loss of property, etc.
Physical Grief Physical sensations….lump in throat, tightness
in chest, weak knees, etc. Experience of cold…blood flow to internal
organs makes extremities cooler Increased vulnerability to illness because of
stress to the immune system Increased vulnerability to accident because of
cognitive distractability
Emotional responses to grief… Most models tell us about the feelings of
grief… Shock/denial Anger Bargaining Despair Acceptance And what about guilt, sadness, loneliness?
Cognitive impact of grief….
Shorter attention span
Difficulty learning new material
Difficulty concentrating
Low energy
Social implications of grief… Those who are
bereaved feel robbed…and that experience can distance them from others
No one understands I’d rather be alone Laughing is too hard
Spiritual Implications….Faith and practice Expectations of others (and often of
ourselves) that Christians have hope, and faith, and strength…..
Translates to an expectation that Christians aren’t anxious, and shouldn’t be sad…..
So, Christians should handle anything…and do it joyfully and with celebration.
The truth is…… Our faith and rituals
ARE a great source of strength to us.
AND we mourn…and we hurt…not as the world mourns…but mourn we do.
Defusing PTSD….and then….