Nancy Haugen Ph.D.

I wanted to share with you the best link for information about Psych First Aid. It was developed by Dr. Chip Schreiber and FEMA uses it as their training model. It has a section about how to support each other, as well as, a section for teachers on how to deal with students. Part of the brilliance of this information is that it is simple and meets the needs. Disaster Mental Health can be overwhelming so that even the volunteers get lost in both the experience and in trying to keep track of what to do. I hope you find this helpful. https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/132712

Cliff Notes (Part 2) for Disaster Mental Health ----------------------------------------- 1. If you can, allow people to express their emotions without applying your view of the world/situation, it will be helpful. We often try to minimize or put things into ‘perspective’ to alleviate strong emotions, but that itself can alienate the victim. Specifically, here’s what not to say: ... You’re strong .you’ll get through this I understand Don’t cry It’s God’s will It could be worse... At least you still have Everything will be OK Now you can build the house of your dreams! 2. It is important to remember that people having an emotional reaction to a disaster is normal and expected. It is the situation itself that is abnormal. Within the disaster community, there is a saying to describe this: "Normal people having a normal reaction to an abnormal situation." 3. Research indicates that psychological and emotional support after a disaster/crisis is always 10 times greater than the medical need. For example: In the sarin gas subway attack that took place in Tokyo in 1995: - 12 were killed - 900 required medical care - 9,000 required psychological support (10:1 psych to physical)

Cliff Notes (Part 1) for Disaster Mental Health https://drive.google.com/open