Behavioral Health Response to Disasters

Disasters can cause long-term disruptions to the routines of individuals and communities, placing survivors at risk of developing serious mental health and substance abuse problems. Disaster behavioral health services provide emotional support, help normalize stress reactions, assess recovery options, and encourage healthy coping behaviors. They also connect survivors to community resources that can assist the recovery process. Today’s increasing frequency and intensity of disasters merit greater focus on the development of modalities for intervention and mitigation against the psychological impacts of disaster.

In Behavioral Health Response to Disasters, professionals with years of practice, research, and national advisory board service review and discuss key topics in the field. Highlighting the themes of cultural competence and evidence-based practice, this volume:

• Presents an interdisciplinary approach to examining specific disaster behavioral health topics
• Considers how an individual’s culture may impact willingness to seek out and accept services
• Incorporates research on vulnerable or at-risk populations who are likely to suffer disproportionately more adverse psychological consequences of disaster
• Discusses clinical studies of cognitive behavioral treatments for disaster-related distress and post-traumatic stress disorder

In the past two decades, disaster behavioral health research, policy, and practice have grown exponentially. This volume covers the wide variety of issues in this emerging field, highlighting concerns that we must address in order to create more disaster-resilient communities.

Julie L. Framingham, MSW, has an extensive background in writing disaster grants and managing large federally funded disaster behavioral health recovery projects that have provided crisis counseling, clinical interventions, and case management services for hurricane and tornado survivors. She was the director of the SAMHSA-funded Project Recovery and the FEMA-funded Project H.O.P.E. (Helping Our People in Emergencies) in Florida from 2005 through 2008. Each of the programs managed represented either new approaches to supporting survivors or a paradigm shift toward more evidenced-based technologies for dealing with the reactions to traumatic events. She has made numerous presentations at state and national conferences on disaster behavioral health, and she has served as a consultant and trainer for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Disaster Technical Assistance Center. Ms. Framingham also has collaborated with the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and the Administration for Children and Families to develop new approaches to mental health intervention and case management services for disaster survivors.

Martell L. Teasley, PhD

, is an associate professor and chair of the Social Work and Disaster Recovery Certificate Program at Florida State University College of Social Work. Part of his research agenda includes a focus on disaster relief and recovery with a particular emphasis on cultural competence and vulnerable populations. Dr. Teasley works with several faith-based organizations in educating and training disaster case managers and paraprofessionals. This includes the evaluation of case management practices and emergency management organizational readiness assessments. He has served as a consultant for the Administration for Children and Families on the development of national case management standards and presented both nationally and internationally on disaster planning, relief, and recovery.