Traumatic Stress and Long-Term Recovery: Coping with Disasters and Other Negative Life Events

This evidence-rich collection takes on the broad diversity of traumatic stress, in both its causes and outcomes, as well as the wide variety of resources available for recovery. Its accessible coverage shows varied presentations of post-traumatic stress affected by individual, family, and group contexts, including age, previous trauma exposure, and presence or lack of social resources, as well as long-term psychological, physical, and social consequences. Contributors focus on a range of traumatic experiences, from environmental disasters (wildfires, Hurricane Katrina) to the Holocaust, from ambiguous loss to war captivity. And the book's final section, "Healing after Trauma," spotlights resilience, forgiveness, religion, and spirituality, using concepts from positive psychology.

Included among the topics:

• The Great East Japan earthquake: tsunami and nuclear disaster.
• Posttraumatic stress in the aftermath of mass shootings.
• Psychosocial consequences: appraisal, adaptation, and bereavement after trauma.
• Loss, chaos, survival and despair: the storm after the storms.
• Aging with trauma across the lifetime and experiencing trauma in old age.
• On bereavement and grief: a therapeutic approach to healing.  

Psychologists, social workers, researchers studying trauma and resilience, and mental health professionals across disciplines will welcome Traumatic Stress and Long-Term Recovery as a profound source of insight into stress and loss, coping and healing.

Dr. Katie E. Cherry is a Professor of Psychology and the Executive Director of the Life Course and Aging Center at Louisiana State University. Her research expertise is adult development and aging with emphasis on cognition and successful aging. Her research has been funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Louisiana Board of Regents. In 2002, she was awarded the Emogene Pliner Distinguished Professor of Aging Studies professorship for her contributions to the field of adult development and aging.