Post-Disaster Efforts and Foreign Trauma Psychology Expertise: Reflections After Chile’s Earthquake by Gonzalo Bacigalupe in Trauma Psychology Newsletter, Spring/Summer 2010
Soon after the first news made it into the mainstream, professional listservs were also buzzing with activity, and my colleagues began having discussions about what they could do. What would APA and the rest of us do to organize members to help Chile? Often, the underlying discourse included the possibility of of fering clinical ser vices in situ. Soon after reading these emotional shows of support and solidarity, I wrote a blog entry cautioning clinicians in how decisions are made when disasters occur. My blog entry at www.socialtechnologiesresearch.com provoked a lot of personal and public notes of support on the part of many of my colleagues as well as some Haitians and South Asian peers I have never met. They all expressed their agreement with what I was articulating in that first reflection, their disapproval of offers of help emerging from an emotional reaction rather than a thoughtful organized process. Obviously, some colleagues raised concerns in a different fashion. A few psychologists suggested that I was discouraging post-disaster efforts by mental health providers abroad. I offer these ideas here not to discourage solidarity but to encourage post-disaster aid that is:
- carefullyplanned
- informedbythebestevidence
- culturallyaffirming
- fullyaccountabletorecipients
- empowering to all participants
- sustainableovertime
Filed under: Disaster, Emergency, global health, psychology trauma, trauma
[...] in Haiti and my native Chile, these conversations took a different turn, they became a way of supporting those in the middle of the crisis and sharing useful and reliable resources with those trying to help the survivors in the field. And [...]
Real brain power on dpilasy. Thanks for that answer!