Psychologists and Hurricane Katrina: Natural disaster response through training, public education, and research

Autor: Ann Marie Kofmehl Kinnell, Kirsten Dellinger, Mark Van Boening, David A. Swanson, Stefan E. Schulenberg, Angela J. Koestler, Richard Forgette
Rok vydání: 2008
Předmět:
Zdroj: Training and Education in Professional Psychology. 2:83-88
ISSN: 1931-3926
1931-3918
DOI: 10.1037/1931-3918.2.2.83
Popis: Training and Education in Professional Psychology 2008, Vol. 2, No. 2, 83– 88 Copyright 2008 by the American Psychological Association 1931-3918/08/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/1931-3918.2.2.83 Psychologists and Hurricane Katrina: Natural Disaster Response Through Training, Public Education, and Research Stefan E. Schulenberg and Kirsten A. Dellinger Angela J. Koestler The University of Mississippi Nordal Clinic, Vicksburg, Mississippi Ann Marie K. Kinnell David A. Swanson, Mark V. Van Boening, and Richard G. Forgette University of Southern Mississippi The University of Mississippi The purpose of this article was to describe a model of clinical/disaster psychology and illustrate how one psychologist applied training in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The primary focus of the article relates to training graduate students of clinical psychology and assisting evacuees, public education and dissemination, and research. Psychologists may find themselves in similar positions when disasters occur in the future, and the linkage of research and theory with anecdotal accounts may provide mental health professionals with ideas regarding avenues of training to pursue and the various roles that may be served in times of disaster. Recommendations are offered to training programs with regard to infusing tenets of clinical/disaster psychol- ogy into their curriculum. This article describes a variety of strategies that a psychol- ogist may pursue to assist in the mental health response to natural disasters. It is primarily based on my perspective (SES) 1 as an Assistant Professor in Clinical Psychology at The Uni- versity of Mississippi who arrived at this position with special- ized doctoral training in clinical/disaster psychology from The University of South Dakota’s Disaster Mental Health Institute (DMHI). I hope that my experiences will inform training pro- grams and mental health professionals about how clinical/ disaster training may be pursued and applied when a natural disaster occurs. Training in Clinical/Disaster Psychology Training programs and their directors should consider both formal and informal training opportunities for those interested in preparing to provide disaster assistance. Doctoral training in a formal program such as the Disaster Mental Health Institute (DMHI) at The Univer- sity of South Dakota (http://usd.edu/dmhi/) is an important way to gain preparatory training. The DMHI offers a variety of training programs, including a doctoral Specialty Track in Clinical/Disaster Psychology, which is earned conjointly with the Clinical Training Program’s Ph.D. degree. Students take disaster-related coursework, sippi. His research interests include applied demography, forecasting and estimation methods, and mortality differentials. M ARK V. V AN B OENING received his doctorate in Economics from the University of Arizona. He is an associate professor in the Department of Economics at The University of Mississippi and currently serves as the department chair. His research interests include applied microeconomics and experimental economics. R ICHARD G. F ORGETTE earned his doctorate in political science from the University of Rochester. He is professor and chair of the Political Science Department at The University of Mississippi. His research interests include the U.S. Congress, legislative elections, public opinion, and public policy issues. We thank Jessica T. Kaster, PhD, psychologist at Lakeland Mental Health, Moorhead, Minnesota; Michael C. Roberts, PhD, ABPP, professor and direc- tor of the Clinical Child Psychology Program at the University of Kansas; and Larry Smyth, PhD, staff psychologist at the Perry Point VAMC, Perry Point, Maryland, for reviewing a previous draft of this article. C ORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS ARTICLE should be addressed to Stefan E. Schulenberg, Department of Psychology, The University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi 38677. E-mail: sschulen@olemiss.edu S TEFAN E. S CHULENBERG received his doctorate in clinical psychology from The University of South Dakota, where he also specialized in clinical/disaster psychology through the University’s Disaster Mental Health Institute. Dr. Schulenberg is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at The University of Mississippi. His research interests include clinical/disaster psy- chology, psychological assessment, test validation, and logotherapy. K IRSTEN A. D ELLINGER received her doctorate in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is an associate professor of sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at The University of Mississippi. Her research interests include gender and sexuality in the workplace and qualitative methods. A NGELA J. K OESTLER received her doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi. She currently works in private practice at the Nordal Clinic in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Her clinical and research interests include the treatment of chronic pain and natural disaster response. A NN M ARIE K. K INNELL received her doctorate in sociology from Indiana University at Bloomington. She is an assistant professor of sociology in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her current research examines the experience of a team of researchers implementing a survey in the context of a natural disaster. D AVID A. S WANSON received his doctorate in sociology from the Uni- versity of Hawaii, where he specialized in population studies and worked at the East West Population Institute. He is a professor of sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at The University of Missis- Although the article is written from a single perspective, it is a multi-authored work with contributions from each of the coauthors.
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