Nancy Haugen Ph.D.

08/11/2017

Do NOT watch TV or read articles about the one month anniversary of the fires today....
Secondary trauma occurs when an individual watches over and over again the pictures or reads the stories of a disaster. You just keep getting "re-traumatized" again and again.
The fact that the one month mark, will trigger feelings from the event on its own.
According to Zunin and Meyers (experts on Disaster Mental Health), and their timeline of how emotions get processed after an event, you may be leaving the "Honeymoon Phase" where there is a lot of support, a lot of hope and strong sense of community (one week to 3 to 6 months) to the "Disillusionment Phase". This time period lasts from 2 months to 1 to 2 years and can be filled with feelings of disappointment, anger, resentment, and depression. It is when the focus shifts from the sense of community to everyone beginning to do their own thing in trying to rebuild and to re-establish their own life.
Every anniversary will trigger memories so just plan ahead to make sure you are with friends and that you think through all that you have done in this last month.
This is the way that the human psyche processes such a major life event. This is normal and appropriate and it is very difficult.

21/10/2017

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.

The Listen, Protect and Connect® psychological first aid system designed for families, neighbors, co-workers and first responders. One version is an “all ages” family-to-family, neighbor-to-neighbor version and two are specifically for supporting children. One for parents and one just for teachers…

15/10/2017

Cliff Notes (Part 2) for Disaster Mental Health
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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)

15/10/2017

Cliff Notes (Part 1) for Disaster Mental Health
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B72dhjQLLraDZmE2WFpHUXg0X1E

15/10/2017

I have spent the last 10 years training in Disaster Mental Health and given what is going on in Northern California and around the country, I wanted to share with you some information. It is important to keep in mind that Disaster Mental Health is different than therapy both in approach and in its goals. To begin to understand what is “normal” after a disaster will help all of us deal with the situation.