Disaster Mental Health, Psychological First Aid, & Self-Care Information

25/01/2023

Brilliant

What was once pure "genius", has now become "maestro", without par. Those who are not musicians, will not understand how incredibly difficult it is to play, ...

22/07/2022

Good, brief read.

Joel Charny, who worked in humanitarian aid for 40 years, speaks candidly about how humanitarianism has changed — and why people shouldn't treat aid workers as if they wear haloes.

07/03/2022

Israeli Doctors helping out in Ukraine: Phone list

03/03/2022

https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2022/trauma-war-afar?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=apa-stress&utm_content=war-trauma-afar

Evidence-based advice from psychologists on how to manage the trauma of war from afar.

18/08/2021

From the Pro Bono Desk

Helping Afghani Refugees, Immigrants, and the Humanitarian Staff helping them.

As humanitarian agencies effort to provide resettlement services to fleeing Afghanis, guidance on how to help prevent further psychological traumatization during intake and other history gathering for both those being interviewed and the interviewers is critical. Below are recommendations of mine own. They do not represent any third party.

During the course of the agency interviewer's introduction to intake (history taking) session, time should be set aside to present the following points of information:

"In the course of our session today, I would like you to know, I will understand if traumatic memories occur, that is, your remembering a very distressing event(s) you may have experienced or witnessed before arriving here.

You may or may not want to share them with me. In either case, experts in this field know sharing such painful memories outside the structure and support of mental health treatment, can be further upsetting to the person sharing their memories.

In other words, the is an optimum time and place to share such memories so that the account occurs in a way, that doesn't further harm the survivor, but rather works to help them become less negatively impacted psychologically.

Depending on your needs and settlement process, I can refer you and your family to mental health treatment. Does what I am saying making sense to you? Do you have any questions about this?"

This serves the client as suggested above, but also staff members by reducing their exposure to stories of horror and mayhem (especially in light of their not being in the role of a trauma-trained mental health therapist). We can be in a position to protect staff in addition to serving those in need. Thank you for your service

18/12/2020

Resource list from food, financial, education, and MENTAL HEALTH support

A list of vetted charities you can donate to — and things you can do on a personal level to help and get help

02/12/2020

Let's support adding a representative of mental health to Biden's CoVid Advisory Board. The petition calls for adding psychiatrists (I don't support this) and psychologists. I additionally nominate myself as an informed social worker.

Petition to have Psychiatrists, Psychologists & Allied on Biden's COVID-19 Advisory Board

23/11/2020

Bulletin: From The Department of Making Sense

I encourage and support the DSM-6 (American manualized editions used to diagnose mental illness) to be published in 2025, must necessarily address the phenomena of our current President's state of mind as it is unique in human political history. Perhaps the DSM-6 Task Force already has.

The Task Force has decided the DSM-6, will add an array of new disorders, including the anticipated but controversial "Just a Real Goddamn Piece of S**t." Is that enough to cover Trump's personality and behaviors? Partially... LOL.

Seriously. Is there any creation myth, fable, legend, fairy tale, or any evidence in our collective knowledge as a species. serving as a teaching related to the current President's arguably psychotic fantasy, moral deficits, arrested development, and pathological servitude to a lying, cheating, unempathic, narcissistic personality "successfully" devolving into becoming the ruler of a powerful nation. There is nothing!! Rise up DSM-6 Task Force!!!

Yes, we have had historical figures, even modern murderous figures of unfathomable tragic dimensions. Mao is blamed for 60 million deaths, Stalin, 40 million, and Hi**er 30 million. We are very fortunate our President does not have a taste for murder, despite his role in the 225,000 American Co-Vid related deaths as of this entry. He is not the worst, but he certainly could have been more dangerous, and we could have prevented his Presidency, if we as a nation, leaned more on our emotional intelligence and not so much on our brain's reptilian system's will to survive.

We need to root "Trumpism" (not as a political base, but rather as a new psychological descriptor/disorder) in the collective unconscious, so we and others are able to prevent such a figure from ruling over us again, especially on the scale of the Executive Branch and the Presidency.

In DSM-5 taxology, (without looking at the manual itself) Trump demonstrates a Sociopathic, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, With Psychotic Features, Not Otherwise Specified. Unbelievably, he thought he could run the United States in a geopolitical environment he was totally unfamiliar with, not to mention science, and other real life existence... exceptionally fragile connection with reality.

02/09/2020

Here is a wonderful example of coping with the hot and critical issues in America during the CoVid pandemic. A good use of time, and a masterpiece video led by Jeffrey David Ringold and other Santa Cruz artists and friends.

Soul of America Music, Lyrics and Arrangement by Jeffrey David Ringold Vocals by Ariel Thiermann, Tammy Brown, Jeffrey David Ringold Instrumentals by Dandy S...

26/08/2020

Santa Cruz Fire Victims Read This

https://www.disasterassistance.gov

I believe FEMA will pay for lodgings for up to a year. Submit applications and if your house is still standing you check under other, major smoke damage.

If initially denied, call FEMA and speak to a person.

Phone 1800-631-3362

You can find more information on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) page and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.