Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience ─ Integrating Care in Disaster Relief Work

Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience explores the interface between spiritual and psychological care in the context of disaster recovery work, drawing upon recent disasters including but not limited to, the experiences of September 11, 2001. Each of the three sections that make up the book are structured around the cycle of disaster response and focus on the relevant phase of disaster recovery work. In each section, selected topics combining spiritual and mental health factors are examined; when possible, sections are co-written by a spiritual care provider and a mental health care provider with appropriate expertise. Existing interdisciplinary collaborations, creative partnerships, gaps in care, and needed interdisciplinary work are identified and addressed, making this book both a useful reference for theory and an invaluable hands-on resource.

Grant H. Brenner, MD, is a graduate of the William Alanson White Institute, and assistant clinical professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (adjunct) in New York City.
Daniel H. Bush, MDiv, is a chaplain and serves as an educator at several programs in Jerusalem, including Yakar, Kivunim, the Conservative Yeshiva, and Encounter.
Joshua Moses, PhD, was formerly a fellow with the National Institute of Mental Health. He is currently the Director of Research for the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

Part I: Foundational Considerations for Effective Collaboration. Brenner, Fundamentals of Collaboration. Moses, An Anthropologist Among Disaster Caregivers. Buechler, Disaster Relief: Emotional Values. Covello, Principles of Risk Communication. Pandya, Ethical and Legal Considerations in Postdisaster Interdisciplinary Collaborations. Harris, Thornton, Engdahl, The Psychospiritual Impact of Disaster: An Overview. Part II: Collaboration in Action: Tensions, Challenges, and Opportunities. Daniels, Collaborating With a Community College in Post-Katrina New Orleans: Organizational and Personal Reflections. Jarry, Working as an Ally to Underserved Communities: The Role of Faith, Coordination, and Partnerships in Response to the 2001 World Trade Center Attack. Smith, Taylor, Larkin, North, Ryan, Holmes, On Reentering the Chapel: Models for Collaborations Between Psychiatrists, Communities of Faith, and Faith-Based Providers After Hurricane Katrina. Gensler, Collaboration in Working With Children Affected by Diaster. Berliner, Ryan, Taylor, Making Referrals: Effective Collaboration Between Mental Health and Spiritual Care Practitioners. Shah, "To Do No Harm" Spiritual Care and Ethnomedical Competence: Four Cases of Psychosocial Trauma Recovery for the 2004 Tsunami and 2005 Earthquake in South Asia. Part III: Collaboratively Nurturing Resilience After Catastrophic Trauma. Ellison, Katz, Rituals, Routines, and Resilience. Danieli, Fundamentals of Working with (Re)traumatized Populations. Wyatt, Reaching Out to Create Moments of Communal Healing: Personal Reflections From the Edge of the 9/11 Abyss. Milstein, Manierre, Normative and Diagnostic Reactions to Disaster: Clergy and Clinician Collaboration to Facilitate a Continuum of Care.