Psychology’s Response to the Tsunami

On Dec 26 the world was hit by a devastating disaster in the form of the tsunami in South East Asia. The death toll is estimated at over 150,000. All of us followed the news of this disaster in the public media. We have been talking about it with our friends, and some of us have been following the thread of psychology’s activities through listservs, among them Div 42’s list.

For many of us, the question has been how can psychology help?

We all remember the controversy that evolved after 9-11 about psychology’s participation in the relief efforts. Is psychology the appropriate profession to work with survivors was asked by some.

In the aftermath of the Tsunami, we did not hear that question. Other questions were asked. Ron Levant, president of APA posted an email he received from an American psychologist, Ben Weinstein, living in Thailand with an urgent request for help. The essence of the request was:

“One of my main concerns now is to support the local professionals in their efforts to reduce and ameliorate the mental health effects of this disaster. The frank fact is that local mental health professionals here have received NO training with respect to trauma, or disaster mental health. None. This is not an exaggeration. Most psychologists here are trained to do assessment and diagnosis only. There are less than 400 psychologists in the entire country.” He went on to say Thais have been absolutely amazing in so many ways. People who lost their families, their livelihood and their communities reached out and made sure that foreign tourists were taken care of first, before themselves….We are trying to create a training program in crisis intervention and community intervention for the people who must now work in the south. I also want to be as sure as possible that the information I provide is empirical in origin and culturally competent (we will take care of the second piece). If you have anything you can share for this presentation (articles, handouts, guides, PowerPoint slides) please send them to me by email. References are also appreciated but I do not have access to library resources as one does in the US. Anything you can send will help us train those who will helpthe victims.” (Levant, 2004)

Dr Weinstein received hundreds of responses from psychologists in the U.S. He states: “Your calls and emails have meant so much to me-in fact they have helped re-energize me after an exhausting week” (Levant, 2004). He responded to each email. A grassroots effort to develop internet courses for the effort in Thailand continues.

At the request of members, APA’s Board of Directors met and talked about APA’s response. The practice directorate, through its public education campaign and the DRN, made contact with the appropriate international groups, such as the International Red Cross, to see what would be of most help for the effort.

The response that APA synthesized include the following:

Making a significant financial contribution to the relief effort
Staying in contact with ARC through the DRN to advise them on the contributions that psychologists can make
Recommending to ARC that it collaborate with APA and the DRN to provide assistance to communities of Southeast Asian people within the United States
Contacting and attempting to coordinate APA activities with partner organizations that have more expertise in dealing with international issues and with the affected populations.
Assembling and disseminating information and resources on the current knowledge about trauma response.
Creating a public information piece about trauma and recovery from traumatic events.
Using APA’s media referral service to provide the media with psychologists who can expertly speak to the psychological issues created by the tsunami.
Using APA’s media referral service to provide the media with psychologists who can expertly speak to the psychological issues created by the tsunami.
Creating news briefs describing APA’s activities in response to the Tsunami crisis for posting on the APA.org front page and for the March issue of Monitor on Psychology.
Creating a standard communication for response to member and public inquiries enumerating APA’s activities in response to the crisis. (Levant, 2005)

Furthermore, Dr Gerard Jacobs, one of psychology’s foremost trauma experts, was appointed by APA to assist in assessing the mental health needs of Tsunami survivors and to develop short-term, intermediate and long term recommendations for the mental health needs of survivors. Dr Jacobs is the director of the Disaster Mental health Institute and the Clinical Psychology Training program at the University of South Dakota as well as a prominent mental health advisor to the American Red Cross.

In the Winter 2002 IP, I wrote an article “Chronicle of Disaster” (Barbanel,’02) in which I recounted my experience as a psychologist working post 9-11. What became clear to me was how important psychology was to the recovery effort. One year after 9-11, the IP published a number of reflective articles on psychology’s response to Sept 11, to coping, healing and resilience. (Barbanel, 2002; Carll, 2002; Haber, 2002; & Pitta, 2002). In the Winter 2005 issue there is an article on psychology’s response to Florida’s hurricanes. (Besner, 2005). We have always understood the importance of psychology to efforts in recovery. We are now writing more about it and reflecting more on it. But there has not always been a public awareness of this. After 9/11 there were those who questioned psychology’s efforts. The American Red Cross did not always have a mental health staff advisory and did not always recognize the importance of mental health after disaster. Today nobody raises question about this importance.

In addition to being proud of the work that psychology and psychologists are doing around healing of people affected by the Tsunami, I am struck by the development of our field. Psychology is no longer relegated to the back wards, only working with the most disturbed. Working in disaster mental health is working to help otherwise “normal” people cope with enormous trauma. It is a form of prevention, a field that psychology knows well. It is psychology as health care.

Psychology can also be of enormous help to communities in developing resilience in this time of uncertainty. The practice directorate has launched its public education campaign related to resilience. The APA website has a help center for the public which includes topics on resilience. In my own professional life, I have been asked to speak to community groups, schools and parent groups on such topics as “Resilience in an Uncertain Time”. It is a topic that we have both the research and the clinical skills to be able to offer to the public. The role of psychology in the tsunami effort reflects psychology’s learning and skill, its commitment to community effort, to serving the global community. It also reflects an important expansion of our role.

References

Barbanel, L (2002). “Chronicle of a Disaster.” The Independent Practitioner, Division 42, Division of Independent Practice, American Psychological Association: Washington, DC. vol 22, no.1

Barbanel, L.(2002). Coping healing and resilience The Independent Practitioner, Division 42, Division of Independent practice American Psychological Association. Vol 22,no 4.

Besner,H. (2005) Florida’s hurricanes.The Independent Practitioner, Division 42, Division of Independent practice American Psychological Association. Vol 25,no 4.

Carll,E.(2002)The psychological effects of 9/11, one year later. The Independent Practitioner, Division 42, Division of Independent practice American Psychological Association. Vol 22,no 4.

Haber,S. (2002) On a Clear Day…. The Independent Practitioner, Division 42, Division of Independent practice American Psychological Association. Vol 22,no 4.

Pita,P. (2002) Journey through grief. The Independent Practitioner, Division 42, Division of Independent practice American Psychological Association. Vol 22,no 4.

Levant (2004). Info from Thailand. Retrieved COR@apalists.apa.org, Dec 31, 2004

Levant (2005). APA response to Southeast Asia’s Tsunami. Retrieved COR @lists.apa.org, January 7,2005

Laura Barbanel is in Independent practice in Brooklyn, New York. Her clinical work includes work with children and families, as well as work with trauma. She was active in the psychological work in the aftermath of 9/11.She is a former member of the Board of Directors of APA; co-chair of its Task Force on resilience and is currently on the Division 42 board.

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