Mental Health Needs Following a Disaster

Two recent articles in the news highlight the need to help groups of people following a disaster by sharing techniques to help them with their pain, grief and fears, and to reinforce that, while these emotions are difficult and unpleasant, they are normal, natural and necessary to healing and getting through the emotional pain to rebuild their lives and communities.  This might also alleviate some of the overwhelming burden on professionals in the mental health field.

Chilean Children Suffer from Quake's Mental Shocks

In Haiti, Mental Health System is in Collapse

GFSC (Global Facilitator Service Corps) provides mentoring, methods and materials to communities to strengthen their resilience in times of crisis and change.  The Disaster and Crisis Intervention pamphlets and manuals in the free GFSC online library are designed for adults, children and those who work with them. 

We especially recommend:

Bad Things Happen to Good People:  A brief outline of normal, necessary emotions and feelings; how to accept and deal with them.

... And Now What?  A helping hand for children who have suffered a loss. 

A Light in this Dark Alley:  A guide for emotional recovery.