Page 119 - Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience

88 Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilence

Research on prayer as a coping strategy indicates that those who use
active coping strategies in their prayer lives emerge from stressors such as
disasters with better mental health outcomes (Harris et al., 2008; Harris
Schoneman, & Carrera, 2002, 2005). Clergy have opportunities to both
model effective use of prayer and to assist individuals and groups to
engage in prayer coping. Mental health professionals assisting clients can
facilitate improvement in an individual’s relationship with the Deity just
as they would consider any other relationship for their clients.
It can be useful to teach survivors of a disaster about approaches to
prayer that may be effective in helping them cope in the wake of disaster.
While individuals from faith communities may be well versed in prayer
practice, others may benefit from guidance. For example, they may con-
sider prayer to seek assistance in accomplishing the tasks necessary to
recovery from the disaster, for the ability to manage emotions well enough
to help one another, for the guidance to learn and grow from this experi-
ence, and for the understanding to use aspects of the disaster to do some-
thing good in the world. Meditative and contemplative prayer practices
may also assist survivors in reducing and managing stress.

Developing a Positive Perception of Individual
and Community Capacity for Recovery
Use of religious communities and their resources as central points for
organizing and distributing many kinds of aid does more than the work
of providing aid. It also allows the individuals and groups involved to
see themselves and their community as active participants in their own
recovery. Mental health professionals and clergy can work together to
organize groups to meet community needs. These needs may be differ-
ent based on the community and disaster and may range from the dis-
tribution of drinking water to information to help rebuilding buildings.
The message conveys that leaders view survivors as capable of influencing
outcomes and making good recovery. This may be particularly important
with children, who may feel disempowered when the adults who usually
protect them could not avert danger (Hobfoll et al., 2007; Saltzman, Layne,
Steinberg, & Pynoos, 2006). Groups formed to assemble hygiene kits, dis-
tribute food, organize contact information, pray for victims and survivors
of the disaster, or other relevant tasks can also be provided with informal
opportunities for group counseling as they work with clergy and mental
health professionals joining in the task.