Page 184 - Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience

Making Referrals 153

care workers occur during all phases of a disaster (warning/threat, rescue,
honeymoon, disillusionment, recovery) as practitioners triage and assess
emotional and spiritual stress. Mental health and spiritual care workers
must have a working knowledge of each groups’ skill sets in order to com-
petently triage and assess for referral.
Because disaster work is based on the concept that most people have a
basic resiliency and with appropriate support during times of disaster will
activate their own coping skills to manage the crisis, it is of major impor-
tance that mental health and spiritual care providers resist the urge to fix
the problems of disaster victims. The goal in most situations is to help
those affected determine options that are congruent with their culture,
background and belief system, and then support them as they identify
resources and begin making decisions on their recovery.
To best help the healing process, both mental health and spiritual care
responders often refer those affected by disaster to local mental health
and/or spiritual care workers who can provide long-term follow-up care.
Generally, disaster mental health workers refer individuals for long-term
mental health care and disaster spiritual care workers refer those in need of
faith-based services, such as pastoral counseling, religious services and rit-
uals, etc. Because it is most helpful if the worker can refer to practitioners in
the area who are known for their expertise, each disaster worker should also
have access to resources and referrals within the local area. Additionally,
many communities have local Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM)
teams comprised of peers, chaplains, and mental health personnel who
work, train, and respond together regularly. For organizations that work
with CISM teams, this can be another valuable resource for collaboration,
particularly if you are coming in from the “outside.”
We recognize that partnership between disaster mental health workers
and spiritual care providers is most successful when each group benefits
from the contributions and support of the other. For example, it was a
very moving experience when the American Red Cross in Greater New
York mental health volunteers provided end-of-assignment support to
Disaster Chaplaincy Services personnel after they had blessed the remains
at Ground Zero/World Trade Center site during the 9-month disaster
recovery operation. In another situation of grief, when a Red Cross staff
member was unable to attend the overseas funeral of her beloved aunt, a
Disaster Chaplaincy Services member came in to perform a private ser-
vice for her and several close colleagues at the precise time that her aunt
was being buried. This generous gesture and ritual experience helped ease
the grief of the Red Cross staff member by providing an opportunity for