Page 233 - Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience

202 Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilence

disaster and of the immediate interventions, addressing the importance
of and necessity for sustained commitment to budgeting for and working
in the long term, and examining systematically every short-term decision
from a long-term perspective—no easy task. I also noted the necessity of
considering at-risk times (e.g., family holidays, anniversaries, and specific
age groups) as well as the at-risk group, when working with those afflicted
by disasters, tragedies, and other traumas (see also Chen et al., 2007; Galea
et al., 2004; Pantin, Schwartz, Prado, Feaster, & Szapocznik, 2003; Sutker,
Corigan, Sundgaard-Riise, Uddor, & Allain, 2002). The long-term perspec-
tive also allows for ongoing evaluation of the differing effects of interven-
tions on various groups and communities and of the determination of yet
unmet needs that may require further plans and related funding, though
the sad and challenging reality is that resources are often not allocated
to address these important long-term consequences and needs. In fact,
in itself, the very lack of appropriate resources may become a source of
retraumatization or prolongation of the trauma, a disaster in its own right,
induced by the preceding insult.
Integration of the trauma must take place in all of life’s relevant (rup-
tured) systems and cannot be accomplished by the individual alone.
Systems can change and recover independently of other systems. It may be
easier to begin to restore the religious community through the comfort of
its rituals before a trauma is accepted and integrated into the psyche.
Rupture repair may be needed in all systems of the survivor, in his or her
community and nation, and in his or her place in the international com-
munity. To fulfill the reparative and preventive goals of trauma recovery,
perspective, and integration through awareness of all the events leading
to, during, and after the trauma and their related meanings and contain-
ment of all feelings and choices associated with it must be established so
that one’s sense of continuity and belongingness is restored. To be healing
and even self-actualizing, the integration of traumatic experiences must
be examined from the perspective of the totality of the trauma survivors’
and family and community members’ lives.
This places the challenge of coordination of and collaboration among
all helpers and of providing them with specialized training so they them-
selves don’t suffer event countertransference (Danieli, 1982b, 1988b); that is,
the therapists’ reactions to patients’ stories of their traumatic events rather
than to the patients’ behavior. This phenomenon is variously described in
the literature as vicarious traumatization (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995),
secondary traumatic stress (Hudnall Stamm, 1995), burnout (Maslach,
1982), or compassion fatigue (Figley, 1995). A recent book, Sharing the