Page 29 - Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience

xxviii Contributors

(breathwork) to reduce vicarious trauma and bolster resilience in the
face of disasters. Dr. Shah completed a B.A. with Honors in Comparative
Religious Studies at Rice University and then earned his M.D. from Baylor
College of Medicine. He did his psychiatry internship at the Menninger
Clinic and then completed a Preventive and Behavioral Medicine residency
and a master’s in Public Health at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
After the 9/11 attacks, Dr. Shah developed disaster preparedness pro-
tocols to mitigate backlash, such as Islamophobia, anti-Sikh scapegoat-
ing, and hate crimes. Under a Red Cross grant, he treated NYPD, FDNY,
and other first responders suffering from treatment-resistant emotional
trauma. Answering a call in the global South to train barefoot counsel-
ors in 2002, he founded Psychosocial Assistance Without Borders. Dr.
Shah has served as a board member and now serves as a clinical fellow
for Psychology Beyond Borders (www.psychologybeyondborders.com), a
nonprofit dedicated to helping people manage the fear and terror that can
result from natural and manmade disasters, terrorism, and armed con-
flict. He has authored audio albums, articles, book chapters, and organi-
zational guidelines on the subjects of stress-related syndromes, cultural
competency, cultural adaptation/translation, disaster mental health, and
integrative treatments for trauma. With Greenleaf Integrative Strategies,
he has traveled in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Brazil, Ethiopia, and the
United States to build capacity among humanitarian workers, medical
professionals, and clergy.

Rebecca P. Smith, M.D., is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at
Mount Sinai Medical Center (New York City). She has worked at the local,
national, and international levels on issues related to mental health effects
of terrorism, disaster, and trauma. She remains engaged in research on the
mental health consequences of the exposures to 9/11 sustained by evacu-
ees as well as workers and volunteers involved in the rescue and recovery
efforts at the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks of September
11, 2001, as well as with other populations affected by terrorism interna-
tionally, with a focus on human resilience in the face of uncontrollable
stress. In 2003, she served on the National Institute of Mental Health’s
Roundtable on the Mental Health Effects of Mass Violence. In collabo-
ration with New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Health,
she created a course in psychosocial effects of bioterrorism for the doctors
and nurses at New York City hospitals. She worked with the Baton Rouge
(Louisiana) Mental Health authority to assist in the development of struc-
tures for managing the mental health needs of survivors of Hurricane