Page 45 - Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience

14 Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilence

difficult circumstances, so it is always advisable to work at least in pairs
and consider establishing formal peer support relationships and mentor-
ships, all of which buffer tension and conflict and increase the probability
of collaboration. Spontaneous debriefings are useful and often happen
in hallways and over meals, for instance. Computer-based communica-
tions and information centralization save time and permit more efficient
processes.

Assessment and Referral of Individuals for Specific Help

Because collaborative efforts can be impeded by a variety of normal prob-
lems that comes up in disaster work, it is important to make sure that
there is ongoing monitoring of people’s well-being in a nonintrusive way.
This can be accomplished by informal monitoring at regular meetings,
where warning signs of instability may be evident. It may be helpful to
instate standard one-on-one meetings on an ongoing basis to both protect
individuals and the development of collaborative relationships by nipping
problems in the bud. Burnout prevention and good self-care are essen-
tial to maintain on individual and organizational levels in order to per-
mit effective functioning, and, likewise, it is of paramount importance to
screen workers so they are placed whenever possible in assignments for
which they are well suited.

Training Exercises

Rather than leaving collaboration to chance, it is advisable to explicitly
include training to foster collaboration, including practical exercises, such
as role playing difficult circumstances (e.g., role-playing a disagreement
between a chaplain and a mental health specialist over a client’s man-
agement). This should be followed by subsequent group discussion and
correlation with didactic material pertaining to relevant issues, such as
communication skills in high-stress situations and cross-disciplinary
and cultural competency education to facilitate mutual understanding.
Informal and formal events mixing groups in a safe and supportive envi-
ronment allow for training as well as more natural social networking,
essential for developing over time the trusting relationships that underlie
collaboration. It is unrealistic to expect trust and relationship to develop
quickly. In some cases, due to crisis and necessity, relationships will appear