9th Annual IDMH Conference

Building Capacity:

Managing and Mitigating Responder Stress

Friday, April 20, 2012

Concurrent Professional Workshops

Descriptions & Learning Objectives:

Building Leadership Capacity in Emergency Management with Charles Figley, Ph.D.

Professor Figley will share his work in co-founding the Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy at Tulane University in 2009. He will discuss the role of psychosocial and behavioral health in understanding how leaders can facilitate resilience and remain resilient themselves. He will discuss a new platform for building leadership capacity among educational institutions in countries especially vulnerable to natural disasters.

 Learning Objectives:

1. Define the role of human factors in building leadership capacity among emergency managers
2. Recognize the history and basic components of the Tulane University Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy (DRLA)
3. Describe the DRLA leadership capacity building strategy
4. Recognize practical applications for building leadership capacity in local disaster mitigation work

Facilitating Posttraumatic Growth with Richard Tedeschi, Ph.D.

Although the process of posttraumatic growth often occurs naturally in survivors of traumatic events, there are ways to facilitate this growth. This workshop will focus on understanding the process of posttraumatic growth and how to provide "expert companionship" to trauma survivors in a way that advances this process. An integrative framework that includes cognitive, existential, and narrative elements is used to manage emotional reactions and rumination, encourage disclosure and creation of a coherent narrative, and focus trauma survivors on possibilities for meaning and growth.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understanding the process of posttraumatic growth
2. Understanding the use of a measurement tool to assess posttraumatic growth
3. Developing an ability to apply expert companionship with trauma survivorsRecognizing vicarious posttraumatic growth

Mindfulness as Self-Care for First Responders with Dianne Kane, D.S.W.

How often do you eat a meal and really pay attention to your food? When you are talking with your spouse, your children, your co-workers, do you really listen? How often do you dedicate your time to one thing, and only one thing? For most of us, the answer is almost never. In fact, most of us pride ourselves on our ability to multitask; to get things done as quickly as possible. Mindfulness, the opposite of multitasking, helps us slow down and live in the present moment, which can greatly affect our health and quality of life. This workshop will explore mindfulness as the center point of a self-care program for first responders. Self-care begins by becoming more aware of what is going on in our own bodies and minds. As we focus on the present moment we can see new possibilities for relating to ourselves and to others which in turn can increase our capacity to reduce stress and feel better. Discussion and experiential exercises will be used to demonstrate that first responders already use a lot of mindfulness techniques in their work that can be carried over into their self-care regimen.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to define mindfulness
2. Participants will able to identify different types of meditation (counting, breath, metta, visualization)
3. Participants will understand how practicing mindfulness can help reduce stress and increase self-care
4. Participants will be able to recognize the ways in which they utilize mindfulness practices in their daily routine

Promoting Resilience: Culturally Responsive Self-Care with Monica Indart, Psy.D.

This workshop will provide participants an opportunity to examine ways in which cultural traditions can promote self-care in clinicians working in disasters and complex emergency settings. Drawing on clinical experiences and evidence-based models of intervention, this workshop will focus on how cultural and spiritual traditions can be used to promote resilience in the people and communities we serve, as well as in ourselves. Participants will learn the fundamental principles of self-care using a capacity-building approach. Capacity-building seeks to incorporate current research from the "third wave" of trauma-focused treatments, which focus on promoting resilience rather than treating disorders. Integrated with these resilience-focused approaches is Pedersen's concept of inclusive cultural empathy, a key element in this culturally responsive self-care model that can be used with individuals and across organizations. Utilizing case vignettes from the humanitarian aid field, as well as their own experiences, participants will examine applications of a capacity-building approach to self-care.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will identify key principles of a culturally responsive capacity-building model of self-care
2. Participants will examine how current research on promoting resilience can be specifically used in effective self-care practices
3. Through case vignettes, participants will examine how culturally responsive self-care can be used while working in the field
4. Participants will practice three elements of this self-care model within the course of the workshop

Force Health Protection: American Red Cross Training with Rob Yin, L.I.S.W., and Valerie Cole, Ph.D

This workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to learn about disaster responder risk factors and stress reactions and how to utilize force health protection (FHP) strategies to mitigate those risks. Disaster-specific obstacles to promoting worker care will be identified and supervisor/worker strategies to overcome those obstacles will be discussed. Participants will have an opportunity to discuss how FHP strategies can be applied within their unique disaster- or crisis-response environment to protect the workforce and effectively deliver services.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify disaster responder risk factors and stress reactions
2. Recognize four obstacles to promoting responder care
3. Understand supervisory and worker FHP strategies to overcome those obstacles
4. Apply FHP strategies in their unique response environment

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in the Here and Now with Stephanie Speer, M.A.

Based upon the principles of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, this workshop provides an opportunity to learn simple, gentle, and powerful ways to build capacity and resiliency to meet the challenges of our everyday lives and extraordinary life circumstances. Current research in neuroscience will be cited to highlight the ways in which the practices of mindfulness have been shown to stimulate and strengthen the brain, enhance psychological and physical well-being, and increase happiness and equanimity. This experiential workshop will focus on instruction, practice, discussion, and guidance. Both informal and formal practices will be discussed so that participants will be able to bring mindfulness into daily living anytime and anywhere.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the principles of mindfulness
2. Be aware of research pertaining to mindfulness
3. Incorporate formal and informal mindfulness practices into daily living
4. Prepare for, cope with, and recover from difficult life circumstances