ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH CONFERENCE
TOWARDS THE NEXT MILLENNIUM: DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH -
LEARNING FROM THE PAST AND PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
Letter
Disaster and trauma victims, especially families and young children, and
their well-being, are an important concern for all of us. Their ability to
handle and recover from their situations is largely dependent on their support
systems and the availability of professional assistance.
As you may already be aware, the American Red Cross, in conjunction with
Mental Health Professionals from a number of disciplines, provides Disaster
Mental Health assistance for these victims as well as for responders and
workers when needed. This is done through national Memorandums of Understanding
between the Red Cross and the American Psychological Association, the American
Counseling Association, the American Association of Marriage and Family
Therapists, the American Association of Social Workers, and others. The Mental
Health function in Disaster work is becoming an integral part of disaster
relief plans across the country. Developing networks of practitioners can help
make this function more effective. Training and updating practitioners also
provides a pool of informed practitioners available for such crises.
There is a group of us made up of the Disaster Mental Health Lead for the
Wyoming Red Cross, the President-elect of the Wyoming Psychological Association,
the President-elect of the Wyoming Counseling Association, members of the
Wyoming Association of Social Workers, the University of Wyoming Counselor
Education Department, and others, who are putting together a three-day
Conference on Disaster Mental Health at the School of Extended Studies at the
University of Wyoming. See the list of supporters. This Conference is scheduled
for February 11-15, 1999. We will be having a series of Major Lectures,
Symposiums, and Paper Sessions as well as Discussion Groups (Round Tables)
dealing with four major themes of Disaster Mental Health:
* PTSD, CISD, and debriefings
* Children and Families in Disasters
* Mass Casualty and Airline Disasters
* Terrorism and Disaster Mental Health
* Follow-up Counseling/Therapy for Victims and Workers
CONFERENCE TITLE: Towards The Next Millennium: Disaster Mental Health -
Learning From The Past and Planning For The Future
The following are presenters who have committed to present and/or are under
consideration:
Julian D. Ford, Ph.D.
Dartmouth Medical School
National Center for PTSD
White River Junction, VT
Annette Marie LaGreca, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL Children and Disasters
David V. Baldwin, Ph.D.
Emotional Traumatology
Suzanna Rose
Royal Holloway
University of London
PTSD and CISD
Tony Taylor, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of Psychology
Victoria University
New Zealand
Ellen Kirschman, Ph.D.
Police Psychologist
Oakland, CA
Clinical/Cultural/Organizational Issues Concerning Police
and Other Public Safety Workers
Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D.
Washington, DC
Merritt D. Schreiber, Ph.D.
County of Orange
Health Care Agency
Costa Mesa, CA
Joseph J. Sivak, M.D.
PTSD, Children & Families, Airline Workers
VA, Wisconsin
Russell T. Jones, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA
Conference Proceedings will be printed in book format. Audio and video tapes
are planned of the Major Lectures and Symposiums. These recordings will be
available for sale.
We would like to invite your group/organization/foundation to become a part
of our sponsoring group. We would also like to request funds to help defray
some of the conference and speaker expenses. Accompanying this letter is a
copy of our Executive Summary for the conference and a budget statement
which will allow us to present this conference for $27,000. This amount or
a portion of it for conference expenses is what we are requesting.
Current members of our Conference Committee include:
George W. Doherty, M.S.
Disaster Mental Health Specialist, DSHR, Red Cross
Disaster Mental Health Lead, Wyoming Red Cross
Conference Chair
Anne Cowardin-Bach, Ph.D.
President-elect
Wyoming Psychological Association
Stephen Goldman, Ph.D.
Jo Lyn Reeves, MSW
Penny Dahlen, Ed.D.
Department of Counselor Education
University of Wyoming
Tracy Anderson
President-elect
Wyoming Counseling Association
The conference will offer CEU's through the School of Extended Studies and
each of the participtaing Associations for attendees.
Please feel free to contact me if you require further information. My email
address is: highplains140@usa.net. My Pager number is: 307-745-1372. You
can also leave a verbal message for me at the Albany County Red Cross office
at: 307-745-5505.
We hope to make this Conference a success for the entire Rocky Mountain
Region and look forward to your response and participation.
Sincerely
George W. Doherty, M.S.
Rocky Mountain Region
Disaster Mental Health
Conference Chair
LINKS:
Email: snowyrange@bigfoot.com
