Counseling Victims of Natural Disasters

Counseling Victims of Natural Disasters is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that examines how to help the victims, and witnesses, of natural disasters.

We may ask ourselves: What can be done for the victims of natural disasters? Beyond the physical needs, such as safety, food, and water, there remains the emotional residue of living through an experience that threatens one’s life. This course will address these emotional needs.

This course offers healthcare professionals an opportunity to consider the psychological impact of living through a natural disaster. The practical information presented here will aid healthcare professionals in taking clients through the first steps of recovery: disclosing, normalizing, and grounding. Clinicians will consider the ways in which natural disasters can lay the foundation for profound psychological growth. In searching for meaning in the aftermath of a traumatic experience, people can develop new perspectives on life, which leads to an adjustment in values, beliefs, and priorities. The experience becomes incorporated into their sense of self, helping them to see themselves as stronger, more capable, and more appreciative of what they have. The clinician will then examine specific skills to use with clients as they learn to cope in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Course #31-04 | 2019 | 41 pages | 20 posttest questions