Disaster Resource Network shifts its focus
One word can change a lot, as the Massachusetts Psychological Association’s (MPA) Disaster Resource Network discovered following a name change in 2016.
When the MPA received instructions from the American Psychological Association (APA) to change its focus from being a disaster “responder” to a disaster “resource,” the MPA took a few years to understand exactly what that meant.
“COVID hit and that put a pause on a lot of things,” said Claudette Pierre, Ph.D., co-chair of the MPA DRN. “We are very new in terms of redefining ourselves, in deciding how we are going to move forward.”
For the MPA DRN, the name change has meant a total restructuring, which is just now coming into focus. In its December newsletter, the group introduced the new direction as one in which they would “provide a community for the psychologists of the Massachusetts Psychological Association to work together to build stronger, resilient, and prepared communities for disasters” –including climate related issues and other crises.
“It is a place where, as psychologists, we come together to develop ideas about how we can integrate ourselves into the community to be a resource,” said Pierre. “There are people in our group already helping their communities develop resiliency plans. We don’t think we should wait for disasters to happen because they are coming.”
She added, “No one in our group has blinders on to believe we are going to walk out of what we have created in our environment. We will have to deal with the fallout.”
Communities, she explained, need to be prepared for what is to come and psychologists are uniquely equipped to help prepare for climate and other disasters. This could be getting involved in their local community’s plans for providing basic emergency needs to helping create psychological support systems and guidelines.
“We are trained to understand stress and how to help mitigate its effects. There is no one better to do this work.” she wrote in the group’s December newsletter. “We can do so by helping each other, our clients, and the communities we live within be prepared for disasters before they arrive.”
The group plans to put together a range of both programs and resources to help mental health professionals work directly with communities. It also aims to be a support system for the therapists themselves.
“We are on the front lines, and we need to take care of ourselves because if we don’t, we can’t be any good for anyone else,” said Pierre. “We are going through the same things our clients are going through.”
Plans under discussion include forming support groups for therapists, reaching out to communities to understand their unique issues and needs, and working with DRNs and therapists already doing this work across the region and country to share information and best practices.
The network hopes to look at ways to address homelessness, as those people are often hardest hit by disasters, along with other groups who may be impacted and are not being seen.
Pierre recalled presenting at a conference in Boston a few years ago. “After my presentation, a meteorologist walked up to me and said, `we need help.’ We predict bad news and then we go in and look at the devastation and it just wrecks us.”
“There is so much need out there,” she added. Although the Red Cross responds to disasters, “mental health people can help build the skills to be resilient.”
The MPA DRN welcomes therapists to join discussions and contribute to the group’s path forward. Contact them through the MPA at mapsych@masspsych.org.