TPC-Journal-V5-Issue4
The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 4 440 can lead to problems if agencies expand their services based on temporary support and must then scale back after financial resources disappear. The most important lesson I learned from interviewing agency administrators in New Orleans who have been at their agencies for the 10 years since Hurricane Katrina was that it would have been impossible to prepare for the aftermath of the storm. As a result, it is important after a disaster for counselors and administrators to assess their unique situation, determine what counseling services are needed, provide in-service training when necessary, avoid relying on short-term funding to plan for the future, and pay attention to the self-care of counselors. New Orleans is unique and Hurricane Katrina’s flooding of the city was a unique event. Several mental health professionals indicated that assessing the needs of the community after the storm and responding to those needs, as well as caring for the well-being of their employees, were critical aspects of their successful survival. Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure The author reported no conflict of interest or funding contributions for the development of this manuscript. References Alvarez, C. M. (2015). Experiences of career counselors in group supervision integrating work-life balance (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 3689702) Alvarez, D. M. (2009). Trauma pedagogy for teachers: Another lesson from Katrina. In A. W. Bedford & J. Kieff (Eds.), Surviving the storm: Creating opportunities for learning in response to Hurricane Katrina (pp. 75–87). Olney, MD: Association for Childhood Education International. Arendt, L., & Alesch, D. J. (2014). Long-term community recovery from natural disasters . Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Brown-Rice, K. (2013). Examining the theory of historical trauma among Native Americans. The Professional Counselor , 3 , 117–130. doi:10.15241/kbr.3.3.117 Buss, K. E., Warren, J. M., & Horton, E. (2015). Trauma and treatment in early childhood: A review of the historical and emerging literature for counselors. The Professional Counselor , 5 , 225–237. doi:10.15241/keb.5.2.225 Chan, C. S., Lowe, S. R., Weber, E., & Rhodes, J. E. (2015). The contribution of pre- and postdisaster social support to short- and long-term mental health after Hurricanes [sic] Katrina: A longitudinal study of low-income survivors. Social Science & Medicine , 138 , 38–43. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.05.037 Cohen, J. A., Jaycox, L. H., Walker, D. W., Mannarino, A. P., Langley, A. K., & DuClos, J. L. (2009). Treating traumatized children after Hurricane Katrina: Project Fleur-de Lis [sic]. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review , 12 , 55–64. doi:10.1007/s10567-009-0039-2 Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. (2009). 2009 standards . Retrieved from www.cacrep.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/2009-Standards.pdf The Data Center. (2012, August 14). Assets & opportunity profile: New Orleans . Retrieved from http://www. datacenterresearch.org/reports_analysis/assets-opportunity Fernandez, M. A., & Short, M. (2014). Wounded warriors with PTSD: A compilation of best practices and technology in treatment. The Professional Counselor , 4 , 114–121. doi:10.15241/maf.4.2.114 Gohl, P., Barclay, H., Vidaurri, E., Newby, R., & Arquette, J. (2015, May). Leadership before and after Hurricane Katrina . Paper presented at the Symposium of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE), Ellensburg, WA.
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