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J. Steven Picou University of South Alabama

HELPING OTHERS COPE WITH CHRONIC DISASTER: BACKGROUND, RATIONALE AND OVERVIEW OF PEER LISTENING TRAINING. J. Steven Picou University of South Alabama

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J. Steven Picou University of South Alabama

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  1. HELPING OTHERS COPE WITH CHRONICDISASTER: BACKGROUND, RATIONALE AND OVERVIEW OF PEER LISTENING TRAINING J. Steven Picou University of South Alabama *This workshop was funded by a grant from the Gates Foundation and the Social Science Research Council. Workshop presented at the 2011 Community Wellness Conference, Biloxi, Mississippi, May 24-25, 2011.

  2. HELPING OTHERS COPE WITH DISASTER • Purpose of Program: To provide information and help to community residents impacted by disasters to reconnect and improve their community social support networks, establish emotional balance, improve coping skills and regain the strength they need to move forward. • Connecting Conversations: A translational tool for providing extended mental health outreach programs.

  3. Critical Note Most social and psychological impacts (PTSD) are delayed for as long as 20 years. Emergence of stress producing factors of depression, home-loss, economic problems, dealing with claims process, health risks, and uncertainty. Listening skills are important in other settings – public meetings, informal gathering, and organizational planning.

  4. HISTORY OF THE GOM PEER LISTENER PROGRAM • Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, 1989 • Prince William Sound, AK- Small Isolated Villages • Massive Ecological and Social Destruction • Loss of Fisheries; Major Economic Impacts • Impacts Escalated for 6 Years • Technological vrs Natural Disaster Issue

  5. LONG-TERM SOCIAL PATHOLOGY • Suicides, Divorces, Domestic Violence, Substance Abuse • Loss of Community Social Capital • Social Relationships Were Destroyed • Corrosive Community & Corrosive Social Cycles • Mental Illness in a Corrosive Community

  6. SOCIOLOGICAL INTERVENTION • Theoretical Rationale: Erikson’s Concept of Collective Trauma • Everything in it’s Path; A New Species of Trouble • Loss of “Communality” • Not a “Psychological Problem”

  7. ERIKSON QUOTE • “Toxic disasters…violate all the rules…some…have clearly defined beginnings…others begin long before anyone senses that something is wrong…But they never end…An all clear is never sounded. The book of accounts is never closed” (P. 148, A New Species of Trouble).

  8. THE “GROWING TOGETHER”PROGRAM IN ALASKA • Newspaper Series • Radio Programs • Leaflet Distribution • In-Service Training • PLTP • Talking Circle (AK Natives)

  9. EVALUATION OF PLTP 1995 1997 RR 36% 18% NRR 42% 18% MEP 67% 27% MHP 48% 26%

  10. OUTCOMES • More Knowledge • Help-Seeking Behavior Increased • Social Relationships Improved • Psychological Stress Reduced • Participatory Model: From Victim to Solution

  11. BP SPILL • AK and Gulf Coast Connected • PWSRCAC and MASGC • AK PLTP Modified • PLTP Deployed in LA, MS, AL & FL • Total of 605 PL Trained • July 14 – December 12

  12. PEER LISTENERS • Become Embedded in Local Community • Family, Neighbors, Friends and Church/Social Groups • Permanent and Not Dependent on Government Resources • Non-Stigmatizing • Collective Invervention

  13. THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY • The socially integrative effects • Outpouring of Altruistic Feelings • Sympathetic Behavior from Non-Victims • Personal Warmth and Direct Help

  14. The Therapeutic Social Cycle Chamlee-Wright, Emily. 2006. After the Storm: Social Capital Regrouping in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina. Global Prosperity Initiative. Arlington, VA: Mercatus Center, George Mason University.

  15. FORMAL SOURCES OF SUPPORT Formal support includes individuals and agencies in the community that are designed to provide support, such as churches, mental health agencies. Formal support services are rarely sought by disaster victim’s who do not perceive themselves nor wish to be labeled as “mentally ill.” In addition, in rural communities, formal support services are often very limited. Self-help groups can be another source of formal support for individuals in need. For chronic disaster impacts FORMAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS may be overburdened and professional staff experience burn out!

  16. INFORMAL SUPPORT A Peer Listener Network can serve as an informal support service for community members, particularly for those individuals who are reluctant to use formal support networks.

  17. PEER LISTENERS • Having someone to talk to is a key component of recovery from trauma • A peer listener is trained in communication skills • Peer listeners can serve as liaisons between disaster survivors and community resources

  18. HOW TO BE A PEER LISTENERCommunication 101 • Non-verbal issues • The physical environment • Physical space • Negative or distracting body language

  19. Listening Skills • Following Skills • Door openers • Minimal encouragers • Infrequent questions • Attentive silence

  20. Listening Skills • Reflecting and Prompting Questions • Rephrase the message – “you seem very frustrated with …” • Use open questions “How did that make you feel?” • Avoid why questions and judgment – “Why didn’t you…?

  21. What Not To Say • I know how you feel. • You shouldn’t feel that way. • It was God’s will. • You’ve got to get on with your life. • You’ve got to be strong. • You should be over that by now. • You’re so lucky to still have… • Why didn’t you……?

  22. SUMMARY SUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNICATION • Stop talking • Get rid of distractions • Be interested and show it • Tune in to the other person • Concentrate on the message • Helping Others

  23. COMMON CONCERNS • Anger • Depression • PTSD • Suicide • Ambiguous loss and unresolved grief • Abuse • Caring Confrontations & Aid

  24. SURVEY OF HARRISON AND HANCOCK COUNTIES – JUNE 2008 • 57% Significant financial problems • 60% Homeowners Insurance Claims Stressful • 67% MS Grant Program Stressful • 58%PTSD • 42% Sleeping Problems • 41%Anxiety

  25. Peer Listener Strategies for Anger, Depression and PTSD Providing Support • Support functions • Listen: Each of us have occasions when we need people who will really listen to us, without giving advice or making judgments. We need someone with whom we can share the joys of success as well as the pain and frustration of failure. • Providing emotional support: Most of us need a person/s willing to provide unconditional support—people willing to be on our side in a difficult situation even if not in total agreement with what we are doing. • Providing physical support: Sometimes we need a person/s willing to provide physical help—help with childcare, eldercare, or chores; help around the house or meeting demands of seasonal pressures.

  26. Peer Listener Strategies for Anger, Depression and PTSD • Affirming Skills: All of us need appreciation for the skills we possess and the work we do. This affirmation of competence has two dimensions: work skills and personal skills. Affirmation of work skills should come from people who work in the same field; personal skills can come from anyone we respect and trust. • Providing Challenge: When we are not challenged, we run the risk of stagnation. Most of us need others who will stretch us by questioning if we are really doing our best to overcome obstacles. Such friends can also help us cut through our emotionality and arrive at a more rational decision on a troublesome issue. • Playing: Each of us needs other with whom we can have fun—people we can play with, people we can joke with, people with whom we can let our hair down and just be ourselves. Humor and play can help us to gain a new and fresh perspective on the perplexing situations which confront us.

  27. Providing SupportSupport Functions • Listen • Provide emotional support • Provide physical support • Affirming skills • Providing challenge • Playing

  28. Peer Listeners Are …… • Genuine – real in their relationships, without façade or front • Empathetic – feeling with another • Caring in a non-possessive way • Accepting without imposing conditions or judgments • Willing to let others have the responsibility for their own growth and change • Aware they have to take care of themselves

  29. SESSION A: PEER TO PEER LISTENING TRAINING: 1:30-4:45 Tania Baynes and Shawn Hicks

  30. GOM PLTP • New and Culturally Relevant Information • New Manual • New Training Exercises • Important for Mitigating Serial Disasters of the Present and those of the Future

  31. CONTACT INFORMATION AND WEBSITES • picou@centurytel.net • www.stevenpicou.com/ • www.masgc.org/peerlistening

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