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Date: Friday, November 8, 2024
Time: 12 – 2 pm EST

Format: Hybrid

  • Livestream via Zoom, or
  • In person: UNC School of Social Work, 325 Pittsboro Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516

CE Credit: 2 CEs, read for full information on credit types awarded.
Fees: Free of Charge

Description: 

Whether you’re on the frontlines of a disaster or supporting individuals through its aftermath, this training highlights how disaster response is both doable and rewarding. Serving as an entry point, it seeks to makes disaster response work more accessible, helping participants apply existing skills and assess needs across different phases of a crisis. The training covers psychological first aid–serving as a roving triage to address the needs of those affected. It also emphasizes resilience and strengths-based strategies to support individuals with overlapping vulnerabilities and visible distress. By training mental health professionals, we strengthen the resilience of our communities during crises and disasters. We hope you can join either in person, via Zoom, or stay tuned for a recorded version.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the training participants will be able to:

  1. Explain the orientation for a Disaster Mental Health (DMH) response.
  2. Describe the five phases of disaster response and identify key priorities in each.
  3. Apply at least two essential skills for deployment in a DMH role.
  4. Address variations in disaster response across diverse communities.

Trainer: Tab Ballis, LCSW, LCAS, CCS, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist, and Certified Clinical Supervisor at Insight Wellness Services in Wilmington, NC. He also serves as part-time faculty at the University of North Carolina Wilmington School of Social Work and previously sat on the board of the Disaster Response Network of the North Carolina Psychological Association. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Tab was trained as a volunteer with the American Red Cross and began his disaster mental health work with first responders at Ground Zero. He has since completed national and local disaster deployments through contract assignments with managed care entities and crisis response networks. Tab has also worked as a research associate with HERMES, LLC, developing training modules for disaster responders in minority communities.

References:

  • Magaletta, P. R., Glynn, S. M., & Goodie, J. L. (2022). Responding to individuals and communities after disasters and other traumatic events: An introduction. Psychological Services, 19(S2), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000640
  • Pavlacic, J. M., Ruggiero, K. J., Andrews, A. R., Price, M., & Rheingold, A. A. (2024). Behavioral activation is associated with post‐disaster mental health: Secondary longitudinal analysis from a population‐based study. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 80(2), 291-305. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23610
  • Ottisova, L., Gillard, J. A., Wood, M., Langford, S., John‐Baptiste Bastien, R., Madinah Haris, A., Wild, J., Bloomfield, M. A. P., & Robertson, M. (2022). Effectiveness of psychosocial interventions in mitigating adverse mental health outcomes among disaster‐exposed health care workers: A systematic review. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 35(2), 746-758.
  • Stebnicki, M. A. (2024). Transcending empathy fatigue: Cultivating empathy resiliency. Cognella Academic Publishing.
  • Wang, L., Norman, I., Edleston, V., Oyo, C., & Leamy, M. (2024). The effectiveness and implementation of psychological first aid as a therapeutic intervention after trauma: An integrative review. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380231221492

UNC Chapel Hill – Clinical Lecture Series

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