Disaster Mental Health Training for Community Settings

The University of Rochester Disaster Mental Health program has developed an evidence-informed curriculum to train community- or agency-based disaster mental health response teams.  Members of these teams can include mental health and spiritual care professionals or other disaster relief personnel.

Disaster Mental Health: A Critical Response (Instructor Candidate Training): 

NYS Disaster Mental Health Instructor Log In NYS Disaster Mental Health County Team Member Log In

This 3-day training provides participants with the knowledge and skills to become recognized instructors in an evidence-informed disaster mental health training curriculum.  Over the course of this training, Instructor Candidates are introduced to specific disaster mental health content that prepares them to train mental health and spiritual care professionals in healthcare settings to respond and provide supportive interventions in the early aftermath of a disaster as part of a healthcare facility-based disaster mental health team. Instructor candidates are also provided with specific information on how to assist in the recruitment and selection of disaster mental health trainees and team members, how to execute curriculum-specific training exercises, and the mechanisms to enhance the learning environment for trainees, especially those with no previous disaster mental health training.

Disaster Mental Health: A Critical Response (Team Member Training): This 2-day training provides information to enhance the knowledge, skills and attitudes of individuals interested in participating on a community- or agency-based disaster mental health team.  Over the course of this training, participants are introduced to specific information on disaster response at the local, state, and federal levels and the role of mental health professionals and other supportive disaster relief personnel along this continuum.  This training curriculum emphasizes the mental health response in the early aftermath of disaster (0-72 hours or in the case of catastrophic disaster, 0-2 weeks).

For More Information

Contact Jack Herrmann at jherrmann@naccho.org.