Natural disasters and acts of terrorism leave not only physical damage but also leave communities traumatized.  As the Tulane community begins to work with recovery efforts in these areas, we must first to educate ourselves about mental health and the stresses that come from working with traumatized communities. Distinguished Professor Charles Figley will provide an informal overview of how to retain your mental health while trying to help others. We will ask the students to prepare their own self care plan by first completing a series of tests and then work with another person (dyads only) to score and discuss the implications of the tests for developing an effective and adaptable self-care plan.

Dr. Figley is an award-winning trauma psychologist, traumatologist, psychoneuroimmunologist, educator, and scholar. He has published more than 200 scholarly works including 25 books. Collectively, his work reports on more than 35 research projects focusing primarily on traumatic stress and resiliency of individuals, families, and communities. Dr. Figley is equally committed to applying his research and scholarship toward solving human problems. Many of his efforts were through the collective efforts of the international humanitarian organization, the Green Cross, which he helped establish in 1995 followed the April 19th bombing in Oklahoma City that year. He then established supportive institutions that would provide financial support (the Green Cross Foundation) and research, ethical, and standards of practice and self-care (the Academy of Traumatology). 

If you are interested in disaster relief efforts,  sign up here.

Sponsored by Housing and Residence Life and the Center for Public Service