On the Ground After September 11: Mental Health Responses and Practical Knowledge Gained

by Danieli; Yael

• ISBN13: 9780789029072
• ISBN10: 0789029073
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2005-08-04
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

A heartfelt collection of extraordinary first-person accounts that delve into every level of the experience of 9/11 Out of the infamy of 9/11 and its aftermath people rose up with courage and determination to meet formidable challenges. On the Ground After September 11: Mental Health Responses and Practical Lessons Gained is a stirring compilation of over a hundred personal and professional first-hand accounts of the entire experience, from the moment the first plane slammed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, to the months mental health professionals worked to ease the pain and trauma of others even while they themselves were traumatized. This remarkable chronicle reveals the breadth and depth of human need and courage along with the practical organizational considerations encountered in the responses to terrorist attacks. The goal of any terrorist act is to instill psychosocial damage to a society to effect change. On the Ground After September 11 provides deep insight into the damage the attack had on our own society, the failures and victories within our response systems, and the path of healing that mental health workers need to travel to be of service to their clients. Personal accounts written by the professionals and public figures involved reveal the broad range of responses to this traumatic event and illuminate how mental health services can most effectively be delivered. Through the benefit of hindsight, recommendations are described for ways to better finance assistance, adapt the training of mental health professionals, and modify organizations' response to the needs of victims in this type of event. Reading these unique personal accounts of that day and the difficult days that followed provides a thoughtful, moving, rational view of what is truly needed in times of disaster. On the Ground After September 11 includes the first-person experiences and lessons learned from the people of: NYU Downtown Hospital NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NY Metropolitan Transportation Council St. Paul's Chapel St. Vincent Hospital - Manhattan Safe Horizon LifeNet WTC Incident Command Center at NYC Medical Examiner's office New Jersey's Project Phoenix Massachusetts Department of Mental Health the military psychiatric response to the Pentagon attack Connecticut's Center for Trauma Response, Recovery, and Preparedness the Staten Island Relief Center Barrier Free Living Inc. for people with disabilities the Federal Emergency Management Agency Alianza Dominicana, Inc. Staten Island Mental Health Society the United Airlines Emergency Response Team for Flight 93 The Center for Trauma Response, Recovery, and Preparedness (CTRP) Disaster Mental Health Services (DMHS) at Dulles International Airport the American Red Cross the Respite Center at the Great White Tent HealthCare Chaplaincy The Salvation Army the Islamic Circle of North America The Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies, Inc. F*E*G*S the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services (JBFCS) and many, many more On the Ground After September 11: Mental Health Responses and Practical Lessons Gained poignantly illustrates that regardless of profession, culture, religion, or age, every life touched by 9/11 will never be the same. This is essential reading for counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, therapists, trauma specialists, educators, and students.

Table of Contents

About the Editors	xv
Contributors	xvii
Foreword	xlvii
James L. Stone
Acknowledgments	li
Introduction	1	(18)
Yael Danieli
Robert L. Dingman
PART I: THE FIRST DAYS
The Hospital in Its Community	19	(5)
William Wang
Reflections on the Public Health and Mental Health Response to 9/11	24	(5)
Neal L. Cohen
Portraits of Life	29	(3)
Gerry Bogacz
Collapsing	32	(4)
Natacha Giai
The Future of Our Past: Some Thoughts on 9/11 and Moving Forward	36	(6)
Father Lyndon F. Harris
Healing in the Aftermath of 9/11: Recovery from Suffering and Grief for the Community and Its Caregivers	42	(9)
Spencer Eth
Susan E. Sabor
My Own 9/11: The Day That Shaped Me	51	(2)
Itai Nartzizenfield Sneh
A Flashback	53	(3)
Frederick Terna
Safe Horizon's Response to 9/11: Reflections on the Past and a Renewed Focus on the Future	56	(7)
Nancy Arnow
LifeNet and 9/11: The Central Role	63	(9)
John Draper
Coping from a Distance: Experience of a Visitor to New York on September 11, 2001	72	(5)
Lisa Fenger
Challenges in Identification: The World Trade Center Dead	77	(6)
Shiya Ribowsky
9/11/01	83	(1)
Ami Orava
A View from the Ground	84	(2)
Maria Ragonese
At the Ballpark	86	(3)
Lisa Ann Brooks
9/11 and People with Disabilities	89	(7)
Paul B. Feuerstein
Everyday Courage on September 11	96	(4)
Alan Clive
Providing Disaster Mental Health Services to People with Disabilities After September 11: Successes and Lessons Learned	100	(7)
Jennifer Mincin
Across the River: New Jersey's Response to 9/11	107	(8)
Steven M. Crimando
Gladys Padro
Massachusetts Behavioral Health Response to September 11	115	(9)
Darrin Donato
On the Ground After September 11: Lessons Learned from the Relief Efforts to the Latino Community in New York City	124	(6)
Genoveva (Milagros) Batista
Strategic Communications and Mental Health: The WTC Attacks, 1993 and 2001	130	(7)
Michael Cohen
I am Alone in My Grief, But I am Not	137	(4)
Holly Devine O'Neill
Staten Island Mental Health Society Response from September 11 to the Present	141	(5)
Nathalie Weeks
Family Matters	146	(5)
Joseph A. Marotta
Why I Can't Write This	151	(7)
Grant H. Brenner
Development of a Behavioral Health Disaster Preparedness System in the Wake of September 11: The Center for Trauma Response, Recovery, and Preparedness (CTRP)	158	(9)
Julian D. Ford
Wayne F. Dailey
Kathryn S. Dean
The September 11, 2001, Attacks at the Pentagon: One Disaster Mental Health Responder's Story	167	(7)
Howard B. Smith
9/11: The Great Equalizer	174	(4)
Vita Iacovone
Military Psychiatrists During the Pentagon Attack: Personal Reflections	178	(9)
Colonel Elspeth Cameron Ritchie
Colonel Stephen J. Cozza
The American Red Cross and September 11th Fund Mental Health Disaster Response	187	(11)
Erica Lowry
Gerald McCleery
Mental Health Response to Pentagon Staff in the Weeks Following the Attack	198	(7)
Thomas A. Grieger
John W. Knowles
Memories of September 11, 2001	205	(6)
Susan E. Hamilton
And the Birds Came Back	211	(5)
Robert E. Hayes
Responding to United Airlines Flight 93: Bearing Witness to the Brave Who Chose to Fight for Their Freedom	216	(10)
Margaret M. Pepe
Reflections on 9/11-Related ARC Activities Following the Terrorist Actions in Western Pennsylvania and New York City	226	(5)
John D. Weaver
The E-Mail That Traveled the World	231	(7)
Joan Caruso
September 11, 2001: A Military Member's Perspective	238	(5)
Major Jill R. Scheckel
The Great White Tent: A Mental Health Response at Ground Zero	243	(7)
Jill Hofmann
How 9/11 Changed My Life	250	(2)
Anthony T. Ng
Working with Groups After 9/11	252	(5)
Randi S. Cohen
Taking It to the Streets and the Schools: Responding to the Mental Health Needs of the Community	257	(7)
Donna Demetri Friedman
Robert Brewster
Joyce M. Pilsner
Christine Racanelli
Trauma and Stress in the Islamic Community Before and After 9/11	264	(4)
Imam Yusuf Hasan
Reflections on Volunteer Self-Care at the Site	268	(3)
Becky Garrison
Consulting to Organizational Trauma at an Investment Bank That Was in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001	271	(12)
Marc Maltz
PART II: THE FIRST FEW WEEKS
What Have I Learned As a Muslim Since 9/11?	283	(6)
Adem Carroll
Eleven Weeks---The Demanding Times	289	(5)
Robert L. Dingman
We Can't Afford Not To	294	(5)
Meggan Jayne Christman
What Is the Way to Redemption?	299	(7)
Daniel H. Bush
A Yizkor Sermon After September 11	306	(11)
Rabbi Zahara Davidowitz-Farkas
We Can Never Fix It	317	(3)
Mona Lisa Martin
To Comfort and Renew	320	(5)
Mikki Baloy
John J. Scibilia
Reverend Thomas E. Taylor
The Empty Space	325	(1)
Dorry Tompsett
The Days of the Remains	326	(6)
Adrian Jones
This Is Hallowed Ground: Native Voices from Ground Zero	332	(9)
Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart
Lemyra Martha DeBruyn
Daniel Crazy Thunder
Bernardo Rodriguez Jr.
Keith Grube
Memories	341	(4)
Bonnie Collins
Linda Abrams
Ellen Silver
The Family Assistance Center at Pier 94	345	(8)
John W. Bloom
A Community World Trade Center Trauma and Bereavement Counseling Program	353	(9)
Minna Barrett
Thomas Demaria
Barbara Comforto
From the Ground Up	362	(7)
Dennis McKeon
There Is so Much to Tell	369	(8)
Vincent E. Henry
With the Other in Mind: On the Ground with the NYDCC	377	(8)
Todd Essig
Remembering: From Victim to Survivor and More	385	(9)
Jerome W. Kosseff
The Use of the Hero	394	(7)
Nina K. Thomas
Opening Our Eyes: Facing Discomfort to Grow Past Trauma	401	(7)
Rona Milch Novick
Peter D'Amico
Comfort for Kids	408	(9)
Rebecca W. Carman
When the Third Party in the Room is Pain	417	(2)
Tzivia Ross Reiter
Communities of Loss Connected Through Healing	419	(4)
Julie R. Arseneau
A Model for Law Enforcement Resiliency	423	(8)
Cherie Castellano
George S. Everly Jr.
PART III: THE FIRST TWO YEARS
Reflections of a Chaplain at Ground Zero	431	(4)
Reverend Thomas Faulkner
Project Liberty, FEGS, and Me	435	(2)
Matthew J. McGee
Therapy Dogs and 9/11	437	(4)
Mario Canzoneri
Karen Canzoneri
How Is This Day Different from All Other Days? Reflections on 9/11/02 and Beyond	441	(4)
Louise G. Klaber
Assisting People After Disaster: The Role and Impact of a Social Services Network Created for Disaster Response and Recovery	445	(9)
Jack Krauskopf
Early Retirement	454	(2)
Freya Sakamoto
My Twin Towers	456	(3)
Roy Laird
Rebuilding Broken Lives: Holocaust Survivors Relive Terror	459	(2)
Shira Klahr
The Crying Game: Coping with Compassion Fatigue Post--September 11	461	(3)
Ellen Stoller
Self-Expression: Reflecting, Remembering, and Reposing	464	(3)
Becky Bigio
Stuck in the Middle: Care Management After 9/11	467	(3)
Roy Laird
Ellen Stoller
Promoting Community Resilience in Lower Manhattan After September 11, 2001	470	(9)
Jack Saul
Growing Up Arab and American After 9/11	479	(5)
Emira Habiby Browne
Tita Theodora Beal
Listening at the Gates of Hell	484	(8)
Patricia Saunders
Responding to the Needs of Children in New York City in the Wake of 9/11: An Extraordinary Personal Journey	492	(5)
Lynette Rentoul
School-Based Disaster Counseling: Program Planning Lessons Learned After September 11 in New York City	497	(7)
Heidi Arthur
Integrating the Personal and Professional After Traumatic Loss	504	(9)
Pamela Sandler
PART IV: THREE YEARS LATER AND BEYOND
Four Years Later: The Mental Health Community Responds to the WTC Attack	513	(6)
Rick Greenberg
Looking Back: Four Years After 9/11/01	519	(7)
Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub
Adena Greenberg
Embracing Spirit	526	(6)
Carlos Alejandro
Some Lives I Tried To Help	532	(4)
Rimma Kharlamova
The New York State Mental Health Response to 9/11/01: Project Liberty	536	(5)
April Naturale
What Did We Learn? A Call to Action to Improve Immigrants' Access to Mental Health Services	541	(10)
Adam Gurvitch
Searching for Connection, Community, and Continuity As Terrorism Unfolds: Learning Contexts of Support	551	(9)
Madelyn Miller
Empathy and After	560	(5)
Karen Malpede
Trauma and Poetry: On the World Trade Center Disaster	565	(5)
Charles B. Strozier
The Towers	570	(5)
Kay Stritzel Rencken
Virtual 9/11: Managing Terror in an Electronic Era	575	(7)
Lisa D. Butler
Robert W. Garlan
David Spiegel
Personal Reactions to September 11 by Survivors of Other Traumas	582	(5)
Pamela C. Fischer
Richard G. Tedeschi
Life Matters: Health, Resiliency, and Hope	587	(4)
Michael W. Lonski
Evelyn Llewellyn
So Much to Say	591	(2)
Jane Elefante Pollicino
New York: A City of Volunteers Coping, Helping, and Preparing	593	(4)
Richard Brouillette
Moving and 9/11	597	(3)
Anonymous
Emerging from 9/11	600	(5)
I. J. Singh
PART V: REMEMBERING FOR THE FUTURE
Learning from 9/11: Toward a National Model for Children and Families in Mass Casualty Terrorism	605	(5)
Merritt Schreiber
Second Chances	610	(2)
Joseph Galasso
Nightmare 9/11	612	(1)
Euric V. Guerrero
Toward a Tribute	613	(2)
Lee Ielpi
A Double Trauma: Fire and Ice	615	(4)
Diane Horning
A Learning Curve? A Family Member's Guidebook to Private Grief in Public Tragedy	619	(12)
Danielle Gardner
Epilogue	631	(4)
Brian W. Flynn
Index	635