Symposium on Post-Earthquake Interventions in Sichuan, China at the American Psychological Association Convention

Newswise — In May of 2008, a devastating earthquake struck Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province in Western China, resulting in 69,185 deaths, 37,471 injuries, and 18,458 people missing. Overall, more than 45 million people were directly affected.

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Described as one of the most deadly in modern history, the earthquake awakened Chinese authorities to the mental health needs of its people, in particular the survivors of the earthquake. It also inspired mental health professionals in Hong Kong and around the world to share their expertise with Chinese mental health organizations.

In response to the disaster, graduate students and faculty from the Hong Kong-based clinical psychology doctoral program of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) at Alliant International University initiated a collaborative grassroots effort, the 512 Psychological Care Action (512 PCA), to provide services and education. The 512 PCA group has partnered with Chinese mental health professionals to provide a variety of services in the affected region of Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Their work continues today.

Mental disease is still strongly stigmatized in China, so seeking mental health services is considered taboo to most survivors. Therefore, disaster-relief oriented psychological interventions developed in the West must be indigenized and contextualized to the local communities, taking into account available local helping resources. Effective approaches center around educating and empowering local health and mental health professionals, paraprofessionals, and perhaps most importantly, the natural helpers of each community, to deliver services and provide support.

A group of professionals and graduate students will present a symposium during the 117th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Toronto, Canada:

Culturally Relevant Community Disaster Relief: Post-Earthquake Interventions in Sichuan, China

Thursday, August 6, 2009 - 11:00am-11:50am

Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building - Level 200, Meeting Room 202A

The symposium will focus on the ongoing mental health relief efforts provided after the catastrophic May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, China. In the presence of numerous challenges and extremely limited financial resources, a number of mental health professionals and volunteers continue to struggle to help the communities healing from the earthquake.

Dr. Yanchun Yang, from the Department of Psychiatry at West China Hospital, Sichuan Province, will provide an overview of the psychological impact of the disaster and will describe the status of current interdisciplinary interventions that utilize a spectrum of locally relevant strategies. Marie Chiu of Alliant International University will describe an innovative ongoing collaborative grassroots effort by psychology graduate students and faculty at Alliant International University's Hong Kong doctoral program (the 512 PCA group) to provide services and education in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Emphasizing the need for foreign mental health workers to forge local partnerships with professionals at disaster impacted regions, she will describe the challenges, rewards and pitfalls of such programs. Dr. Alvin Dueck from the Fuller Theological Seminary will discuss models of community reorganization following both natural and man-made trauma, drawing on recent and historical international examples of successful community reintegration. Dr. Morgan Sammons, Dean of the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, will situate the discussion with regard to the responsibility of psychologists to provide culturally relevant services in international settings.

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研討會將於8月6日在多倫多舉行的美國心理學會年會舉行

在2008å¹´5æœˆï¼Œä¸­åœ‹å››å· æ±¶å· çš„å¤§åœ°éœ‡å°Žè‡´69185人死亡，37471人受傷，18485人失踪，共四千五百萬人的生活受到直接的影響。

Alliant International University 的加州專業心理學學院 (California School of Professional Psychology) 香港分校臨床心理學博士課程的學生及導師發起了一個名為「5.12心理關懷行動」(512 Psychological Care Action) çš„è‰æ ¹è¡Œå‹•ï¼Œç‚ºç•¶åœ°çš„ç½æ°‘æä¾›ç½å¾Œå¿ƒç†æœå‹™åŠæ•™è‚²ã€‚æ­¤è¡Œå‹•çš„æˆå“¡èˆ‡å››å· ç•¶åœ°çš„å¿ƒç†å¥åº·å°ˆæ¥­äººå“¡åˆä½œï¼Œå¥¹å€‘åœ¨ç½å€çš„å·¥ä½œè‡³ä»Šä»åœ¨é€²è¡Œã€‚

參與「5.12心理關懷行動」的心理健康專業人員及博士課程學生將於在多倫多舉行的第117届美國心理學會年會中舉辦一個研討會:

文化合適的社區災後支援: æ±¶å· å¤§åœ°éœ‡å¾Œçš„å¿ƒç†å¹²é  (Session ID: 1142)

2009年8月6曰 (星期四), 上午11-11:50am

Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building - Level 200, Meeting Room 202A

æ­¤ç ”è¨Žæœƒæ·±å…¥æŽ¢è¨Žæ±¶å· å¤§åœ°éœ‡å¾Œç•¶åœ°çš„å„é …å¿ƒç†å¥åº·é‡å»ºæœå‹™—åœ¨ç¶“æ¿ŸåŠå„ç¨®è³‡æºé žå¸¸æœ‰é™çš„æƒ…å†µä¸‹ï¼Œå¿ƒç†å¥åº·å°ˆæ¥­äººå“¡åŠç¾©å·¥å¦‚ä½•å…‹æœå›°é›£ï¼ŒåŽ»å¹«åŠ©ç•¶åœ°ç½æ°‘å¾žå¤§åœ°éœ‡çš„å‰µå‚·ä¸­åº·å¾©ã€‚ä¸»è¬›è€…å°‡åŒ…æ‹¬å››å· å¤§å­¸è¯è¥¿é†«é™¢ç²¾ç¥žç§‘æ¥Šå½¥æ˜¥é†«ç”Ÿ (Dr. Yanchun Yang), Alliant International University 的加州專業心理學學院 (California School of Professional Psychology) 香港分校臨床心理學博士課程的學生趙竑 (Ms. Marie W. Chiu), 及Fuller Theological Seminary çš„Dr. Alvin C. Dueck教授。研討會將由Alliant International University 的加州專業心理學學院 (California School of Professional Psychology) çš„Dr. Diane C. Zelman教授主持，並由沈文院長 (Dean Morgan T. Sammons, Ph.D., ABPP) 總結討論心理學家在國際社會中提供適合本地文化的專業心理服務的責任。

如有疑問，請致電Dr. Diane Zelman (1-510-684-0016) 或 Dr. Alex Leung (1-650-692-6648)。