Recent years have seen an extraordinary number of major disasters, critical incidents and other events that have had major impacts on our world. The 2004 tsunami, hurricanes Rita and Katrina, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan affect millions of lives daily. Potential events such as Avian Flu pandemic, global warming and the increasing threats of spreading unrest in the Middle East are concerns that weigh heavily on us all. November 8-11, 2006, the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute held their Annual four-day Disaster Mental Health Conference. The theme of the conference was "TAKING CHARGE IN TROUBLED TIMES: Response, Resilience, Recovery and Follow-up." This edition contains the major papers presented at the conference and summaries of additional presentations. They address some of the major crisis events confronting our societies in recent years, namely, large disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita; case studies such as Abu Ghraib, and traumatic events such as a night club suicide bombing, the role of cultural sensitivity and ethics in disaster settings, resilience, and the importance of planning, education and taking care of our first responders and mental health professionals. An additional concern with information includes information about preparation of communities and families for deployment and return of military personnel. The importance of planning for how mental health personnel can respond in the event of an Avian Flu Pandemic is also discussed. Presenters are drawn from researchers and responders from Wyoming, the United States, and the United Kingdom. http: //www.rmrinstitute.org The Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute is a 501(c)3 Non-profit Organization

Events around the world continue to present challenges for first responders and mental health professionals. This volume focuses on presentations made November 8-10, 2007, at the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute's annual Disaster Mental Health Conference.

Will You Be There When it Counts? "Being There When It Counts" is what Disaster Mental Health Services (DMHS) teams try hardest to achieve before, during and following disasters, critical incidents, crises, and terrorist activities. Although a relatively new field, these teams have quickly become an integral part of disaster and critical incident preparedness, mitigation, response, and followup. DMHS began with Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and Critical Incident Stress Management. In order to continue to grow and meet identified needs, both continued development as well as focused research. Research will help identify how Mental Health Services can best be utilized as well as how relevant changes need to be made in practice. Networking and sharing experiences can also help develop resources. The 8th Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference was held Nov. 79, 2009 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. This volume highlights key papers from presenters. Praise for "The Proceedings of the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference" ..".A must have for first responders and mental health professionals. Addressing the needs of people who work in these fields is critical. The better trained they are to be emotionally equipped for disasters, the better they can help others. I think that the pages of information covered in this book will be some of the most important information needed by people in this field today." --Page Lovitt, Reader Views "This compilation of papers deals with people's reactions to a wide variety of disasters, including not only terror and Hurricane Katrina, but child abuse and the trauma suffered by families of service members. Taken together, the papers are fascinating. The "Proceedings of the 5th Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference" provides insight into the nature of the individual's response to terror and disaster. They should be interesting reading for everyone who either indirectly or directly has been affected." --Linda Benninghoff, author of "Departures" The Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute Press "Learning from the past and planning for the future" http: //www.rmrinstitute.org An Imprint of Loving Healing Press. PSY022040 Psychology: Psychopathology - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder SOC040000 Social Science: Disasters & Disaster Relief MED003010 Medical: Allied Health Services - Emergency Medical Services

This work contains the proceedings of the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute's annual Disaster Mental Health Conference in Laramie, Wyoming, November 6-8, 2008.

ÿAmong the most profound manifestations of childhood trauma is that of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Theorists suggest DID can be both adaptive and dysfunctional in nature. "The Dissociation of Abigail" will illustrate how childhood trauma can affect the perception, cognition, and behavior of an individual into their adult years. This case study will discuss client intake, assessment, and potential treatment.ÿ Abigail, a tall, attractive, and well-groomed divorced mother of 5 children in her late 30s, presents herself in the therapist?s office complaining of the inability to remember key periods of her life. Discussion with the client reveals she is, in fact, extremely intelligent, intuitive, and well versed on a myriad of subjects; including an acute knowledge of psychology that would arguably be the envy of many professional therapists. Within moments of beginning the intake, the therapist becomes keenly aware that this client is also exceedingly spiritual, with the ability to quote chapter and verse of biblical reference, not only as a matter of reference, but with the insight to integrate it in context with a myriad of contemporary issues.ÿ As the therapist listens, Abigail recounts a lifetime of sexual abuse and boundary violations by family members of not only herself, but also two of her children. The client complains of an inability to recall diverse periods of her life. Recently, however, she has begun experiencing recurring psychologically and emotionally distressing, thoughts, images, and dreams of satanic rituals involving family members and persons and places of her childhood in which she is forced to participate. The client offers her life has been accentuated with dysfunctional relationships. Consequently, she is prone to reclusion, and has little interest in outside persons, places, or activities, which significantly impairs social, occupational, and other activities. Predisposed to consider Abigail?s symptoms in context of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), the therapist is presented with two lengthy journals Abigail has maintained at the request of her current therapist. Within the first journal, disjointed transitions are noted, alternating between first, second, and third person, present- and past-tense. While the journal opens with eloquence and exceptionally light-handed penmanship and flourishes, it unexpectedly transitions to heavy-handedness with angry intonations directed at Abigail herself. As the journey through the journals continues, several other such transitions are noted, along with highly distinctive differences in penmanship and writing style.ÿ More importantly, the writings reflect distinct differences in cognitive process. Cryptanalysis of the writings discloses six psychologically significant profiles, as if six different individuals were writing the journals. Disjointed and appearing unexpectedly independent junctures, they appeared to be conflicted and often vying for dominance in expressing their opinions and beliefs. If one were to thematically categorize these six profiles into individual context, they would find the intellectual (strives for intellect and perfection); the preacher (core of morals, ethics, and values); the abuser (the mother); the victim (childlike; timid, shy, and afraid); the reckoner (endeavors to evoke shame and deliver punishment); and a highly pronounced highly sexual vixen personality (sexually motivated, arguably the personality for male gratification/survival).ÿ

Doherty provides information about training for mental health professionals and first responders who work with victims of disaster related stress and trauma. He provides a brief overview of disasters and responders roles, including discussion about war, terrorism, and follow-up responses by mental health professionals.

Recent years have seen an extraordinary number of major disasters, critical incidents and other events that have had major impacts on our world. The 2004 tsunami, hurricanes Rita and Katrina, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan affect millions of lives daily. Potential events such as Avian Flu pandemic, global warming and the increasing threats of spreading unrest in the Middle East are concerns that weigh heavily on us all. November 8-11, 2006, the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute held their Annual four-day Disaster Mental Health Conference. The theme of the conference was "TAKING CHARGE IN TROUBLED TIMES: Response, Resilience, Recovery and Follow-up." This edition contains the major papers presented at the conference and summaries of additional presentations. They address some of the major crisis events confronting our societies in recent years, namely, large disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita; case studies such as Abu Ghraib, and traumatic events such as a night club suicide bombing, the role of cultural sensitivity and ethics in disaster settings, resilience, and the importance of planning, education and taking care of our first responders and mental health professionals. An additional concern with information includes information about preparation of communities and families for deployment and return of military personnel. The importance of planning for how mental health personnel can respond in the event of an Avian Flu Pandemic is also discussed. Presenters are drawn from researchers and responders from Wyoming, the United States, and the United Kingdom. http: //www.rmrinstitute.org The Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute is a 501(c)3 Non-profit Organization

This state-of-knowledge review about the effects of fire on air quality can assist land, fire, and air resource managers with fire and smoke planning, and their efforts to explain to others the science behind fire-related program policies and practices to improve air quality. Chapter topics include air quality regulations and fire; characterization of emissions from fire; the transport, dispersion, and modeling of fire emissions; atmospheric and plume chemistry; air quality impacts of fire; social consequences of air quality impacts; and recommendations for future research.