Climate Disaster Support Groups

The reality of a changing climate is seen, in part, through climate-related disasters that are occurring all over the world.  

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Experiencing a climate-related disaster can be intensely stressful. Even when the immediate danger has passed, the impact can still be felt. People may feel grief or anger over the damage or loss, fear or hopelessness when thinking about rebuilding their lives, or they may simply feel overwhelmed and not know how to begin. Taking those first steps toward recovery can be easier with a little support. For large catastrophes, multiple organizations at the local and national level jump into action to provide support for immediate needs as well as long-term recovery.

 

Compassionate professionals volunteer their considerable skills and training to respond when disaster strikes. Whether fostering a positive culture in disaster shelters, being a patient listener for someone who needs to talk about what they’ve gone through, or even spotting early signs of traumatic stress that can be referred for specialist care, volunteers help create conditions where people, families and communities can rebuild after devastating events. Each emergency is unique and local communities/organizations take the lead in directing appropriate response actions. This may be using volunteers on the ground to provide in-person support or launching a virtual Zoom platform staffed by volunteers from around the country. Support may be provided to those directly impacted by the disaster like local residents and businesses, but also the multitude of “helpers” - emergency providers, medical staff, educators, relief workers, and first responders.  The people doing this work, the "helpers", often absorb the intensity through those that they help, taking in the crises at very immediate levels - perpetuating the overwhelm, leading to burnout, and shouldering the burden of providing care.  

 

How you can help

 

We can help mitigate this by joining outreach teams that offer group support to either those people directly impacted or to helpers responding to the crisis.  Our goal is to provide a platform for outreach that already exists - so offering information in an organized system that allows you, as a CPA-NA member,  to find what, if any, of these opportunities for facilitating support space works for you.  

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Each regional area disaster response will have unique ways of organizing towards the crisis and crisis care.  Because of this, your role will have some variety if you choose to volunteer on several occasions.

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In general, a volunteer opportunity to staff a virtual Zoom room may involve the following:

1. Getting familiar/certified in Psychological First Aid (PFA)

2. Registering for volunteering through the Regional Area Response page

3. Signing up for shift in virtual or in-person support group space

4. Holding space, listening, offering empathy and PFA-informed reflections

5. Signing out for the shift 

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It is key that we, as an organization, understand that whenever we engage with a community of people we are stepping into a culture - one with codes, nuances of communication, and ways of understanding experience. Because of this, it is key that the manager of each Regional Area Response page understand and be able to share specifics of the community they represent - helping us respond with sensitivity, curiosity and humility as we offer space for those impacted.

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These are not endorsements or recommendations 

CPA-NA takes no responsibility and is not directly endorsing any of the information in the "Regional Area Responses" pages.  Each member is responsible for using this information for their own, individual, decision-making and choices - clinical and otherwise. 

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More regional areas that needs support?

If you are in an area that has directly experienced a climate-related disaster, you are  invited to create and manage a page by filling out this form to get your page approved and built.  Each page in our "Regional Area Responses menu" requires a manager who will organize the existing information and has familiarity with the needs, channels of care, and the disaster response system already in place.   The manager of each Regional Area Response page will develop the content for that page - and field questions and ideas from our members.   Any member can propose a page they will manage, and all pages must be approved by CPA-NA leadership committee.