RESPONDING TO KATRINA

By Jennifer Brady for GuidanceChannel.com

Throughout the country, Americans are coming together to reach out to the victims of Katrina. As school counselors, you are in key positions to offer crucial support to the thousands of children impacted by this tragedy. Whether you are in the battered Gulf Coast or in a school that has opened up its doors to young, displaced evacuees, we honor your efforts to address the mental health needs of the students who are struggling to cope with Katrina’s aftermath. To aid your efforts, we offer you the following links to a variety of articles offering advice on responding to the crisis and information on how you can get involved.

Taking Action

American Counseling Association
http://www.counseling.org/hurricane

As a member of the American Red Cross (ARC) Partners for Effective Emergency Response, the American Counseling Association is working to recruit professional counselors to help. This webpage will give you information on how you can volunteer your services.

Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/

If you click on "Responding To A Crisis: Hurricane Aftermath" you’ll find daily updates from all of the states impacted by the crisis. As things are constantly changing on the ground, this site will let you know what type of help people currently need, as well as whom to contact and how.

Department Of Education
HREF="http://www.ed.gov/news/hurricane/index.html

This site was created to connect schools in need with potential donors. If you would like to donate send books, clothes, or other supplies to a school serving students displaced by Hurricane Katrina, you can use this site to let school in need know what supplies you can provide. If your school is serving students displaced by the hurricane, you can post a wish list on this site, as well.

Office of The Surgeon General and the Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness
https://volunteer.ccrf.hhs.gov

The Office of The Surgeon General and the Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness are in the process of mobilizing and identifying healthcare professionals and relief personnel to assist in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. This site lists exactly what type of expertise they are in need of and provides you with an opportunity to sign up to help.

Advice On Responding

(Treating Trauma)

Trauma Victims and Psychological Triage: Considerations for School Mental Health Professionals
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?M=a&index=1722&cat=17

Provide more effective mental health services during and after a crisis by recognizing which factors may play a role in psychological trauma.

Group Psychological First Aid: Strategies for School Mental Health Professionals
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?M=a&index=1412&cat=17

Learn about a useful counseling intervention designed as an immediate helping response for groups of students who have been exposed to a common stressor.

Changed By Trauma: Helping Youth Cope In The Aftermath Of Tragedy
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?index=668%20&cat=1

Debra Whiting Alexander, Ph.D. offers specific steps on how to help young people heal from traumatic events.

(Working Through Grief)

Death And Grief In The Family: Providing Support At School
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?M=a&index=1118&cat=17

Learn how school staff can assist grieving children and teens.

Helping Children To Cope with Loss
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?index=179&cat=13

Leah Davies presents ways you can help children learn to live with loss.

Students and Grief
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?M=a&index=1494&cat=15

Examine the unique ways children and adolescents respond to grief and review tips you can share with parents on how they can help their children work through grief

(Adapting To Living Arrangements)

Homeless Students In Our Schools
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?M=a&index=1382&cat=17

Learn how schools can offer support to students who are homeless.

Families On The Move: Transitions Students At-Risk
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?M=a&index=909&cat=15

Find out how parents and schools can help students cope with the stresses of moving to a new community.

(Managing The Stress)

Responding To Student Stress: Guidelines For Educators
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?M=a&index=1841&cat=50

Dr. Ellis Copeland of the National Association of School Psychologists describes school-based prevention and intervention strategies for student stress.

Stress In Children: Strategies For Educators
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?M=a&index=1523&cat=17

Identify the causes of stress in children and learn how schools can help students to manage it.

Helping Children Cope With Stress
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?index=355&cat=13

Review how stress affects children and find out ways you can help them deal with it in a positive way.

(Instilling Resiliency)

How Adults Can Provide Supports To Foster Youth Resilience
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?M=a&index=1146&cat=50

Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D. from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, defines resiliency and illustrates how educators, parents and others can encourage resiliency in youth.

An Interview With Bonnie Benard, Author of Fostering Resiliency In Kids
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?M=a&index=1148&cat=50

Ms. Benard explains how promoting resiliency in children will transform them from "at-risk" to "at-promise."

(Staying Strong)

Heal Thyself
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?index=555%20&cat=13

Review tips on how to listen and care for yourself so that you may be able, ready and well enough to continue listening and caring for others.

Additional Information

American School Counselor Association
http://www.schoolcounselor.org

The Counselor’s Classroom Archives
http://www.guidancechannel.com/default.aspx?M=ar&cat=19

National Association of School Psychologists
http://www.nasponline.org/NEAT/katrina.html

ABOUT GUIDANCECHANNEL.COM

GuidanceChannel.com, a brand of Sunburst Visual Media, is an online portal that offers newsletters and an online magazine including insightful articles, thought-provoking interviews, tips website reviews, and other content that addresses the social, emotional, and educational issues facing today's youth. We are an educational publishing company that develops award-winning guidance and health videos, DVDs games, activity books, curricula, pamphlets and print materials for the K-12 school market.

For over 30 years, Sunburst Visual Media has been producing the highest quality guidance and health programs. From the start, Sunburst Visual Media's mission has been to enhance learning and help teachers get students thinking and talking about the difficult issues they face every day. Sunburst Visual Media's reputation as the recognized leader in the field of guidance and health, is built on its ability to present tough-to-teach topics in a realistic, non-judgmental, and captivating manner. Sunburst Visual Media's prides itself on consistently providing educators with award-winning programs in such areas as: anger management, bullying and harassment, character education, violence prevention, conflict resolution, drug abuse prevention, sex education, career education, health, and parenting skills.

Sunburst Visual Media is a division of Global Video LLC and proud member of the School Specialty Family.

ABOUT JENNIFER BRADY

Jennifer Brady serves as the Editor of the award-winning Guidance Channel Magazine and all of the company's email newsletters. Over the past nine years, she has created study guides, multimedia programs, and a host of other educational resources on at-risk issues currently in use by teachers, counselors, parents, and others who work with youth throughout the U.S. Ms. Brady is also the Coordinator for National Youth Violence Prevention Week, a week-long national education initiative celebrated each spring that demonstrates the positive role young people can have in making their schools and communities safer.

FOR ADDITIONAL NEWSLETTERS...

If you've found The Counselor's Classroom useful and informative, you may also be interested in subscribing to some of our other newsletters. Dr. Playwell's Newsletter is a unique newsletter full of play therapy techniques to help you address the social and emotional needs of children and young adolescents. FYI From Wellness offers practical tips and suggestions for use in the clinic or classroom written by professionals from a variety of disciplines. The Guidance Channel Zine is a monthly online magazine that includes interviews, website reviews, statistics and articles by many national organizations such as the National Association of School Psychologists, the American School Counselor Association and National S.A.V.E. (Students Against Violence Everywhere). To subscribe to these newsletters, click here!