Lessons Learned in Disaster Mental Health: The Earthquake in Armenia and Beyond

This fascinating book provides a comprehensive overview of the extensive post-disaster mental health recovery program implemented after the 1988 Armenian earthquake. Covering the program’s evolution, from the initial acute phase of clinical fieldwork, to its expansion as a three-year teaching and training program for local therapists, to the building of mental health clinics in devastated cities. Featuring poignant memoirs detailing the daily challenges and rewards of working in the trenches, the book presents a conceptual framework that can guide post-disaster clinical and research efforts, lessons learned from this work and other disasters, and highlights recent advances in disaster psychiatry. This school-based intervention program has informed subsequent disaster response efforts in many countries and has provided clinically relevant cutting-edge research findings from longitudinal and treatment outcomes studies conducted over 25 years. Essential reading for psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and other mental health professionals and those working for relief organizations following disasters.