Helping families and communities recover from disaster : lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Central Gulf Coast region of the United States. The storm and its aftermath resulted in the most severe, damaging, and costly natural and unnatural disaster in the nation's history—as evidenced by the size of the region affected, the loss of life, the extensive destruction of property, and the thousands displaced.Over 2 years post-disaster, many families lived in temporary housing and had limited access to basic services, to date, many continue to struggle to meet basic needs.

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Gruppenpsychotherapie bei traumatisierten Patientinnen.Konzepte und Stand der Forschung

Group psychotherapy has been shown to be a valuable element in the treatment of trauma survivors. Most concepts address childhood trauma, while some also deal with survivors of war trauma. A variety of psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral group concepts are presented. While transference-oriented psychodynamic group psychotherapy aims at working through enactments of traumatic experiences in the transference relationship, other psycho-dynamic approaches focus on processing traumatic affects without using transference work.

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Explaining the impact of a women's group led community mobilisation intervention on maternal and newborn health outcomes: the Ekjut trial process evaluation

BackgroundFew large and rigorous evaluations of participatory interventions systematically describe their context and implementation, or attempt to explain the mechanisms behind their impact. This study reports process evaluation data from the Ekjut cluster-randomised controlled trial of a participatory learning and action cycle with women's groups to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes in Jharkhand and Orissa, eastern India (2005-2008).

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Exploring the impact of displacement and encampment on domestic violence in Kakuma refugee camp

This paper explores how conditions of life in a refugee camp contribute to domestic violence. It draws on the 'nested ecological model' of domestic violence, which integrates individual and family factors, socio-economic context, and culture. Displacement depletes the resources available to refugees at each of these levels. Eighteen focus group discussions were held in Kakuma refugee camp (Kenya). Most displacement-related factors identified as contributing to domestic violence are consequences of the structural conditions of refugees' lives.

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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is an integrative psychotherapeutic approach that emphasizes the role of the brain's information processing system in ameliorating the somatic and psychological consequences of distressing events. Current emotional problems not caused by organic deficit or physical insults are conceptualized as the result of inappropriately processed memories of disturbing or traumatic experiences.

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Families under fire : systemic therapy with military families

This title provides guidelines for systems-based practice for a broad spectrum of civilian mental health practitioners who provide professional services to military personnel, their spouses, and their family members. The editors provide a nuts and bolts approach to military families utilizing a systems-based practice that is effective with families in the military, regardless of branch of service or the practitioner's therapeutic preference.

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Examining the protective effects of mindfulness training on working memory capacity and affective experience

We investigated the impact of mindfulness training (MT) on working memory capacity (WMC) and affective experience. WMC is used in managing cognitive demands and regulating emotions. Yet, persistent and intensive demands, such as those experienced during high-stress intervals, may deplete WMC and lead to cognitive failures and emotional disturbances. We hypothesized that MT may mitigate these deleterious effects by bolstering WMC.

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Entführt und lebendig begraben: ein fallbericht aus der sicht eines betroffenen = Kidnapped and buried alive- a case report from the perspective of a victim.

Zusammenfassung:

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Dysfunctional beliefs in the understanding and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Genezing dwangstoornis geen lineair proces Mensen met een obsessief compulsieve stoornis hebben last van dwanggedachten (obsessies) en dwanghandelingen (compulsies). Disfunctionele gedachten leiden bij deze mensen tot handelingen die niet in verhouding staan tot waar ze bang of angstig voor zijn. De stoornis kan met cognitieve psychotherapie behandeld worden. Wel blijft maar liefst 50% van de behandelde mensen daarna nog symptomen van de ziekte vertonen. Onderzoekster Annemiek Polman ging daarom na wat de aard is van het proces van gedragsverandering tijdens de behandeling.

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Dissociative symptoms and reported trauma among patients with spirit possession and matched healthy controls in Uganda

Spirit possession is a common, worldwide phenomenon with dissociative features. Studies in Europe and the United States have revealed associations among psychoform and somatoform dissociation and (reported) potential traumatic events. The aim of this study was to explore the relationships among spirit possession, dissociative symptoms and reported potentially traumatizing events in Uganda. One hundred nineteen persons with spirit possession, diagnosed by traditional healers, were compared to a matched control group of 71 nonpossessed persons.

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