Positive Psychological Approaches to Disaster: Meaning, Resilience, and Posttraumatic Growth

Written by prominent proponents of disaster mental health and/or positive psychology, this comprehensive book examines disaster mental health and positive psychology in the context of natural and technological disasters. Chapters in the first section focus on applications of meaning and resilience in the area of disaster mental health, both serving as primary examples of applications of positive psychology and related frameworks. Later chapters focus more specifically on key aspects of disaster mental health, including the importance of preparedness, training, and special populations. Contributors consistently align their insights with positive psychological approaches, either by explicitly referencing their relevance or alluding less directly to themes in positive psychology.

Among the topics discussed:

• The role of religion and spirituality in finding meaning after disasters
• Veterans and disaster response work
• Firefighters: an occupational case study of resilience
• Strategies for responding to adolescents following natural and technological disasters
• Effective crisis response for facilitating posttraumatic growth

Positive Psychological Approaches to Disaster: Meaning, Resilience, and Posttraumatic Growth is a significant and timely collection of research, representing an effort of internationally respected scholars in positive psychology and disaster mental health.

Stefan E. Schulenberg received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with a specialization in Clinical-Disaster Psychology, from the University of South Dakota in 2001. He is a licensed psychologist in the state of Mississippi, a Professor in the University of Mississippi’s Psychology Department, and a Logotherapy Diplomate. Dr. Schulenberg is the Director of the University of Mississippi’s Clinical-Disaster Research Center (UM-CDRC), an integrated research, teaching, and training center with emphases in disaster mental health and positive psychology. He is also the Director of the University of Mississippi’s interdisciplinary minor in Disaster Sciences (DSci), a joint effort across the departments of psychology, criminal justice, social work, and sociology.

 Dr. Schulenberg has authored/co-authored over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in scholarly texts. He is the editor of Clarifying and Furthering Existential Psychotherapy (2016),the co-editor of Clinical Perspectives on Meaning: Positive and Existential Psychotherapy (2016), and part of the authorship team that produced Disasters that Shaped Emergency Management: Case Studies for the Homeland Security/Emergency Management Professional (2018). Dr. Schulenberg’s research interests include clinical-disaster psychology, positive psychology, and logotherapy, concepts such as perceived meaning, purpose, resilience, posttraumatic stress, and posttraumatic growth. He has conducted research on the effects of Hurricane Katrina, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and other disaster-related events (e.g., tornadoes, flooding). He offers workshops and provides training on disaster preparedness, psychological first aid, disaster response, meaning and purpose in life, resilience, and posttraumatic growth.

Dr. Schulenberg has served as a disaster mental health volunteer and supervisor in the American Red Cross, and has worked previously with variousother volunteer organizations, such as the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He teaches the graduate cognitive assessment course for the University of Mississippi’s doctoral program in clinical psychology. At the undergraduate level, Dr. Schulenberg teaches courses in disaster mental health, positive psychology, and psychology and law.