Resources and References

This module provides an introduction to the topic of stress management for national staff. It is intended to provide you with some basic information and guide you towards additional resources on this topic. Helpful websites and books are listed below.

If you would like more information, wish to speak to a mental health professional, or desire a professional referral, please contact the Headington Institute at info@headington-institute.org or phone (626) 229 9336.

References are provided in the following sections:

1. Useful websites on stress and trauma
2. Endnotes referenced in the text of this module

Useful websites on stress and trauma

www.headington-institute.org
See the other materials and modules on this website, including the on-line training modules on ‘understanding and coping with traumatic stress’ and ‘trauma and critical incident care for humanitarian workers’.

http://www.mhwwb.org/disasters.htm
Mental Health Workers without Borders: This site contains a useful manual by J.H. Ehrenreich (2001) entitled ‘Coping with disaster’, which is available in Spanish or English. This site also contains a bibliography of resources on managing stress in humanitarian, health care, and human rights workers.

www.glasgowsteps.com
This website contains a lot of clear, useful information about stress and related difficulties. There are also video and audio clips, including comments from several spiritual leaders of different traditions. There are plans to have a dedicated Urdu section on this website in the future.
 
http://www.moodjuice.scot.nhs.uk
This site provides self-help for stress and related problems, as well as other useful resources.

http://www.ncptsd.org
This is the website for the (American) National Center for PTSD. It contains a wealth of useful information. Papers and books can be downloaded free.

http://www.traumacentral.net  
Trauma Central Website, containing numerous excellent papers on many issues related to trauma, including information about children.

http://www.mmct.org
Useful information on crises and trauma (in French, Spanish, and English).

www.lingos.org
The website of LINGOS (Learning for International NGOs). Information about training courses for NGO personnel. This can help reduce stress related to insufficient training.

www.interhealth.org.uk
A clinic specializing in physical and psychological care for aid workers. Website includes useful guidelines, resources and links.

http://www.massey.ac.nz/%7Etrauma/welcome.shtml
The Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies. A journal containing many informative articles, which can be downloaded free.

www.uktrauma.org.uk
UK trauma group, providing fact-sheets. www.ifrc.org Free publications, including ‘Managing stress in the field’ (in English, Spanish or French); ‘Best practices for psychosocial support; and ‘Community-based psychosocial support’.

http://icspc.telhai.ac.il
Community Stress Prevention Center (Israel). Helpful material under ‘articles’ and ‘models and checklists’, for use with children and adults.

http://trauma-pages.com/
Trauma information, including principles for working with traumatized children. Handouts available in English and Spanish.

www.traumatic-stress.com
Links to other trauma sites.

http://www.peopleinaid.org/pool/files/publications/email-management-guide.pdf
A page on managing e-mail stress.

Crises briefing materials

Briefing should be appropriate (e.g. verbal not written if staff members are not used to reading). Relevant resources (which will need to be selected from and adapted for national staff) include:

• Crisis Consulting International provide security and crisis management training, as well as other services such as hostage negotiation. They are based in the USA, but provide assistance internationally.
• International Committee of the Red Cross. Staying Alive: Safety and security guidelines for humanitarian volunteers in conflict areas (Roberts, 1999).
• Goode, G.S. (1995). Guidelines for crisis and contingency management. International Journal of Frontier Missions, 14, 211-216.
• The Church World Service security manual for NGOs. Or email CWSSecur80@aol.com or info@churchworldservice.org.
• RedR provides training courses on security, and training materials.
• Global Connections (2006) ‘Guidelines for crisis management and prevention including working in high risk areas’
• Union of International Associations. Security and safety of NGO personnel

Books to help you understand people from different cultures

Lanier, S.A. (2000). Foreign to familiar: A guide to understanding hot- and cold-climate cultures. Hagerstown, MD: McDougal Publishing.

Maranz, D. (2001). African friends and money matters: Observations from Africa. Dallas, Texas: SIL International.

Massey, B. (2006). Where in the world do I belong? Jetlag Press.

References on cross-cultural issues related to stress and trauma

Kleber, R.J., Figley, C. & Gersons, B.P.R. (1995). Beyond trauma: Cultural and societal dynamics. New York: Plenum Press.

Marsella, A.J., Friedman, M.J., Gerrity, E.T. & Scurfield, R.M. (1996). Ethnocultural aspects of posttraumatic stress disorder: Issues, research and clinical applications. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Summerfield, D. (1999). A critique of seven assumptions behind psychological trauma programmes in war-affected areas. Social Science and Medicine, 48, 1449-1462.

Endnotes referenced in the text of this module

¹ Personal communication with the authors, during and after stress-management workshops.

² See the following for a discussion of how local staff in Honduras were offered appropriate and effective support in coping with stress after Hurricane Mitch. Fawcett, J. (2002a). Care and support of local staff in Christian humanitarian ministry. In K. O’Donnell (Ed.), Doing member care well: Perspectives and practices from around the world (pp.277-288). Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.

³ Lopes Cardozo, B. & Salama, P. (2002). Mental health of humanitarian aid workers in complex emergencies. In Y. Danieli (Ed.), Sharing the front line and the back hills: Peacekeepers, humanitarian aid workers and the media in the midst of crisis (pp.242-255). Amityville, NY: Baywood.

⁴ Brown, J.S.L., Cochrane, R., Mack, CF., Leung, N. & Hancox, T. (1998). Comparison of effectiveness of large scale stress workshops with small stress/anxiety management training groups. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 26, 219-235.

⁵ White, J. (1995). The analysis of components in large group didactic therapy “stress control” and implications for primary care psychology. Clinical Psychology Forum, 76, 11-13.

⁶ Lutz, T. (1999). Crying: The natural and cultural history of tears. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

⁷ McFarlane, C. (2004). Risks associated with the psychological adjustment of humanitarian aid workers. The Australasian Journal of Disaster, 2004 (1).

⁸ Lovell-Hawker, D. (2007a). Debriefing aid workers and missionaries: A comprehensive manual. London: People In Aid. (Order from http://www.peopleinaid.org/resources/publications.aspx).

⁹ Fawcett, J. (2003) (Ed.). Stress and trauma handbook. Monrovia, CA: World Vision International. P.202.