Prelims

Half Title

Resistance, Resilience, and Recovery from Disasters

Series Page

Community, Environment and Disaster Risk Management

Series editor: William L. Waugh, Jr.

Urban Risk Reduction: An Asian Perspective, Volume 1

Water Communities, Volume 2

Integrated Lagoon Fisheries Management: Resource Dynamics and Adaptation, Volume 3

Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction: Issues and Challenges, Volume 4

Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction: An Asian Perspective, Volume 5

Climate and Disaster Resilience in Cities, Volume 6

Disaster Education, Volume 7

Droughts in Asian Monsoon Region, Volume 8

Environment Disaster Linkages, Volume 9

Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction, Volume 10

Climate Change Modeling for Local Adaptation in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region, Volume 11

Ecosystem-based Adaptation, Volume 12

Water Insecurity: A Social Dilemma, Volume 13

Risks and Conflicts: Local Responses to Natural Disasters, Volume 14

Building Resilient Urban Communities, Volume 15

Hyogo Framework for Action and Urban Disaster Resilience, Volume 16

Local Disaster Risk Management in a Changing Climate: Perspective from Central America, Volume 17

Recovering from Catastrophic Disaster in Asia, Volume 18

The Tourism–Disaster–Conflict Nexus, Volume 19

Improving Flood Management, Prediction and Monitoring, Volume 20

Title Page

Community, Environment and Disaster Risk Management Volume 21

Resistance, Resilience, and Recovery from Disasters: Perspectives from Southeast Asia

Edited by

Ma. Regina M. Hechanova, Ph.D.

Ateneo de Manila University

Lynn C. Waelde, Ph. D.

Palo Alto University

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2020

Copyright © 2020 Emerald Publishing Limited

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83909-791-1 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83909-790-4 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83909-792-8 (Epub)

ISSN: 2040-7262 (Series)

Endorsements

Crises and catastrophes are on the rise, becoming more the rule than the exception. Thus, a volume devoted to issues of resistance, resilience, and recovery could not be timelier or more important. Hechanova’s and Waelde’s insightful work should be required reading for leaders, scholars, and community members globally looking for culturally sound and effective evidence-based intervention frameworks.

Kathleen M. Sutcliffe Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, Johns Hopkins University and co-author of Still Not Safe: Patient Safety and the Middle Managing of American Medicine

Thoughtful and sensitive. The book does not only offer keen ideas about mental health and psychosocial support in times of disaster, it also gives us a deeper appreciation of the concepts of resistance, resilience, and recovery from disasters that is specific to the context that is Southeast Asia. In the midst of the global pandemic we are currently facing, this book gives us valuable insights as to how we can ensue collective resilience among our people in Southeast Asia and move forward in a way that is fit to the context of our new normal. What I appreciate most about the book is that it’s giving a space for one of those groups that is often neglected in times of disaster — the disaster responders.

Marshaley J. Baquiano, PhD University of the Philippines Visayas

Disasters have profoundly affected the evolution of human cultures through known history, and no region has felt these effects more than Southeast Asia (SEA). This volume provides a concise and unique resource for understanding how stress-resistance in the face of disaster, resilience to its most acute effects, and longer-term adaptive recovery are entwined with the cultural ecologies of those affected. These are perhaps the most fundamentally important distinctions for understanding how we can accurately anticipate and respond effectively to the mental health and psychosocial support needs of communities and organizations across SEA impacted by such catastrophic events. I recommend this book as a practical and scholarly resource for informing culturally sensitive studies and humanitarian interventions in general, and especially in SEA context.

Gil Reyes, Ph.D. Disaster Relief Chair, APA Division of Trauma Psychology

Contents

Editor Biographies

Ma. Regina M. Hechanova, Ph.D., is a Full Professor and former Chairperson of the Department of Psychology, Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU). Gina was also the past President of the Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) and created the Special Interest Group for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS). She was a Lead Researcher in the development of Katatagan, a resilience program for disaster survivors and the Editor of the Philippine Journal of Psychology Special Edition on MHPSS. She designed an undergraduate course on Disaster and Mental Health and co-created a minor on Humanitarian Aid in ADMU. She was named Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service in 2010 and was named 2018 Outstanding Professional in Psychology by the Professional Regulatory Commission. Her research and practice are in the areas of mental health and psychosocial support post-disaster and community mental health interventions in the Philippines.

Lynn C. Waelde, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Psychology Department of Palo Alto University and an Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of Stanford University School of Medicine. Her research and clinical interests include mindfulness and meditation interventions and provider training, development and adaptation of disaster mental health interventions, diagnosis and assessment of trauma-related issues, and racism-related stress. She is the Founder and Director of the Inner Resources Center, which is a center for mindfulness and meditation intervention, training, and research.

Contributor Biographies

Avegale Acosta is a Lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila University, Psychology Department and a Counseling Psychologist. She specializes in the areas of anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief. She conducts classes, trainings, and workshops that help equip individuals how to respond and recover from critical incidents like disasters.

Daniela Blecha is a development and humanitarian affairs professional. She has worked at several international and non-governmental organizations in Vienna, New York, and Brussels, including the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Operations, and Crisis Centre, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development and SOS Children’s Villages International.

Charlotte Kendra Gotangco is currently the Program Manager for Climate Change and Disaster Risk of the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability and the Chair of the Dept. of Environmental Science of the Ateneo de Manila University. She is working on applying systems thinking approaches to understanding the drivers of risk and mainstreaming resilience planning.

Johnrev Guilaran is an Assistant Professor of psychology at the University of the Philippines Visayas. He is an Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) Young Scientist and an International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) Task Force on Terrorism and Peacebuilding collaborator. He has a Ph.D. from Massey University, Wellington.

Andrew G. Heise is a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at Palo Alto University and a Lecturer at California State University, Stanislaus. He is interested in trauma, burnout among healthcare providers, psychological first aid, and race-related stress.

Roman Hoffmann is an Environmental Economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital in Vienna. His work focuses on disaster resilience, climate change adaptation and mitigation, environmental migration, and environmental health.

Elirozz Carlie Labaria is a Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Specialist of the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability. Her expertise is on DRR and CCA planning and governance mechanisms.

Jason O. Manaois is a Lecturer of Psychology at Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan. He took his PhD in social-organizational psychology at the Ateneo de Manila University. He engages in mental health, psychosocial support and community interventions, and organization research.

Hong An Nguyen is a Counselling Practitioner and the Head of the Department of Psychology at Hoa Sen University. He has a master’s degree in Psychology from Massey University, Auckland. He is a Member of the EMDR Asia and the Asian Association of Social Psychology.

Adriana Panting is a clinical psychology Ph.D. candidate at Palo Alto University expected to graduate in June 2020. She works as an Anti-Sexual Trafficking Specialist/Program Manager at a trauma counseling agency, Tri-Valley Haven. Her research and clinical interests include mindfulness, ethnoracially marginalized groups, serious mental illness, and trauma.

Grant J. Rich, Ph.D., is a Senior Faculty at Walden University. A Fellow of the American Psychological Association and four of its divisions, he is Lead Editor of six international psychology books, including Pathfinders in International Psychology, Human Strengths and Resilience, Teaching Psychology Around the World, and Internationalizing the Teaching of Psychology.

Pinky Rose Sabile, MA, is a Lecturer at the Department of Psychology, Ateneo de Manila University and the Director for Human Resource Development at the Ateneo Center for Organization Research and Development (Ateneo CORD).

J. Sedfrey S. Santiago is an Associate Professor at the Ateneo de Manila University where he teaches law courses at the John Gokongwei School of Management, and The Creative Professional in the Fine Arts Department. Among others, he has co-written as lead author articles on disaster published in scholarly journals.

Skultip (Jill) Sirikantraporn, Psy.D., is a Licensed Psychologist in California and New York and is on founding faculty at Fulbright University Vietnam, developing the psychology major and teaching various interdisciplinary undergraduate courses. She is a co-editor and contributor of an international psychology book, Human Strengths and Resilience: Developmental, Cross-Cultural, and International Perspectives.

Chantal Ellis S. Tabo-Corpuz is a licensed Psychologist. She is practicing as a school psychologist in Ateneo de Manila University and is a PhD student in Clinical Psychology in the same university. She is interested in mental health prevention and intervention programs, and advocates for its development in the Philippines.

Mendiola Teng-Calleja, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology, Ateneo de Manila University and a Director at the Ateneo Center for Organization Research and Development (Ateneo CORD).

Alicia N. Torres is a clinical psychology Ph.D. student at Palo Alto University. Her research interests include mindfulness and meditation interventions, serious mental illness, and psychosocial rehabilitation.

Angelique Pearl Virtue Villasanta, has a Masters’ Degree in Counseling Psychology and is a Lecturer at the Department of Psychology, Ateneo de Manila University.

List of Tables

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

List of Figures

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Preface

As of this writing, more than a quarter of a million people are in evacuation shelters as a result of Taal Volcano in the Philippines, which explosively erupted just days ago (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, 2020). Since then, the region has experienced more than 900 volcanic earthquakes, raising the prospect of volcanic tsunamis. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) has posted an Alert Level 4 for Taal, meaning that a hazardous eruption is possible within hours to days (PHIVOLCS, 2020). The area is covered in feet of volcanic ash, obliterating homes, livelihoods, and communities.

It is now clear that human-induced climate change affects the likelihood and severity of many types of natural disasters (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016). The reality of climate change and its relationship to increased risk of natural disasters means that disaster preparedness and response must be a priority, as this elevated risk is associated with increasing vulnerabilities worldwide (Van Aalst, 2006). Much work already documents that climate change and disaster have deleterious effects on mental health, particularly for those who are impoverished and marginalized (Hayes, Blashki, Wiseman, Burke, & Reifels, 2018). Thus, disaster preparedness and response must address mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), that is, interventions that can address the range of severity of disaster stress sequelae from normative responses to more severe and lasting psychopathological outcomes. The chapters in this volume document that Southeast Asia is particularly vulnerable to disasters of all kinds, which exact a terrible toll of suffering and destruction.

Three key concepts guide the considerations of disaster mental health presented in this volume: resistance, resilience, and recovery, as described in the Johns Hopkins model. Resistance is a form of psychological immunity to developing manifestations of distress and dysfunction following disasters. Resilience refers to the capacity to effectively rebound from distress and dysfunction that occurs as a result of disaster. Recovery refers to the capacity to restore adaptive functioning following distress, impairment, and dysfunction that occur as a result of a disaster (Kaminsky, McCabe, Langlieb, & Everly, 2007). Addressing these three capacities of resistance, resilience, and recovery requires a solid evidence base to guide effective planning and practice that has been informed by all levels – from the individual to the population – and is grounded in knowledge about applications that are culturally appropriate.

The chapters in this volume address ways to enhance resistance, resilience, and recovery using leadership models and MHPSS interventions that are developed and implemented using a whole community approach that is grounded in and guided by cultural considerations. Because much work about disaster planning and recovery is based on work done in Western cultures, in the first chapter, we address cultural considerations for MHPSS in Southeast Asia. Part II addresses leadership and organizational models for MPHSS. The powerful role of different forms of education to reduce disaster vulnerabilities is reviewed in Chapter 2 authored by Roman Hoffmann and Daniela Blecha. In Chapter 3, Mendiola Teng-Calleja, Pinky Rose Sabile, and Angelique Pearl Virtue Villasanta review ways to structure workplace organization to enhance employee and organizational resilience in the face of disasters. In Chapter 4, Elirozz Carlie Labaria, Avegale Acosta, and Charlotte Kendra Gotangco explain how the disaster planning process, including prevention, mitigation, and preparedness efforts, can be integrated with mental health efforts.

Part III of this volume reviews different forms of MHPSS support interventions as they have been applied in Southeast Asian countries. In Chapter 5, Jason O. Manaois, Chantal Ellis S. Tabo-Corpuz, and Andrew G. Heise review psychological first aid and its application in SEA. The next two chapters address specific disaster intervention approaches, namely, mindfulness and art therapy. In Chapter 6, Adriana Panting, Andrew G. Heise, Ma. Regina M. Hechanova, and Lynn C. Waelde review the rationale, cultural adaptations, and evidence base for integrating mindfulness and meditation into MHPSS. In Chapter 7, J. Sedfrey S. Santiago discusses art therapy as a way to allow expression of disaster stress experiences and provide a pathway to financial support for disaster survivors, using the Banglos fisherfolk as an illustration. Disaster responders bear heavy stress exposure burdens. In Chapter 8, Johnrev Guilaran and Hong An Nguyen describe MHPSS interventions for disaster responders themselves. The last chapter of Section II, Chapter 9, authored by Grant J. Rich and Skultip (Jill) Sirikantraporn, addresses posttraumatic growth as an outcome of disaster exposure. In the final chapter in Section IV, Chapter 10, we summarize the challenges and prospects for promoting resistance, resilience, and recovery in SEA.

The chapters in this volume address both the vulnerabilities and protective factors in SEA, highlighting the extent to which geography, poverty, and lack of resources, capability, and evidence-based disaster interventions make SEA populations more vulnerable to disasters and their negative outcomes. On the other hand, the strong sense of family, community, and spirituality appear to be protective factors. The chapters also highlight gaps in MHPSS responses and the need for rigor in examining the impact of interventions.

The idea for this volume developed from our collaboration to develop disaster MHPSS programs for the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan. We are grateful to our collaborators in that initial effort from Ateneo de Manila University, the Psychological Association of the Philippines, and University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College. The funding for the original project that brought us all together was provided by Ateneo de Manila University and Palo Alto University. We also wish to acknowledge the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency Program that funded the initial conceptualization of this book project. We thank Alicia N. Torres for providing editorial assistance in the preparation of this book.

In a region that is constantly challenged by disasters, we hope to highlight how important it is to understand cultures and the possible ways in which the world can learn from Southeast Asia. We hope to encourage further research and translation into disaster mental health practice.

Ma. Regina M. Hechanova, Ph.D.

rhechanova@ateneo.edu

Lynn C. Waelde, Ph.D.

lwaelde@paloaltou.edu

January, 2020